HI, I have found an old photo with 2 of my great Aunts taken I think around 1898 when they visited Scotland from New Zealand. The 3rd person in the photo may be I think their cousin Alice Munro Ross who lived in Coupar Angus with her parents George and Jessie. Are there any records available for old photographers that may be able to help with identifying old photos or at least that the photographer existed in Blairgowrie at that time.
I live in Canada so would be very grateful for any help.
Cheers
Jan
D. Milner & Son photographers Blairgowrie
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janneymc
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Currie
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Hello Jan,
I think most 19th Century photography businesses were very small, often one man, operations which only lasted until he went broke, retired or died. When that happened the thousands of heavy glass negatives he had accumulated became a liability rather than an asset and usually ended up being destroyed, sold for scrap, or stored away in some unsuitable environment. The same goes for any records in relation to the business.
Occasionally we hear of collections of glass negatives being found under houses etc but that is an extreme rarity. A photographer would have had no commercial reason to record any information as to names of people in photographs. His interest was in making a living and the main concern would have been to have a record of the person who owed him, the payment, and some link to the stored negative in case further copies were ordered.
There was a bit of discussion about photographs in a previous thread although for a much more recent period viewtopic.php?t=11528&highlight=photographer
A directory of Blairgowrie may give some additional information about him but it would probably be easier just to look him up on the 1901 census to see where he operated from and to get his full name and maybe trace him back if you are interested.
I think the fellow you’re after may be D. Milne rather than Milner. I can’t see any thing for either name in the available 19th Century newspapers but he was certainly going strong in Blairgowrie although there’s not much coming to light.
This looks like a very early photo of his for sale on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Blairgowrie-CDV7 ... dZViewItem
About a sixth of the way down this page there’s an account of a D. Milne of Blairgowrie taking photos of a hedge in 1903. http://djvued.libs.uga.edu/text/1tgbitxt.txt
Here’s a photograph attributed to “D.Milne & Son, Blairgowrie N.B. [North Britain, Scotland]” http://www.rogerco.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pixs/milnfb.jpg
I couldn’t figure out why a Scottish Photographer would put N.B. rather than Scotland on his photographs until I read this Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Britain
Hope there’s something useful there,
All the best,
Alan
I think most 19th Century photography businesses were very small, often one man, operations which only lasted until he went broke, retired or died. When that happened the thousands of heavy glass negatives he had accumulated became a liability rather than an asset and usually ended up being destroyed, sold for scrap, or stored away in some unsuitable environment. The same goes for any records in relation to the business.
Occasionally we hear of collections of glass negatives being found under houses etc but that is an extreme rarity. A photographer would have had no commercial reason to record any information as to names of people in photographs. His interest was in making a living and the main concern would have been to have a record of the person who owed him, the payment, and some link to the stored negative in case further copies were ordered.
There was a bit of discussion about photographs in a previous thread although for a much more recent period viewtopic.php?t=11528&highlight=photographer
A directory of Blairgowrie may give some additional information about him but it would probably be easier just to look him up on the 1901 census to see where he operated from and to get his full name and maybe trace him back if you are interested.
I think the fellow you’re after may be D. Milne rather than Milner. I can’t see any thing for either name in the available 19th Century newspapers but he was certainly going strong in Blairgowrie although there’s not much coming to light.
This looks like a very early photo of his for sale on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Blairgowrie-CDV7 ... dZViewItem
About a sixth of the way down this page there’s an account of a D. Milne of Blairgowrie taking photos of a hedge in 1903. http://djvued.libs.uga.edu/text/1tgbitxt.txt
Here’s a photograph attributed to “D.Milne & Son, Blairgowrie N.B. [North Britain, Scotland]” http://www.rogerco.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pixs/milnfb.jpg
I couldn’t figure out why a Scottish Photographer would put N.B. rather than Scotland on his photographs until I read this Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Britain
Hope there’s something useful there,
All the best,
Alan
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janneymc
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- Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 1:29 am
- Location: Vancouver Canada
D Milne Photographer
HI Alan, Yes I realised after i posted that that the loop was not in fact an 'R'. Thank you very much for that information. That's very helpful. For anyone else looking to check out photographers I found a website called www.cartedevisite.co.uk and they will tell the age of a photo if you scan it for them. There is also a list of UK photographers from 1840 -1940.
Cheers
Jan
Cheers
Jan