Camera Workers, 1858-1950

The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

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Fardon, George Robinson[1]

Male 1807 - 1886  (79 years)


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  • Name Fardon, George Robinson 
    Born 1807  Birmingham, UK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Business Address/Year 1861-Oct 1863  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Government St.
    Victoria, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1863  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    68 Government St.
    Victoria, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year Oct 1863-Jul 1871  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Worked at this address until at least Jul 1871 
    Address:
    Langley St.
    at Yates St.
    Victoria, BC
    Canada 
    Died 20 Aug 1886  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Association Shakespeare, Noah (Relationship: Employee) 
    Person ID I236  Camera Workers | F, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 16 Jan 2017 

  • Photos
    Photographer G.R. Fardon.    		Photographer G.R. Fardon.
    Image courtesy of BC Archives, Visual Records call no. G-03088.
    Photographer Noah Shakespeare.    		Photographer Noah Shakespeare.
    Photographed by G.R. Fardon. Image courtesy of BC Archives, Visual Records call no. B-01413.

    Documents
    G.R. Fardon's ad, <i>Colonist</i>, 1862 10 04.    		G.R. Fardon's ad, Colonist, 1862 10 04.
    G.R. Fardon's ad, <i>Colonist</i>, 1869 11 04.    		G.R. Fardon's ad, Colonist, 1869 11 04.
    G.R. Fardon cartouche from verso of carte-de-visite.    		G.R. Fardon cartouche from verso of carte-de-visite.
    Image courtesy of BC Archives, Visual Records catalogue no. HP067287.
    G.R. Fardon's ad in Joseph Park's <i>A Practical View of the Mining Laws of British Columbia</i> (1864).    		G.R. Fardon's ad in Joseph Park's A Practical View of the Mining Laws of British Columbia (1864).
    Immediately below Fardon's ad was one for John William Vaughan.
    G.R. Fardon's ad, <i>Colonist</i>, 1861 03 05.    		G.R. Fardon's ad, Colonist, 1861 03 05.

    Headstones
    G.R. Fardon's gravestone, Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.    		G.R. Fardon's gravestone, Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Fardon emigrated to New York and is believed to have followed the gold rush to California in 1849. He operated a daguerreotype studio at 146 Kearny St., San Francisco, in 1855-1856 and then at 200 or 203 Clay St. in 1857-1858. His studio was listed for sale in May 1858 and it is presumed he moved up to Victoria shortly thereafter.

      The first indication of his photographic work in Victoria comes in Jan 1861 when he was assessed for taxes. An 1863 ad for his move to Langley St. mentioned that he had been in business for three years or since 1860. Primarily a portrait photographer--many photos of early political figures were taken in his studio--, Fardon also practiced landscape work.

      He published an album of views of San Francisco in 1856, the first of its kind in North America. His landscape photographs of Victoria are very few some of these were displayed at the London International Exhibition of 1862.

      Between Jul 1865 and Jul 1866 when Fardon was in England, his studio was managed by Noah Shakespeare. The date of Fardon's retirement from photography is unknown but a photo taken in Jul 1871 by Benjamin Baltzly shows the sign for his studio on Langley St.

      Fardon was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: "G R Fardon, Photographer Victoria V.I." on verso of carte-de-visite; "Fardon" embossed on front of carte-de-visite; some cartes-de-visite have a blank scroll design on the verso; "G.R. Fardon" embossed on front of print mount.
    • REFERENCES: HOW63; MAL68; MAL69; MAL71; (San Francisco) Evening Bulletin, 1858 05 24/2; (Victoria) Chronicle, 1863 11 28/2; (Victoria) Colonist, various references; Fardon (1977 reprint); Schwartz (1978 12); Fardon (1999 reprint); Mattison (1999a); Mattison (1999b); BVIPA GR-1304, file 229 (probate); BVIPA Visual Records Photographer File.

  • Sources 
    1. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA.
      Cartes-de-visite and prints