Manitoba Photographers: James Deakin Hall (1854-1936)

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James D. Hall
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Work locations | Samples | Sources

Born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1854, son of Reverend Thomas and Martha Caroline Hall, he immigrated to Brampton, Ontario with his parents and brother Robert H. Hall in 1867. [1] A year later, he moved to Toronto and eventually became employed in the Toronto photography studio of Notman & Fraser. [2] Soon after arriving in Winnipeg in July 1881, he formed a partnership with William Johnston, who had operated a studio at 360 Main Street, opposite City Hall, since January 1881. (Johnston had previously had a short-lived partnership with Israel Bennetto, from October to December 1880.) Hall bought out his partner’s share within six months, and Johnston went his own way. In March 1882 Hall took on a new partner, 26-year-old Englishman Skene Lowe, who had formerly worked at the Toronto firm of Gagen & Fraser. Hall & Lowe took numerous scenic and portrait photographs of western Canada over the course of the next several years. Eventually, Hall opened a new photographic studio at Vancouver, British Columbia in October 1887 [3]. The partnership was dissolved in May 1892 when Hall became the sheriff of Vancouver. He died at Oak Bay, British Columbia on 3 August 1936. [4]

Work locations

Year(s)

Location

1881-1887

Winnipeg [360 Main Street]

1887-1892

Vancouver, British Columbia

Samples

To come

Sources:

1. Winnipeg Daily Sun, 24 December 1883, page 11.

2. Winnipeg Times, 17 August 1881, page 2. [advertisement]

3. Manitoba Daily Free Press, 19 October 1887.

4. Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

We thank Frank Korvemaker and Michelle Cabana for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 3 June 2014

Manitoba Photographers: 1858 to Present

A list of professional photographers who have worked in Manitoba, from 1858 to the present, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.

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Gordon Goldsborough & Manitoba Historical Society. All rights reserved.