Accession Number

2004.012

Description

One sepia-toned photograph of a small sailboat on water. It is mounted on a rectangular piece of heavy weight beige coloured cardstock. Half of the image is dominated by a body of water with a slight ripple. In the centre is a small clinker-hulled sailboat with horizontal clapboard planks. There are dark-coloured top rails. The sails are unfurled, the front sail slightly smaller than the other and tied down to the bow and onto the mast. The other sail is larger and triangular in shape and tied to the mast. Six people are seated in the boat and a man with a hat, long sleeved shirt and trousers is standing in the bow holding onto the mast. Everyone is wearing light coloured clothes. A seated woman at the stern is holding an open dark coloured umbrella over her head. To the right of the boat there looks to be another three empty similarly sized boats. In the background on the right side are deciduous trees covering a low rocky hill. On the left is a low bank and a trestle bridge. Hand printed in black ink, in uppercase lettering, across the top centre front, is the name of the boat, "Mary Jane". On the reverse side in handwriting in black ink is information on the location of the photograph and the people depicted in it.

Narrative

This 1875 photograph depicts members of the Harvey and Dunsmuir families on a leisurely sale in Nanaimo's harbour. 

History of Use

This photograph was created in Nanaimo, B.C. in 1875. It was used by Agnes Crooks Dunsmuir and her husband James Harvey in their two Nanaimo houses (the latter one being Ardoon) until 1890 when the photograph was inherited by James Swan Harvey (1872-1932), their eldest son. In the early 20th Century, he and his wife, Mabel Gaudin, used the photograph at their house on Knapp Island, near the north tip off Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula. It was next inherited by their son, Robert Oliver Dunsmuir Harvey (1900-1958) who used the photograph on Vancouver Island with his wife Lillian Martindale. Sometime in the 1960s, she mailed the photograph to the donor, who was a Dunsmuir/Harvey descendant. 

Date

July 18 1875

Dimensions

6.5 x 10.5 cm

Material

Paper, cardstock

Artwork Title

Mary Jane

Subject/Image

Members of the Dunsmuir and Harvey families on a small sailboat in Nanaimo harbour.

Medium

Photographic

Support

Paper

Inscription

On the top front of the photograph:

Mary Jane

On the verso:

Nanaimo
Vancouver Island
British Columbia

July 18. 1875.

Emily Dunsmuir
George Rout Harvey
Mary J. Dunsmuir
Jessie Dunsmuir
James Harvey
Maggie Harvey
Mrs. Harvey

Country of Origin

Canada