James Kenyon

Who was James Kenyon?

James Kenyon was a businessman and pioneer of cinematography in Blackburn, Lancashire, England.

The son of Thomas and Margaret Kenyon, little is known of his upbringing. He married Elizabeth Fell, and by 1878 he was listed in a local trade directory as a fancy goods dealer. In 1880 he succeeded to the furniture dealing and cabinet making business of his wife's uncle in King Street, Blackburn. This business also occupied premises at the rear at 22 Clayton Street. According to his obituary Kenyon retired from his house furnishing business in 1906. Kenyon had also built a business with the travelling showmen supplying "penny in the slot machines".

Although associated in partnership with Sagar Mitchell since 1897 little is known of their film production until 1899. The success of their early films encouraged Mitchell to give up his shop and in September 1901 Mitchell and Kenyon moved into the premises in Clayton Street, Blackburn, to concentrate on film production. Mitchell and Kenyon used the trade name of Norden, the company became one of the largest film producers in the United Kingdom in the 1900s, producing a mixture of "topicals", fiction, and fake war films. Many of these films were produced for travelling showmen.