Roger Fenton was born on March 28, 1819, in Bury, Lancashire, England to Elisabeth Apedaile and John Fenton. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1840 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1841, Roger began attending University College and studying law, but he did not qualify as a solicitor until 1847. He married Grace Elizabeth Maynard in Yorkshire on August 29, 1843, and together they had five children. In 1847, Roger began to study painting under Charles Lucy and exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy in 1849, 1850, and 1851. He visited the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851 and became interested in photography. Roger traveled to France to learn the waxed paper calotype process and was exhibiting photographs by 1852. Roger was appointed the first official photographer of the British Museum in 1854. In 1855, he went to Crimea and took photographs to document the Crimean War. He died August 9, 1869, at his home in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England.