Accession Number

2012.007.002.006

Description

Black and white photograph of a woman wrapped in a sari like costume standing on a deck of a ship.

Narrative

The woman depicted in this photograph is Kathleen Dunsmuir. It is likely that this picture was taken during the family trip to Egypt in 1912. As part of a year long vacation, the Dunsmuir family and friends hired a Dahabiya houseboat to cruise along the Nile.¹ This was an expensive and leisurely way to sail on the Nile, with trips typically starting at Cairo and sailing  for eight weeks to reach Aswan at the head of Lake Nasser.  

1 Audain, James, (1955), From Coalmine to Castle, p.174.

History of Use

This album was created by the James and Laura Dunsmuir family at Hatley Park.

Some of the images of Hatley Park in the album show minimal landscaping, suggesting those photos date from when the house was newly completed, around 1910. At least one of the album's photographs was used as a post card and a postmark on the back shows a date of 1929, giving an approximate date range for the photographs in the album.

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 her 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

1912

Dimensions

11.1 x 6.7 cm

Support

Paper, Photographic paper