Joseph Whitley (17 October 1816 – 12 January 1891) was an English mechanical engineer and metallurgist. He appears in the Roundhay Garden Scene, the earliest known film fragment,[2] shot by his son-in-law Louis Le Prince.[3]

Joseph Whitley
Whitley (far left) in Roundhay Garden Scene directed by Louis Le Prince
Born17 October 1816
Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Died12 January 1891(1891-01-12) (aged 74)
Spouse
(m. 1842; died 1888)
Children3
Gravestone in Roundhay Churchyard, Leeds, of Sarah Robinson, and her husband, Joseph Whitley[1]

He can be seen as the man with the flying tail-coat in Roundhay Garden Scene, walking next to his wife, Sarah.[4][5]

Death edit

Whitley died on 12 January 1891. Their cause of death was undisclosed.

Filmography edit

Year Title Role Notes
1888 Roundhay Garden Scene Self Short
2015 The First Film Posthumous release (archive footage)

References edit

  1. ^ "Gravestone of Joseph and Sarah Whitley". Historic England – List entry. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  2. ^ Gerlach, Nina (April 2013). "Historical garden design as an ethical argument in film — 'Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks' 1". Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. 33 (2): 96–108. doi:10.1080/14601176.2013.768803. ISSN 1460-1176.
  3. ^ Hale, Tom. "The World's Oldest Film Has Been Revamped By Artificial Intelligence". IFLScience. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ Macdonald, Ian. "Louis le Prince shot the first film – but did he invent movies?". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  5. ^ Tucker, Thomas Deane (10 December 2019). The Peripatetic Frame: Images of Walking in Film. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474409292. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

External links edit