Accession Number

2023.003.001

Description

One sepia-toned studio photograph of James Harvey (1844-1890) from mid-chest up, his oiled hair parted at his left side, his gaze directed to his right. He is wearing a dark suit and vest, a light coloured shirt, and a dark bow tie. The photograph is mounted on cardstock. On the verso in brown coloured machine printing are the photography studios identifying marks arranged with artistic flourish: BRADLEY & RULOFSON SAN FRANCISO UNITED STATES THE WORLD VIENNA 1873 GOLD MEDALS 1129 MONGOMERY STREET SAN FRANCISCO CAL. HAVE THE ONLY ELEVATOR PHOTOGRAPHY CONNECTED IN THE WORLD. Handwritten in black ink is: “One platino Boudoir 616 Mrs. Jas Harvey 1 Kelvin Driv. Kelvinside 31 July 91”.

Narrative

James Harvey (1844-1890) was married to Agnes Crooks Dunsmuir (1849-1889), second daughter of Robert and Joan Olive Dunsmuir. This rare photograph of him was taken in San Francisco, California in about 1874. The photographic studio, Bradley & Rulofson, is believed to have been active from 1850 to 1878 (see: https://broadway.library.sc.edu/content/studio-bradley-and-rulofson.html) The handwriting on the back of the photograph’s mount suggests that the print may have been mailed from the photographer’s studio to James Harvey’s mother or perhaps his grandmother after his death, which occurred in Pasadena, California on February 25, 1890. A photograph apparently taken not long before this one is held by the Royal British Columbia Museum, BC Archives (see: https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/mr-james-harvey-nanaimo-shopkeeper-married-agnes-dunsmuir

History of Use

This photograph was created in San Francisco, California and sent to the family of James Harvey (possibly his mother) in Kelvinside, a district of Glasgow, Scotland, during the last half of 1891. Sometime after 1896, it came into the possession of James Harvey’s daughter Margaret Joan Harvey (Mrs. Berkeley Holme-Sumner). It was next owned by her daughter, Georgiana Holme-Sumner, and then by Georgiana Holme-Sumner’s son, who donated the photograph to Craigdarroch Castle in 2023. He had been using it at his home in Scotland.

Date

circa 1874

Dimensions

17.4 x 11.7 cm

Subject/Image

James Harvey

Country of Origin

United States of America