Accession Number

2012.007.001.020

Description

One black and white photograph of a woman sitting in a small boat. She is wearing a hat.

Narrative

This 1901 photograph depicts Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes,1867-1953), when she was visiting Victoria, B.C. as the Duchess of York, wife to the Duke of York, the future King George V. On the day this photograph was taken, she had travelled by boat to the James and Laura Dunsmuir house, Burleith, while her husband was busy with official engagements. The boat is situated at the dock of Burleith at the mouth of Victoria's Gorge Waterway. 

According to Elizabeth Maud "Bessie" Dunsmuir, the future Queen toured the entire main floor of the house, and much to the consternation of Mrs. James Dunsmuir, asked to see the upstairs too.¹

To mark the Royal visit to British Columbia, the provincial government installed lighting on the legislative buildings, a feature that has carried forward to present day. James Dunsmuir was the Premier of British Columbia when this decision was taken.

1. Terry Reksten, "The Dunsmuir Saga" (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1991), 215.

History of Use

This photograph was taken in 1901 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

1901

Dimensions

9.2 x 11.8 cm

Subject/Image

Mary of Teck, Duchess of York.

Support

Paper, Photographic paper

Country of Origin

Canada