Henry Earle Insley, the eldest son of Daniel Insley of Nova Scotia was one of New York's earliest daguerreians having reputedly been in business in 1840 with his brother-in-law George W. Prosch at 81 Liberty St from at least as early as July 28th. Insley had close familial ties with a number of other early New York daguerreotypists including William G. Babb and Nathaniel Crosby Jacquith/Jaquith..

Insley had married Sarah Babb in 1839. In April 1842 their second son Albert, who later joined his father in business, was born in Jersey City.  This suggests Henry was still living in Jersey City and working in New York at that time, however by November 1843 he had established himself in Montreal, Canada.  By mid-December this studio was taken over by a Mr. Horsley.  Insley then worked as a travelling photographer and he visited Ottawa for a few days in mid-March 1844 and Toronto in mid-June and then Brockville where he set up at Wilson's Hotel in September.  Insley was back in Jersey City for the birth of his daughter Anna in January 1845.  Directory listings show Insley in business at 712 Broadway in 1845 and in 1845-1846 he was at 122 Broadway.  During 1846-1847 Insley was listed at both 155 and 122 Broadway and from 1847-1849 he was listed at 122 Broadway and 156 Fulton Street.  In 1849-1850 Insley was listed at 122 Broadway and 196 Fulton Street then from 1850-1856 he was at 311 Broadway.  Insley opened another studio with brother-in-law W. G. Babb at 177 Greenwich St which was listed from 1853-1854.  From 1856-1857 Insley was listed at 373 Broadway and he also established a studio closer to home at 47 Montgomery St, Jersey City over Millar's store which ran until 1861.  No New York studio address was listed after 1857. Henry is listed as a farmer living in Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York in the 1870 and 1880 censuses.

Albert Babb Insley had taken up an interest in art under the tutorage of his uncle George F. Babb who was an architect and by the age of twelve he was already quite accomplished and by fourteen he was accepting painting commissions.  Albert left school at this age to join his father's studio which by that time had moved away from daguerreotypes and into the newly emerging ambrotypes and later tintypes and paper prints.  Albert established himself as an extremely successful and influential painter of landscapes of the "Hudson Valley" school although he continued to work as a photographer.

Henry Insley became a Jersey City alderman in 1855 and he remained active in public life in that city.  He died at the ripe age of 83, the day after his birthday on 7 August 1894.  Insley's career ran in an interesting parallel to noted daguerreian Jeremiah Gurney who was born the same year and who also commenced working in New York in 1840.  Gurney's death was in the year after Insley's.

Insley exhibited six half-plate daguerreotypes at the American Institute, Castle Garden, New York, in 1851.  Insley was awarded a patent on January 6, 1852 for "Illuminated Daguerreotypes". According to the patent papers, Insley claimed his invention consisted of "producing an image of greater boldness and relief, at the same time casting a halo of various tints around the image, gradually blending in the dark or black outer edge." Signing the application as witnesses were Lewis Wood and William G. Babb. Describing the process as used by C.C. Kelsey in Chicago, Humphrey's Daguerreian Journal said "...around the upper part of the picture a halo is thrown, composed of the colors or rays of the spectrum, gradually merging into a rich dark border, giving a fine effect." (see image #5 below)
 
Sources:
John Craig, Craig's Daguerreian Registry (http://www.daguerreotypes.com)
Joan M. Schwartz,  "Desperately Seeking Henry", History of Photography, vol. 16 no. 1 - Spring 1992
International Genealogical Index (http://www.familysearch.com)
George Eastman House catalog entry (courtesy Andrew Eskind)
Correspondence with Henry Insley's great-great grandson

This research was conducted to try and establish if there is a link between Henry Insley and Lawson Insley, a daguerreotypist that worked in New Zealand and Australia. So far any familial connection between has not been determined. I welcome any correspondence regarding Lawson Insley whose origins and fate still remain a mystery.

1. HENRY INSLEY m. Unknown.
    Children:
    2. i DANIEL INSLEY b. 1790.

Second Generation

2. DANIEL INSLEY b. 1790, Nova Scotia, NS, m. 27 NOV 1810, in New York, NY, ANNA DAY, b. 14 SEP 1792, New York, NY (daughter of JACOB DAY and ANNA EARLE) d. 3 JUN 1884.  DANIEL died 1 JAN 1820.
    Children:
    3. i HENRY EARLE INSLEY b. 6 AUG 1811.
      ii CATHERINE ANN INSLEY b. 28 OCT 1813, Garden St, New York City, NY, m. I Jan 1836, GEORGE PROSCH.
      iii MARY INSLEY b. 26 Jul 1815, Garden St, New York City, NY, m. 24 May 1839, JASON H. BOCKOVER.  MARY died 22 Apr 1894.
      iv EDWARD MATHIAS INSLEY b. 6 Sep 1817, Garden St, New York City, NY, d. 29 Mar 1833.
      v SARAH AMELIA INSLEY b. 26 Jan 1819, Garden St, New York City, NY, m. 1 Nov 1840, NATHANIEL C. JACQUITH.

Third Generation

3. HENRY EARLE INSLEY b. 6 AUG 1811, Garden St, New York City, NY, m. 6 MAY 1839, in Essex Co., New Jersey, SARAH ANN FLETCHER BABB.  HENRY died 7 AUG 1894, NY.
    Children:
      i HENRY ARETAS INSLEY b. 30 Jul 1840, New York, NY, m. 21 Apr 1876, ADA MABIE.
      ii ALBERT BABB INSLEY b. 1 Apr 1842, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ, m. MARIA Unknown.
      iii ANNA INSLEY b. 9 Jan 1845, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ, m. 22 Jun 1870, CHARLES E. BLAUVELT.
      iv HARRIET MATILDA INSLEY b. 25 Apr 1848, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ, d. 10 Oct 1874.
      v GEORGE WILLIAM INSLEY b. 1 Feb 1851, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ.
      vi EDWARD WINSLOW INSLEY b. 1 Jul 1853, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ, m. 16 Jun 1875, ANNIE W. COLVIN.
      vii SARAH ELLA INSLEY b. 14 Nov 1855, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ.
      viii EARLE INSLEY b. 1858, Jersey City, Hudson Co., NJ.

JACQUITH/JAQUITH FAMILY HISTORY

NATHANIEL JAQUITH b. 21 Jun 1785, Wilmington, MA, d. 25 Mar 1850, Medford, MA (son of NATHAN JAQUITH & ANN CROSBY) m. 7 Jul 1805, Reading, MA, ELEANOR STIMPSON b. 16 May 1789, Reading, MA, d. 28 Sep 1875, Medford, MA (daur. of EBENEZER STIMPSON & ESTHER HARTSHORN).
    Children: the first five born at Reading,¹⁷ the last four at Medford:
    i ADALINE JAQUITH b. 26 Dec 1805, Reading, MA, m. 11 May 1830, Medford, MA GEORGE W. BIRD.
    ii. MARY CHOATE JAQUITH b. 31 Aug 1808, Reading, MA, d. 13 May 1830, Medford, MA.
    iii ELEANOR JAQUITH b. 18 Jan 1811, Reading, MA, d. 27 Sep 1828, Medford, MA.
    iv. JANE MARIA JAQUITH b. 27 Nov 1813, Reading, MA, d. 21 Sep 1833 Medford, MA.
    v. NATHANIEL CROSBY JAQUITH b. 30 Apr 1816, Reading, MA, d. 24 Jun 1879, Elizabeth, NJ, m. (1) 1 Nov 1840, New York City, SARAH AMELIA INSLEY b. 26 Jan 1819, Garden St, New York City, NY, d. 15 Jul 1858, Jersey City, NJ), m. (2) EMMA S. ___ b. 15 Feb 1823, d. 26 Jul 1887).
    vi. HENRY WILLIAMS JAQUITH b. 14 May 1820, Medford, MA, d. 29 Aug 1822.
    vii. HENRY HOLMES JAQUITH b. 18 Feb 1823, Medford, MA, d. 29 Dec 1877, Medford, MA, m. 1 Aug 1849, Medford, MA, CHARLOTTE PLUMMER STIMPSON of Charlestown, b. 7 Oct 1829, d. 4 Sep 1916, Medford, MA (daur. of ROBERT STIMPSON & CHARLOTTE WILEY).
    viii. CHARLES WARREN JAQUITH b. 28 May 1827, Medford, MA, d. 5 Dec 1904, Medford, MA, occupation: shipwright, m. 27 Oct 1853, Medford, MA, ANN CAROLINE DREW b. 1 Aug 1828, Medford, MA, d. Oct 1906, Medford, MA (daur. of LAZARUS DREW & BATSHEBA SHURTLEFF).
    ix. ELLEN AUGUSTA JAQUITH b. 3 Aug 1829, Medford, MA, d. 16 Jan 1911, Medford, MA.

^{(adapted from http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr15/rr15_272.html and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smithhouse/jaquesgen/jaquesfam/aqwg21.htm)}

 © Collection of Kenneth E. Nelson

Penciled in case behind the image: "Taken in 1856. H. Insley"

taken by H. E. Insley, Photographer, 47 Montgomery St, Jersey City

taken by H. E. Insley, Photographer, 47 Montgomery St, Jersey City

14)  FIVE SIXTH PLATE DAGUERREOTYPES
Horblit collection at Harvard University. Contact person: Julie Mellby <mellby@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>

15) SIXTH PLATE DAGUERREOTYPE c.1855 Portrait of unidentified man with finger in book
George Eastman House. Accession No.: 95:1432:0001  Provenance: Gift of Donald Weber Contact: Andrew Eskind <andy@geh.org>