William Henry Prestwich was a photographer and an inventor who started working in Reading in 1866. He was one of the earliest professional photographers and became a member of the Royal Photographic Society in 1871, over the next few years he registered several patents to improve the process of photography.
His inventions include: The Revolving Shutter Lens; improvements to the stereoscope (a 3D picture viewer), silver halide emulsions and dark slides; embossing plates; silver bromide paper (which he sold to Kodak for £1,000). These inventions led him to set up the Prestwich Manufacturing Co. with his son John in 1895. They started the business in a green house in William’s back garden, with only a few simple, hand operated tools.
In 1896 the business teamed up with William Friese Greene to build a movie camera. The camera wasn’t very popular, because it needed special film to work. John and William redesigned the camera to use traditional 35mm film and in 1897 they released the updated version using the name Moto Photo Supply Company. In November 1897 the camera won a silver medal at the Glasgow International Photographic Exhibition, in part thanks to William’s older son Edward who managed the business’s filmmaking. Edward used one of his father’s cameras to film the footage of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee that can be found at the top of the page.
Prestwich’s son John (born in Kensington in 1874) took over the family business after William retired. John showed an early aptitude for mechanics and was awarded scholarships to the City and Guilds School and the City of London School. At the age of 16 he started work S.Z. de Ferranti Electrical Apparatus and Scientific Company shortly after this he took over the family business, renaming it J.A. Prestwich Industries Ltd in 1895. J.A.P. industries became a leading manufacturer of motorbike engines and is still in business today.