| Notes |
- STATUS: Commercial.
- BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: He was one of the pioneers of 1858 who came to the Colony of Vancouver Island from San Francisco, lured by the prospects, it is believed, of making money off the flood of miners pouring in for the Fraser River gold rush. According to his obituary, he headed north to look for gold after his arrival.
The first notice of his business was in 1859. One mystery, now solved thanks to researcher Chris Hanna, was his whereabouts between 1863 and 1871 when he showed up in Barkerville. In Oct 1863 he sailed with Robert Burnaby for Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) where he was to "take views of the mines and the surrounding country." There is no evidence he took any photos. S.A. Spencer appears to have gone on to Alaska. He is listed in the fall 1870 census of Sitka, Alaska, which was published on 20 Dec 1870 and reprinted in 1981. Spencer's age is given as 36, his birthplace as Connecticut, occupation a carpenter, and "Residence at the Club House, works at the [US Army] Quartermaster Department".
Spencer was not noticed in Victoria again until 1872 when he purchased the Victoria Theatre Photographic Gallery from J.A. Craigg. During his proprietorship of this gallery he made at least one trip to San Francisco for new equipment and a retoucher named Mr. Miller. This followed the employment by N. Shakespeare of R.A. Desmond, "late artist of Spencer's Gallery."
Shakespeare himself leased the Theatre Photographic Gallery from Spencer in 1875 when the latter moved to Fort St. That studio is likely the one which also served as headquarters for Spencer & Hastings. While this partnership was listed in the 1885 and 1887 directories, Spencer was by the former date residing in Alert Bay where he was managing the Spencer & [Thomas] Earle salmon cannery. Hastings was supposed to have bought out Spencer about 1883. Spencer later served as postmaster of Alert Bay.
The 1881 census showed him aged 52 -- making him older than the 1870 Sitka census --, a Free Thinker, American citizen and a bachelor. Upon his death, he was survived by his wife Annie (b. 23 Sep 1856 nee Hunt, a Kwakiutl native and sister of George Hunt, Franz Boas' chief informant) and five sons. One of their sons, John Norman Spencer (b. 25 Jan 1892, d. 13 Jul 1917) was killed in France during World War One where he was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps. Annie Spencer died on 3 Oct 1924 and is buried in the family plot in Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.
- IDENTIFYING MARKS: "S. A. Spencer, Fort St., Victoria, B.C." on verso of cartes-de-visite. "Spencer, Artist" (red) on front and "S. A. Spencer, Victoria, B.C." (red) on verso of carte-de-visite. "Spencer, Artist" on front and "S. A. Spencer, Photographer, Victoria, B.C." on verso of carte-de-visite. "S. A. Spencer's Photographic Gallery, Fort Street, Victoria, B.C." on verso of carte-de-visite. "S. A. Spencer, Artist, Government St." on front of carte-de-visite. "S. A. Spencer, Fort Street, Victoria, B.C." on verso of cabinet portrait.
- REFERENCES: BVIPA GR-1304, file 3789 (probate); MAL74; HIB77; WIL82; WIL85; MAL87 (no listing, Victoria; Alert Bay only from this directory to 1900); Victoria Gazette, 1859 07 23/2; Colonist, 1860 08 02/2, 1862 01 11/2, 1862 01 15/3, 1872 04 12/3, 1874 10 16/3, 1874 11 07/3, 1875 05 13/3, 1875 06 29/4, 1875 07 07/3, 1911 08 16 (obit.); (Victoria) Chronicle, 1863 10 30/3; Cariboo Sentinel, 1871 07 01/3; 1881 Dominion Census, Yates St. Ward (OOA reel C-13285); Kerr (1890) (Hastings biography); Fawcett (1912):239; DeArmond (1981):121; Jacknis (1984):2-60.
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1829 - 1911 (82 years)
