Samuel Bourne, a British photographer who established the Bourne & Shepherd studio in Calcutta, was born on this day in England. He began his career as a bank clerk but left his job to become a photographer.

In 1863, Bourne travelled to India and went on an expedition to the Himalayas. He would also go on a Ganges expedition. He joined Charles Shepherd and Arthur Robertson’s photography firm, which had just been set up in Shimla. This firm would eventually become Bourne & Shepherd.

After his wedding in England in 1867, he came back to Calcutta, where the studio branch came to be known as Bourne & Shepherd. It became a landmark. But soon Bourne returned to England, where he started a cotton-doubling mill. The studio still stands in Esplanade, gutted by a fire.

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