A Princely Visit: Photographs from British Columbia

One hundred years ago the Prince of Wales, and future King Edward VIII, made a long and highly publicized visit to Canada during his 1919 tour of the British Empire. The trip lasted from August 11th, when the Prince arrived by ship in Newfoundland, through November 10th, crossing westward and then back eastward across the continent. Photographers and journalists, alongside ordinary Canadians, gathered in cities and towns to catch a glimpse of the Prince. According to Library and Archives Canada, it was one of the first major cross-Canada events covered by the motion picture newsreels (see their blog post and video here). The Prince was photographed giving speeches, meeting with veteran soldiers from WWI, and shaking hands with dignitaries, as well as being greeted by leaders of First Nations communities across Canada. Many of these photographs were turned into postcards and have ended up in various Canadian Institutions such as the Library and Archives Canada and the Royal BC Archives, this one (below) however, made its way to New York City before landing in Suitland, Maryland in the NMAI Archives.

Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, being greeted by Kwakwaka'waka (Kwakiutl) and Coast Salish leaders in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, 1919. Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs (NMAI.AC.134), P00746. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. 

One of the photographers present at the prince’s arrival in Victoria, British Columbia was Ernest Crocker. Crocker, along with two other English emigrants to Canada, had co-founded “Trio Photograph Company and Supply” in Victoria sometime around 1903. Though the original partnership was later dissolved and Crocker took over the main operations, Trio continued to flourish as a military photography company, photographing soldiers and personnel from WWI and WWII. The company also photographed local landscapes and indigenous communities in and around Victoria. In the early years of the company, some of these photographs were made into scenic postcards and sold at a cigar-stand at the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Empress Hotel in Downtown Victoria. 

Postcard featuring a Kwakwaka'waka (Kwakiutl) totem pole in Cape Mudge Village on Quadra Island, British Columbia, circa 1920. This postcard was stamped with "Trio" on the back. Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs (NMAI.AC.134), P06408. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. 

Though it is unclear exactly when the photographs were acquired, H. B. “Barney” Olson, an employee of the Empress Hotel at the time, must have either bought (or was given) several Trio photographs and postcards from the cigar-stand. These photographs included the first image of the Prince of Wales being greeted by the Governor of British Columbia along with leaders from the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) and Coast Salish communities, in addition to views of several Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) villages on Vancouver and Quadra Islands. 

In 1924, Olson donated his collection of Trio photographs to the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation (the National Museum of the American Indian’s predecessor institution) which is how they became a part of NMAI’s archival collections. Although the initial cataloging of the photographs did not include a photographer, many of the prints had the word “Trio” stamped on the back. 

View of a Kwakwaka'waka (Kwakiutl) totem pole in Cape Mudge Village on Quadra Island, British Columbia, circa 1920. The same totem pole can be seen in the postcard above. Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs (NMAI.AC.134), P06412. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. 

Thanks to the many resources available online today we were able to quickly find information on Trio Photographic Supply through the directory "Camera Workers British Columbia, 1858-1950", by D. Mattison, as well as information on Crocker himself from the BC (British Columbia) Archives. (See guide to the Ernest Crocker Fonds).

Now, the “Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs from British Columbia” (NMAI.AC.134) can be found digitized and online through the Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives or at the Smithsonian’s Collection Search Center.

Rachel Menyuk, Processing Archivist

National Museum of the American Indian, Archives Center