Camera Workers, 1858-1950


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

First Name Last Name
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Benson, Dr. Alfred Robson

Benson, Dr. Alfred Robson[1, 2, 3, 4]

Male 1815 - 1886  (71 years)


Personal Information    |    Media    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Benson, Alfred Robson
    Title Dr.
    Birth 22 Nov 1815  Whitby, Yorkshire, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Christening 24 Nov 1815  Whitby, Yorkshire, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 6] 
    Gender Male
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1860  Nanaimo, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Nanaimo, BC
    Canada 
    Marriage 19 Dec 1860  Nanaimo?, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [7] 
    Bride: Ellen Phillips 
    • The Durham Chronicle marriage noticed stated they were both of "Vancouver's Island".
    Death 9 Dec 1886  Whitby, Yorkshire, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [8, 9] 
    Burial 11 Dec 1886  Whitby, Yorkshire, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Association Claudet, Francis George (Relationship: Acquaintence)
    Person ID I376  Camera Workers | B, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 7 Jun 2024

  • Photos
    Dr. A.R. Benson and his wife, 1860s.    		Dr. A.R. Benson and his wife, 1860s.
    Studio portrait by J.W. Vaughan. Image courtesy of BC Archives, Visual Records item number B-00931 (HP028892).

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: The son of William and Elizabeth Benson, he was christened on 24 Nov 1815 at his birthplace. He arrived in BC in 1849 and served as a physician at various Hudson's Bay Company forts and towns, including Victoria, Nanaimo (1857-1862), and Vancouver, WA. Francis G. Claudet met him at Nanaimo and utilized some of the doctor's equipment to obtain a view of Nanaimo between 11 and 22 Jun 1860. Mount Benson near Nanaimo was named in 1859 after him.

      By the time of the 1871 England census he was back living in Yorkshire at Ruswarp, age 55 and widowed; he was living with his sister Dorothy Benson and two female servants, one of whom was 90 years old. [11]

  • Sources 
    1. [S666] BVIPA archival records.
      Claudet papers, A/E/C57/C57 (letter, F.G. Claudet to Mary Claudet, 1860 06 22)

    2. [S666] BVIPA archival records.
      Benson papers

    3. [S459] Dorothy Blakey Smith, ed., Smith (1975), (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1975).

    4. [S473] John T. Walbran, Walbran (1971), (Vancouver: J.J. Douglas, 1971), 48.

    5. [S920] Findmypast.com (Web site).
      Benson, Alfred Robson
      Yorkshire Baptisms

    6. [S667] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch.org (Web site).
      "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975"; URL (accessed 17 Feb 2017): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3FV-WQJ

    7. [S920] Findmypast.com (Web site), 22 Mar 1861, 8.
      Durham Chronicle, "Marriages"

    8. [S667] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch.org (Web site).
      "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007"; URL (accessed 17 Feb 2017): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JTV-LZV

    9. [S924] Ancestry.ca (Web site).
      England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995

    10. [S920] Findmypast.com (Web site).
      Benson, Alfred
      Yorkshire Burials

    11. [S967] England and Wales Census, 1871.
      via FamilySearch.org (accessed 17 Feb 2017): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZGC-18R