Accession Number

2023.003.007

Description

One sepia-toned studio photograph of the wedding party of Elizabeth Georgina Harvey and George Alan Kirk on the west garden entrance steps at Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria, B.C. Seven people stand below the Romanesque archway at Craigdarroch’s west façade. To the left, a striped awning obscures the top third of the library window. Beneath it is a flowering bush. At the right is the west verandah covered in ivy. The bride wears a white gown with a very long train. Her veil is tucked behind her head and she holds a floral bouquet that hangs about 2 ½ feet from her hands. She is facing west towards the camera. The bridesmaid, also in white but with a shorter train, faces south. She is holding a bouquet of similar length to that of the bride. The groom stands beside the bride and wears a morning suit and calf-length darkly-coloured coat. He is staring into the camera. The two page boys and two flower girls are dressed in white and assembled at the right in the image. The photograph is mounted on a black semi-gloss matboard. At the lower right front corner is the embossed name of the studio in fancy script: “Fleming Bros. Victoria, B.C.”

Narrative

This photograph depicts most of the wedding party of Elizabeth Georgina “Noel” Harvey (1872-1928) and George Alan Kirk (1870-1928) who married at Victoria’s Christchurch Cathedral on September 30, 1903. They are posing on the steps leading to Craigdarroch Castle’s garden entrance on the building’s west side. 

The people are (left to right): Miss Powell; Major Clark; Elizabeth Georgina Harvey; George Alan Kirk; Master Eric Burton; Miss Iris Burton; Master Robert Oliver Dunsmuir Harvey (seated); Miss Joan Isobel “June” Chaplin.

Elizabeth Georgina Harvey lived in Craigdarroch from 1890 until her marriage to Mr. Kirk in 1903. They soon moved into a new house built for them at 582 St. Charles Street, just a few blocks from Craigdarroch. Named “Riffham”, the house was designed by Francis Rattenbury and was still standing in 2023. 

History of Use

This photograph was created in Victoria, B.C. Canada, given by the bride and groom to the bride's sister, Margaret Joan Harvey. It was then used by Captain Berkeley Holme-Sumner and Margaret Joan Harvey in Britain until the 1950s when it became the property of their 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

September 30 1903

Dimensions

31 x 38.3 cm

Subject/Image

Wedding party of Elizabeth Georgina Harvey and George Alan Kirk at Craigdarroch Castle, September 30, 1903

Country of Origin

Canada