Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

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Claudet, Francis George

Claudet, Francis George[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Male 1837 - 1906  (69 years)

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  • Name Claudet, Francis George 
    Birth 15 Feb 1837  London, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1860-1873  New Westminster, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 13 Mar 1906  London, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Association Benson, Alfred Robson (Relationship: Acquaintence) 
    Association Roche, Richard (Relationship: Acquaintence) 
    Association Withrow, David (Relationship: Acquaintence) 
    Association Dally, Frederick (Relationship: Acquaintence?) 
    Person ID I304  Camera Workers | C, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 13 Feb 2017 

  • Photos
    F.G. Claudet, ca. Mar 1870.    		F.G. Claudet, ca. Mar 1870.
    Photographed in David Withrow's New Westminster studio, the inclusion of the stereograph viewer is intentional as a reminder of Claudet's connection through his father with the earliest years of stereoscopic photography. British Columbia Archives Item G-07033 (HP002481).
    F.G. Claudet or David Withrow, Hope, BC, 1860s.    		F.G. Claudet or David Withrow, Hope, BC, 1860s.
    Part of the Claudet family fonds at the BC Archives, this photograph appears to be the basis for the engraving credited to Withrow and published in the Canadian Illustrated News, 18 May 1872, p. 309. The two photographers knew each other. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item A-03530.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Appointed to manage the assay office and mint at New Westminster, Claudet arrived in the Colony of British Columbia from London in Feb 1860. In Jun 1860 he visited Dr. A.R. Benson in Nanaimo, an amateur photographer with whom Claudet was not impressed. Lady Franklin (1792-1875), who was visiting BC, purchased or was given photographs of New Westminster by Claudet on 13 Mar 1861. Her niece and travelling companion, Sophia Cracroft (1816-1892), called the views "very interesting."

      Sent by Governor James Douglas to San Francisco in Nov 1861 to purchase equipment for the mint, Claudet may have obtained additional photographic supplies there; he had visited San Francisco earlier in the year and may also have purchased supplies then. Claudet returned to New Westminster from San Francisco with his mint equipment in Mar 1862 on the same boat which brought Richard and Hannah Maynard to Victoria.

      Some of Claudet's photographs were sent to the London Exhibition of 1862 along with specimen coins from the mint. Claudet returned to London in 1873. He was married in Victoria on 22 Sep 1863 to Frances Fleury (1836-1899). The youngest son of talented portrait photographer, Antoine Francois Jean Claudet (1797-1867), one of Francis Claudet's sons, Frederick G. Claudet of Nanoose Bay, BC, preserved many of his father's photographs.

      Thanks to Marcel Safier, an Australian photohistorian, the mystery surrounding by whom Frederick G. Claudet had some of his father's photographs copied in 1904 in London prior to a visit to BC has been solved. Frederick referenced the photographer by his last name of Dron. The photographer's full name was Andrew William Dron and between 1902-1921 he worked at 2E Dyne Rd. [Brondesbury], Kilburn, London NW, England. Marcel Safier cites an e-mail from British photohistorian Ron Cosens who cites Sandy Barrie's draft manuscript on British photographers. Barrie gave the address as 2E, but Cosens believes it should be 23; a local historian of Kilburn, however, informed me that 2E Dyne Rd. is the correct address.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: some prints marked "Claudet."
    • REFERENCES: HOW63; MAL68; MAL69; MAL71; Reid (1926); Cracroft (1974):35, 68; Mattison (1990a); Mattison (1990c); BVIPA Visual Records Photographer File.

  • Sources 
    1. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA.

    2. [S138] COLLECTION: BVAUS.

    3. [S666] BVIPA archival records.
      Claudet papers, A/E/C57/C57

    4. [S692] Correspondence, David Mattison, 16 Feb 2008, from Marcel Safier.
      E-mail about the identity of Andrew William Dron as the London photographer who copied F.G. Claudet's photographs for his son Frederick G. Claudet in 1904. These copy prints were given to various individuals in BC during Frederick's visit in 1904.

    5. [S692] Correspondence, David Mattison, 03 Jul 2010, from Dick Weindling.
      E-mailed with correct address of 2E Dyne Rd. for Dron.