Victorian Celebrities

South Street in Scarborough, built in the 1850's, was for some years the most fashionable shopping street on the equally fashionable South Cliff.

The then Prince of Wales and his entourage would be seen here each summer and they, as well as celebrities from all areas of Victorian society, would sit for portraits in the nearby studios of Oliver Sarony, then one of Europe's most famous and most successful photographers.

From some of these portraits he had stone figureheads made and these decorated his studios until, long after his death, they were demolished.

About thirty of the figureheads were saved (including one of Sarony himself) and they were displayed on the nearby Fairview Hotel which was formed from a terrace of five large houses, the centre one of which Sarony lived in for some years.

That hotel eventually became Fairview Court flats and thanks to the efforts of the management company the figureheads can still be seen and enjoyed, even if none of them are likely to be recognised nowadays.