Ensign Box-Form Cameras

Houghtons Limited

Name:	General Box cameras
Manufacturer:	Houghtons Ltd.
Country of Origin:	United Kingdom
Construction:	Conventional wooden bodied box form camera, although many (perhaps all) are side-loading.
Movements:	None
Production Period:

Houghtons Ensign Box-Form cameras were made to suit a number of distinct film sizes, notably 2¼A, 2½ and 3¼B.

I have been attempting to consolidate data relating to different identities given to rollfilm sizes based on a number of references and contemporary advertisements. This is very much work in progress, but the current version is captured in pdf format here. If you have further information available then please get in touch.

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Model / Variant:	2¼A Box-Form Ensign (2¼" x 2¼")
Plate / Film Size:	Ensign 2¼A rollfilm
Lens:	Unknown
Shutter:	Simple T & I shutter
Dimensions (w x h x l):
Date of this Example:	c1907?
Serial Number:
Availability:	Common  Uncommon  Hard to Find  Scarce
Inventory Number:	595

Description

Basic box camera for 2 1/4" square pictures, which is almost identical in form to the Butcher Maxim No 1. Unlike the Butcher, it does not have a fold over card inside the camera that goes over the film when loaded and carries no statement about the film size to use. Single viewfinder. Side removed by squeezing clips on top and bottom face to allow film to be changed (as Butcher Maxim).

The photograph below shows both cameras side by side, open to show the differences in the film carrier.

This example of the 2¼A Box-Form Ensign camera is in good condition, with only very minor signs of age and use. The round label is very clear on the front face but simply carries the picture of a bulldog's face. Was this an early advertising mark used by Houghton's before the N-sign trade mark? The Ensign name appears on a metal plate attached to the side of the camera. The strap is plain.

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Model / Variant:	2¼A Box-Form Ensign (2¼" x 2¼")
Plate / Film Size:	Ensign 2¼A rollfilm
Lens:	Rapid Achromatic lens
Shutter:	Simple T & I shutter
Dimensions (w x h x l):
Date of this Example:	c1913
Serial Number:
Availability:	Common  Uncommon  Hard to Find  Scarce
Inventory Number:	5

Description

The 2¼A Box-Form Ensign is a small box camera. The maker's label on the front face is the more usual roundel pattern that reads "Made by Houghtons Ltd London" and has the Ensign flag in the centre. Compare this to the previous (earlier) example that has a British Bulldog symbol in the same position.

The leather handle is embossed with the name "Ensign" and it is identified as a 2¼A Box Form Ensign on the inner face of the black mask that is hinged to the rear of the film carrier.

Note that the method of locking the film carrier in place has also changed in this later model. The Squeeze together clips used in the previous example (#595) have been replaced with sliding latches. An Ensign catalogue for 1913 shows this format of the camera, although it isn't yet known when this change was actually introduced as line drawings shown in advertising in the BJPA up to and including this year show a different style of latch.

Unfortunately this example of the 2¼A Box-Form Ensign has suffered some damage to the shutter as the release has been replaced with a metal rod and the lever used to select Time and Instantaneous settings has broken off.

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Model / Variant:	2½ Box-Form Ensign
Plate / Film Size:	Ensign 2½ rollfilm (2½" x 4½"), equivalent to Kodak 116
Lens:	Rapid Achromatic lens with wheel stops
Shutter:	Simple T & I shutter
Dimensions (w x h x l):
Date of this Example:	c1910?
Serial Number:
Availability:	Common  Uncommon  Hard to Find  Scarce
Inventory Number:	116

<Photographs to be added>

Description

Simple box of wooden construction with rotating wheel stop on front of body and simply T & I shutter. Side loading. The example of the Box Form camera shown in the Ensign Handbook for 1913 appears to be more advanced than this model.

Notes

The Box-Form Ensign cameras are introduced in the text and advertising in the 1910 edition of the BJPA. However the almanac is prepared in the year preceeding its publication, so it is reasonable to assume the camera was actually introduced in 1909. It underwent several design changes in that time, as shown by the examples on this page. By 1923, these cameras were simply referred to as "Box Ensigns", as shown in the BJPA for that year, and by 1926 the design had changed to the now familar rear loading box camera, fitted with either a single lens or a rapid rectilinear available in either 2¼B or 2½ format. For an example of the later format refer to the Box Ensign page that shows an example fitted with the rapid rectilinear lens.

Details such as the lens have been taken from The Ensign Handbook of Photography for 1913. Frustratingly these books, which incorporate catalogues of cameras and other related equipment, do not carry a clear publication date. However Adrian Richmond's Ensign web site (www.ensignphotographic.com) identifies the date of many of these catalogues.