Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

Downing, Claire Spence[1, 2, 3]

Male 1887 - 1971  (84 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Downing, Claire Spence 
    Birth 16 Apr 1887  Brandon, Franklin County, New York, NY Find all individuals with events at this location  [4, 5
    Gender Male 
    Marriage 9 Jul 1915  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Bride: Annie Margaret Todhunter 
    • She died on 26 May 1947 and he remarried Dorothy McTavish. [6]
    Home Address/Year 1933-1971  West Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    1991 Inglewood Ave.
    West Vancouver, BC
    Canada 
    Death 21 Jul 1971  West Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [4, 5
    Cremation 26 Jul 1971  North Shore Crematorium, North Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    • Buried at Capilano View Cemetery, West Vancouver, BC.
    Person ID I1437  Camera Workers | D, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 1 Sep 2019 

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: He moved to Vancouver at the age of 10 and took up photography three years later. Downing was a gifted photographer whose best work was in the Naturalistic school of photography popular in the 1890s and early 1900s.

      According to his death registration record he retired from the plumbing industry in 1963, a field he had worked in for 67 years, or since he was 9 years old (1896), clearly an error. The 1901 Canada census shows him with no occupation at age 14. In the 1911 Canada census he is working in a wholesale store. [8, 9, 10]

  • Sources 
    1. [S134] COLLECTION: BVA.
      Negatives(?); digital facsimiles of 98 images available at https://www3.vpl.ca/spe/histphotos/ under C S Downing Collection (accessed 1 Sep 2019)

    2. [S344] Vancouver Art Gallery (1976), (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1976).

    3. [S493] C.W. Parker, ed., Who's Who in Western Canada (1911), (Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911), 164.
      Downing, C.S.
      Digital facsimile URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll8/id/361019/rec/4

    4. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Registration no. 1971-09-010450 (microfilm B13311); digital facsimile URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/5f25378a-3990-47bc-b24e-de5be201a375

    5. [S832] Find a Grave (Web site).
      Claire Spence Downing
      URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116068234/claire-spence-downing

    6. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Downing, Annie Margaret
      Registration no. 1947-09-005073 (microfilm B13194); digital facsimile URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/bebc5cda-0194-4d14-8af7-5d537c20927a

    7. [S670] BVIPA marriage registration.
      Registration no. 1915-09-079246 (microfilm B11378); digital facsimile URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/42f67f26-f97b-4e0d-b87e-409707d4faae

    8. [S647] Census of Canada 1901.
      Province of BC, District no. 1 Burrard, Sub-district no. D, Sub-division no. 2 in Vancouver City, p. 7, line 26

    9. [S722] Census of Canada 1911.
      Province of BC, District no. ?, Enumeration district no. 1 in Vancouver, p. 23, line 10

    10. [S667] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch.org (Web site).
      Indicates he had lived in Vancouver for 15 years or since 1897.
      "Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922"; digital facsimile URL (accessed 1 Sep 2019): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2QSX-XM7