Smythe, Sidney Alfred^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

1858 - 1947  (89 years)

• Name	Smythe, Sidney Alfred
  	VARIANT NAME: Smyth, S.A.; Smith, S.A.; Smythe, Sydney A.
  Birth	25 Oct 1858	Drummond Township, Lanark County, ON   [5]
  Gender	Male
  Business Address/Year	Oct 1896-1899?	Vancouver, BC
  	Address: Eleventh Ave. W. corner of Manitoba St. Vancouver, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	Oct 1896?-1899?	Vancouver, BC
  	Address: Eleventh Ave. W. corner of Manitoba St. Vancouver, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1884-1885	Manitoba, MB
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1889	Banff, AB
  Home Address/Year	1900	Atlin, BC
  	Address: Lake St. Vancouver, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1885-early 1890s	Calgary, AB
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1899-1900	Atlin, BC
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	Jun 1897; Apr 1900	Vernon, BC
  	Jun 1897 visit
  Death	23 Nov 1947	Los Angeles, CA   [5]
  Association	Smyth, Albert John (Relationship: Brother)
  Person ID	I817	Camera Workers | S, vol. 1, 1858-1900
  Last Modified	19 Nov 2023

  
  

• Photos		S.A. Smythe photograph, 1880s? Likely taken on commission for the Upper Walrond Ranch; in the background, according to the print caption, are the Rocky Mountains and the Old Man's River.
  		S.A. Smythe photograph, 1890s. Depicts the Empress of Japan departing Vancouver. Another photograph at the City of Vancouver Archives shows the vessel at dock. Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives, BO P12.

  
  

  Documents		S.A. Smythe ad, Vernon News, 31 May 1900, p. 8. It would be interesting to know if the two albums referenced in the ad have survived.
  		S.A. Smythe ad, Vernon News, 2 Dec 1897, p. 5. Smythe took over W.J. Gould's Vernon location.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial. BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: According to Dempsey he and his brother A.J. Smythe settled in Minnedosa, MB, about 1883 and by the following year had become itinerant photographers in Manitoba. They moved to Calgary in 1885 and by 1887 S.A. Smythe was taking all of the photos. He opened a studio in Banff in 1889 but returned to Calgary in the early 1890s. S.A. turned up in Vancouver in Oct 1896 where he was displaying photos of places around Calgary. The Vancouver News-Advertiser noted that the Illustrated London News of 29 Aug 1896 contains six views of Alberta by Smythe, all of which were sent to the paper in the fall of 1890. The following January the same paper reported receiving photos by Smythe of mining and ranching scenes in BC and the Northwest. According to the Vernon Museum, he visited Vernon in Jun 1897 and had established himself as a photographer in Apr 1900. In May 1899 he was in Atlin working as a sanitary officer, but was also listed as a photographer in the 1900 voters list. FORMATS: Stereographs. IDENTIFYING MARKS: negatives may be captioned and marked "S. A. Smythe, Vancouver, B.C."; bottom front of print mount may be marked "S.A. Smyth, 'The Ranchmen's Photographer,' Calgary, Alta., Canada."; stereograph print surface may be titled and back of stereograph mount may be stamped "S.A. Smythe; Artist Rocky Mountains B.C." (design 1); back of stereograph mount may be stamped "S.A. Smythe; Artist Rocky Mountains B.C." (design 2). REFERENCES: HEN99; WIL99; HEN00; Voters List (Cassiar), 1900; News-Advertiser, 1896 10 20/8, 1897 01 03/8; Atlin Claim, 1899 05 13/4; Letter, Vernon Museum to Mattison, 1981 11 06; Dempsey (1978).

  
  

• Sources

  [S48] COLLECTION: ACG. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA. [S152] COLLECTION: OOA. [S924] Ancestry.ca (Web site). Sidney Alfred Smythe [family tree] https://www.ancestrylibrary.ca/family-tree/person/tree/46555239/person/7012367613/facts