Innes, Donald
Donald Innes was a world renowned photographer from Hessle, from the 1940s to the 1960s. He set a studio in The Square in Hessle which is still there although it now serves additional purposes. Although only five feet five inches tall his stature in the photographic world was enormous. One of his prime skills was the ability to ‘find’ newsworthy items before others and this brought him many scoops. He also had his own photo wire which helped him to send photographs directly to the rest of the country and beyond.
After working for the family company (Stonehouse and Corey) in an administrative capacity until the age of 39 Donald took up photography but this decision caused a long split in relations with his father who, nevertheless, bought the building which Donald used as a studio without his son’s knowledge, in order to assist him. His photographs included sinking ships, landscapes, architecture, railways, the Beatles, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Royalty, sport, and local disasters such as the Cocoa Mills fire of 1948.
Donald Innes died in 1971 at the age of 63. His photographic Heritage can be at www.innes.co.uk/artprints/ or at the shop in Hessle.