Accession Number

2012.007.003.014

Description

Black and white photograph of four women and one child. They are all standing. Three of the women are knitting and the one in the foreground is looking at the camera. There is a house behind them with a front porch sheltered by horizontally trailing ivy. The child is standing on the porch, apparently playing with a toy pram. There is a wooden swing bench on one end of the porch.

Narrative

The house pictured is Dola's playhouse at Hatley Park, although none of the people appearing in the photograph are Dunsmuir family members. The playhouse was located near the creek on the eastern side of the Hatley Park property and was built by the resident carpenter, Peter Bugslag. The house was about 1/3 scale of a real home and the furniture inside was custom made to the same scale.


 

History of Use

This photograph was taken in about 1919 and placed in an album created by the James and Laura Dunsmuir family at Hatley Park. 

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

circa 1919

Dimensions

6.6 x 11.5 cm

Support

Paper, Photographic paper

Country of Origin

Canada