The life of celebrated Victorian photographer Henry Taunt is to be honoured with a blue plaque.

The Oxford lensman, who died in 1922, will join a distinguished list of those remembered by the Oxfordshire Blue Plaque Board when it is unveiled at Canterbury House - his former home in Cowley Road - next week.

Taunt, who was born in 1842, captured the splendour and elegance of Oxford at the turn of the century and left a legacy of 6,000 glass negatives.

Many became popular picture postcard scenes.

He once owned Canterbury House, which was latterly used as the headquarters of the Oxford Bus Company.

The site was the subject of controversy after a bid by Berkeley Homes to demolish it.

Tony Joyce, chairman of Oxford Civic Society, said: "We are delighted that his house is going to be retained alongside the development and as a result we are able to put a blue plaque to commemorate Mr Taunt's outstanding contribution.

"The future of the house was uncertain for a while, but through co-operation we are now delighted it is going to be retained.

"His recognition is very welcome and further acknowledgement of his work."

Taunt was at the cutting edge of Victorian location photographic technology and produced the first pocket guide to the River Thames to be illustrated with photographs.

In 1893, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his cartography and the accuracy of measurements that featured in his Thames mappings.

Experts are agreed that books like Three Men in a Boat or Wind in the Willows might not have been written, or achieved such popularity, if it had not been for Taunt's albums, postcards and detailed and enthusiastic descriptions of the Thames from its Cotswold source in Lechlade to London.

Taunt's photographs are reproduced in many books and major collections of his work are held by English Heritage, Oxfordshire County Council and the River and Rowing Museum in Henley.

The blue plaque board is a voluntary organisation of 15 members - including chairman Hugo Brunner, the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.

Secretary Eda Forbes said: "Most people care about history and the blue plaques provide a tapestry of the nation, because most people honoured in Oxford are national figures. We are keeping history alive this way."

Taunt's will become the 34th blue plaque in Oxfordshire since 2001.