Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

Devine, Harry Torkington

Devine, Harry Torkington[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Male 1865 - 1938  (73 years)

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

  • Name Devine, Harry Torkington 
    • VARIANT NAME: Devine, John Harry T.
    Birth 28 Jul 1865  Manchester, Eng., UK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1884?-1886  Brandon, MB Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Business Address/Year 1?-13 Jun 1886  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Cordova and Abbott Sts.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 23 Jul 1886-24 Mar 1887  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Cordova St.
    Horne Block
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 24 Mar 1887-Jan 1889  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    140 Cordova St.
    2 doors east of Hudson's Bay Co.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year 1889  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    138 Cordova St.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year 1890  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Princess St.
    corner of Carl Ave.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year Jan 1895  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    486 Sixth Ave. E.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1896  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    128 Cordova St.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year 1896-1897  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    431 Sixth Ave E.
    Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Death 17 Dec 1938  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [12
    Burial Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Association J.A. Brock and Company (Relationship: Partner) 
    Association Brock, John Allan (Relationship: Partner) 
    Person ID I275  Camera Workers | D, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 19 Dec 2021 

  • Photos
    H.T. Devine, 17 Feb 1936.
    H.T. Devine, 17 Feb 1936.
    City of Vancouver Archives reference code AM54-S4-: Port P341.

    Documents
    J.A. Brock ad, <i>Vancouver News</i>, 23 Jul 1886.
    J.A. Brock ad, Vancouver News, 23 Jul 1886.
    The first ad by this company appeared in the 1 Jun 1886 issue of the same paper.
    J.A. Brock ad, <i>News-Advertiser</i> (Vancouver), 19 Jan 1889.
    J.A. Brock ad, News-Advertiser (Vancouver), 19 Jan 1889.
    J.A. Brock and Company ad, <i>San Francisco Journal of Commerce</i>, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 12.
    J.A. Brock and Company ad, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 12.
    J.A. Brock and Company news item, <i>San Francisco Journal of Commerce</i>, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 12.
    J.A. Brock and Company news item, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 12.
    H.T. Devine news, Vancouver <i>Province</i>, 23 Nov 1935, Sunday Magazine, p. 10.
    H.T. Devine news, Vancouver Province, 23 Nov 1935, Sunday Magazine, p. 10.
    In his letter to the editor, Devine introduces a few inaccuracies of his own into the historical record.
    J.A. Brock and Company news, Vancouver <i>Daily News-Advertiser</i>, 16 Nov 1907, p. 1.
    J.A. Brock and Company news, Vancouver Daily News-Advertiser, 16 Nov 1907, p. 1.
    This item about H.T. Devine's photograph of the steamship Parthia as it was leaving through the First Narrows for Japan was originally published on 16 Nov 1887.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: According to one biography (1911) he started as a photographer in Brandon in 1884. By 1885 both J.A. Brock and H.T. Devine were competing in Brandon on Rosser Ave. The two became partners and headed to Vancouver in 1886. Brock seemed to be the senior partner and it was his name which was frequently mentioned in the Vancouver papers. The partnership was dissolved in Nov 1887 and by Jan 1889 Devine had the galley up for sale. Devine returned to photography in 1895; by 1897 he had permanently retired from that career. His granddaughter, Betty C. Keller, published two articles about her famous ancestor whose surviving photographs are among the earliest of and most memorable images of Vancouver. H.T. Devine is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: "Devine" on print surface or "Harry T. Devine, Photographer, Cordova St., Vancouver, B.C." stamped on verso of prints. Many 1886-1888 Vancouver views captioned and identified with phrase "Copyright applied for."

  • Sources 
    1. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA.
      Prints

    2. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA.
      Prints

    3. [S134] COLLECTION: BVA.
      Glass negatives

    4. [S950] Brandon Mail, 3 Sep 1885, 7.

    5. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 20 Apr 1888, 1.

    6. [S493] C.W. Parker, ed., Who's Who in Western Canada (1911), (Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911).

    7. [S582] David Mattison, Mattison (1979 11-12), (Photo Communique 1, no. 5 (November-December 1979):16-21).

    8. [S692] Correspondence, David Mattison.
      Letter, B. Keller to Mattison, 1983 04 30

    9. [S371] Betty C. Keller, Keller (1986), (Beaver 66, no. 3 (June/July 1986):30-38).

    10. [S372] Betty C. Keller, Keller (1987), (Beaver 67, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1987):28-34).

    11. [S651] (Vancouver) Sun (Newspaper), 18 Dec 2021.
      Mackie, John. "This Week in History, 1938: The Brief Career of Pioneer Vancouver's First Photographer"
      URL (accessed 19 Dec 2021): https://vancouversun.com/news/this-week-in-history-1938-the-brief-career-of-pioneer-vancouvers-first-photographer

    12. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Person: John Harry T. Devine
      Registration no. 1938-09-551556 (microfilm reel B13164)