Freddie Mudditt

Freddie Brandon Mudditt (1926/1927 — October 1985), also known as Fred Mudditt, was an English photographer and police officer from South Shields, in Tyne and Wear, England. He was known for documenting the people, events and public life of South Tyneside during the mid to late twentieth century.

Career

Mudditt served as a police officer in the Laygate area of South Shields before joining the police forensics department as a scenes-of-crime photographer after his interest in photography became known to his superiors.

Mudditt photographed Queen Elizabeth II during her 1977 Silver Jubilee visit to Gypsies Green in South Shields.

Death and legacy

Mudditt died suddenly on 14 October 1985, at the age of 58, after collapsing in his darkroom at home.

His daughters, Julia Northam and Janis Liddle, subsequently led the preservation and digitisation of his photographic archive. By 2017, and after assistance from relatives and local sources, they had assembled a collection of approximately 2,000 photographs. Many photos were found and scanned via the local council's archives held by South Tyneside Libraries.