Brooks, Edward Coley^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]}

1855 - 1908  (52 years)

• Name	Brooks, Edward Coley
  Birth	8 Jul 1855	Piddletrenthide, Dorset, Eng., UK   [11, 12]
  	In the 1901 census he gave his birth year as 1858.
  Christening	19 Mar 1856	Piddletrenthide, Dorset, Eng., UK   [11]
  Gender	Male
  Business Address/Year	1888-1891?	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 164 Johnson St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1887-1888	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Johnson St. and Cook St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1892	Nanaimo, BC
  	Address: Clark's Lodging House Nanaimo, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	30 Jun-Jul 1893	Kaslo, BC
  	Visit
  Home Address/Year	1895	Nanaimo, BC
  	Address: 50 Victoria Cres. Nanaimo, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1898	Nanaimo, BC
  	Address: Commercial St. Nanaimo, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1892-1904	Nanaimo, BC
  	Address: 50 Victoria Cres. Nanaimo, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1889-1891?	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 164 Johnson St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Death	7 Feb 1908	New York, NY   [11]
  Association	Brooks and Berry (Relationship: Partner)
  Association	Chambers, Arthur Hyde (Relationship: Sold business to)
  Association	Boas, Franz (Relationship: Employee)
  Person ID	I384	Camera Workers | B, vol. 1, 1858-1900
  Last Modified	16 Nov 2021

  
  

• Documents » Slide Show		Guerin College of Photography ad. E.C. Brooks and J.C. Cornish attended this college.
  		E.C. Brooks ad, Victoria Colonist, 16 Jan 1889, p. 1. Announcing the opening of his studio and landscape photography business. The ad is dated 12 Dec [1888].
  		E.C. Brooks verso of a Christmas and New Year's landscape photograph, late 1880s This is the verso of a photo print mount, the front of which features this seasonal greeting, "Wishing You a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year". Of the two known versions, the photo in the BC Archives is a view of Victoria's Inner Harbour from Church Hill (BC Archives, catalogue no. HP062773; item D-02219). The other version, in a private collection, depicts Kwakwaka'wakw men and women from Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) on northern Vancouver Island.
  		E.L. Meyer's Palmos' Photo Studio news, Nanaimo Daily News, 20 Apr 1904, p. 4, part 1. In this article it is the former premises of E.C. Brook's photo studio in Nanaimo's Green Block which Meyer's new business is occupying.
  		E.L. Meyer news, Nanaimo Daily News, 12 Apr 1904, p. 2. While this article claimed he was altering premises formerly occupied by J.H. Good in Nanaimo's Green Block, another article indicated it was E.C. Brooks' old studio that was being renovated.
  		E.L. Meyer's Palmos' Photo Studio news, Nanaimo Daily News, 20 Apr 1904, p. 4, part 2. In this article it is the former premises of E.C. Brook's photo studio in Nanaimo's Green Block which Meyer's new business is occupying.
  		E.C. Brooks' ad, Kaslo Claim, 30 Jun 1898.
  		E.C. Brooks news, Victoria Colonist, 18 Mar 1888, p. 4.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial. BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: He established himself in Victoria circa 1887. In Sep 1888 he travelled up the Fraser River to photograph the salmon canneries and other views. Brooks remained in Victoria until moving to Nanaimo around 1891-1892. He visited Kaslo for about a month in 1893 and returned to Nanaimo. In late Nov 1898 he arrived in San Francisco, CA, purpose unknown; his occupation on the Umatilla's passenger list out of Victoria was photographer. Primarily a portrait photographer, he also engaged in landscape work. He had a partnership in Victoria as Brooks and Berry. He attended the Guerin College of Photography in St. Louis, Missouri, early in 1902. According to the Nanaimo Free Press, he committed suicide in New York State. An article about his death also appeared in the New York Daily Tribune (9 Feb 1908, p. 7). According to the Tribune article, he may have been survived by a brother, Clifford Brooks, who lived in London, Eng. IDENTIFYING MARKS: "E. C. Brooks, Photographer, Victoria, B.C." stamped on verso of print; "E. C. Brooks, Photographer, Victoria, B.C. 164 Johnston Street, Victoria, B.C." stamped on verso of print mount; "[E. C.] Brooks, 50 Victoria Crescent, Nanaimo, B.C." on front of print mount. REFERENCES: MAL87; WIL89; HEN90; WIL92; WIL93; WIL94; WIL95; HEN97; WIL97; HEN98; WIL99; HEN00; (Victoria) Evening Standard, 1888 09 19/4; Kaslo Claim, 1893 06 30/5; Professional and Amateur Photographer, v. 7, no. 4 (April 1902), College Notes: "... Mr. Brooks of B.C., Canada have recently returned to their studios"; Nanaimo Free Press, 1908 02 16; BVIPA Visual Records Photographer File (gives middle name as Coley; date and place of death unconfirmed by New York Times Obituary Index).

  
  

• Sources

  [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA. [S65] COLLECTION: BNCA. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), 1890, Ref. NW 324.1 B862. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), 1900, Ref. NW 324.1 B862. Kaslo [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), 1908, Ref. NW 324.1 B862. Nanaimo [S42] HEN01, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1901), 354. Nanaimo: Brooks E. C. photographer Victoria Crescent [S781] HEN02, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1902), 348. Nanaimo: Brooks E. C. photographer Victoria Crescent [S782] HEN03, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1903), 350. Nanaimo: Brooks E. C. photographer Victoria Crescent [S783] HEN04, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1904), 367. Nanaimo: Brooks E. C. photographer Victoria Crescent [S785] HEN05, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1905). Nanaimo: not listed [S924] Ancestry.ca (Web site). Edward Coley Brooks [family tree] URL (accessed 14 Apr 2021): https://www.ancestrylibrary.ca/family-tree/person/tree/113243278/person/320135133102/facts [S647] Census of Canada 1901. Province of BC, District no. 3 Vancouver, Polling sub-division no. 3 in City of Nanaimo Middle Ward, p. 16, line 38