Like many other gentleman amateur photographers in mid-19th-century Britain—a period of industrialization and the social and political changes that came with it—Henry White most frequently turned his camera on serene passages of the English landscape or scenes that spoke of a time-honored way of life. The mill shown here was likely the old Ham Haw Mill that sat between the River Wey and the adjacent canal near their confluence with the Thames about 20 miles southeast of London. Over time, the water-powered mill, first built in the late 17th century, was used for the production of paper, then flour, brass and iron work, and eventually oilseed crushing.