Accession Number

2012.007.001.002

Description

Ten women seated. All wearing hats. Several of the straw hats have cap tallies bearing the inscription HMS Imperieuse.

Narrative

Laura Miller Dunsmuir is possibly seated second from the left in the back row.

HMS Imperieuse was the flagship of the Royal Navy's Pacific fleet from 1896 until April 1, 1899. As a flagship, HMS Imperieuse was host to many public events and society engagements, including balls. 

The other women in this photograph are not yet identified. 

 

History of Use

This photograph was taken in about 1897 and placed in an album created by the James and Laura Dunsmuir family at Burleith, their home on Victoria's Gorge Waterway. In 1906 it was probably taken by the family to Victoria's Government House where they lived while James served as British Columbia's eighth Lieutenant Governor. From there it was taken to the family's new house, Hatley Park, in 1910.

Sometime after Laura Miller Dunsmuir's death in 1937, the album became the property of Dola Frances Dunsmuir (also known as Mrs. Dola Cavendish) and was kept at her house Dolaura in Colwood, B.C. After hear death, the album was owned by her sister Kathleen's daughter, Judith Humphreys (also known as Mrs. Judith Joy). Her daughter donated the album to Craigdarroch Castle in 2012.

Date

circa 1897

Dimensions

10.2 x 15 cm

Material

Paper

Support

Paper, Photographic paper

Country of Origin

Canada