Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

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Trio Photograph and Supply Company[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]


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  • Name Trio Photograph and Supply Company  
    • VARIANT NAME: Trio Photo Company; Trio Photography Company; Trio Photographers; Trio Studio.
    Gender Unknown 
    Business Address/Year 1917-1946  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    604 Yates St.
    Victoria, BC
    Canada 
    Association Walls, William Elphinstone (Relationship: Photographer) 
    Association Walls, Orlebar Charles (Relationship: Photographer; Assistant Photographer; Proprietor) 
    Association Crocker, Ernest William Albert (Relationship: Proprietor; Manager) 
    Person ID I1009  Camera Workers | T, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 19 Sep 2021 

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Studio.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: This business was operated by E.W.A. Crocker. According to the British Columbia Archives description of some of its photographs:

      The Trio Photograph and Supply Company was allegedly founded in 1903 by Ernest Crocker and two other English emigrants in Vancouver, Canada. Shortly after, the business moved to Victoria, B.C. where the partnership was dissolved, leaving Crocker as the main operator. In 1908, the studio relocated to Suite 8 at 604 Yates Street where it would remain for the next 37 years.
      In its early years, Trio produced scenic postcards which were sold at a cigar-stand at the Canadian Pacific Railway?s Empress Hotel. Around 1910, the studio was hired to photograph mining properties in Mexico. During both World Wars, Trio flourished as a military photographer, capturing many candid, portrait and group shots of soldiers and personnel. During World War I, the majority of photographs were taken at Exhibition Grounds at Willows Camp and during World War II, at Work Point Barracks in Esquimalt and the Officers Training Camp at Gordon Head. In addition to his military portfolio, Trio photographed local landscapes, indigenous and other cultural communities, and took portraits of Victorian families and individuals as well as sporting and school groups. Trio also photographed three Royal visits: the Prince of Wales in 1919, the Prince of Wales and Prince George in 1927 and King George VI in 1939.
      While Crocker remained the principal photographer at Trio, he appears to have received help during the course of his business. Sometime in the 1910s, G.E. Welsh joined Crocker in some form of business partnership before leaving in 1918. After that time, it would appear that a man named Orlebar (Charlie) Walls joined the studio as a part time assistant. In 1946, the Imperial Bank Chambers renovated the top floor of 604 Yates Street where the Trio studio was established, forcing them to evict the premises. Advanced in age, Crocker did not seek to reopen his studio.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: Verso of photo print may contain a circular seal "Photo by TRIO Victoria B.C."

  • Sources 
    1. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA.
      Glass negatives

    2. [S139] COLLECTION: BVICA.

    3. [S1146] COLLECTION: NMAI.
      Trio Photograph and Supply Company photographs from British Columbia; URL (accessed 18 Sep 2021): https://americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/archives/sova-nmai-ac-134

    4. [S140] COLLECTION: BVIPM.
      Glass negatives; ethnographic subject matter

    5. [S782] HEN03, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1903).
      Vancouver and Victoria: not listed

    6. [S783] HEN04, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1904).
      Vancouver and Victoria: not listed

    7. [S785] HEN05, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1905).
      Vancouver and Victoria: not listed

    8. [S786] HENVAN05, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1905).
      Vancouver: not listed

    9. [S784] HENVIC05, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1905).
      Victoria: not listed

    10. [S787] HENVAN06, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1906).
      Vancouver: not listed

    11. [S788] HENVAN07, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1907).
      Vancouver: not listed

    12. [S789] HENVIC08, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1908).
      Victoria: not listed

    13. [S792] PROVI09, (Victoria: Provincial Publishing, 1909).
      Victoria: not listed

    14. [S732] HEN10, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1910).
      Victoria: not listed

    15. [S793] HENVIC10, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1911).
      Victoria: not listed

    16. [S796] HENVIC12, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1912).
      Victoria: not listed

    17. [S798] HENVIC13, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1913).
      Victoria: not listed

    18. [S801] TREVIC14, (Victoria: Tregillus-Thompson Ltd., 1914).
      Victoria: not listed

    19. [S745] HENVIC14, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1914).
      Victoria: not listed

    20. [S802] HENVIC15, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1915).
      Victoria: not listed

    21. [S803] HENVIC17, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1917), 550.
      Victoria: Trio Studio 604 Yates

    22. [S804] HENVIC18, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1918), 403.
      Victoria: Trio Studio 604 Yates

    23. [S740] WRI18, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1918), 503.
      Victoria: Trio Studio commercial photographers 604 Yates street

    24. [S738] WRI19, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1919), 1159.
      Victoria: Trio Photograph & Supply Co E O A Crocker prop commercial photographers 604 Yates

    25. [S805] HENVIC20, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1920), 502.
      Victoria: Trio Photo Co (O C Walls) top flr 604 Yates

    26. [S739] WRI20, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1920), 1037.
      Victoria: Trio Photograph & Supply Co E O A Crocker prop 604 Yates

    27. [S806] HENVIC21, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1921), 559.
      Victoria: Trio Photo Co (O C Walls) top flr 604 Yates

    28. [S741] WRI21, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1921), 1102.
      Victoria: Trio Photograph & Supply Co E O A Crocker prop 604 Yates

    29. [S742] WRI22, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1922), 1123.
      Victoria: Trio Photograph & Supply Co E O A Crocker prop 604 Yates

    30. [S809] WRI23, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1923), 1807.
      Victoria: Trio Photo Co O C Walls prop photogs 604 Yates

    31. [S757] WRI24, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1924), 1340.
      Victoria: Trio Photo Co (O C Walls) 604 Yates

    32. [S758] WRI25, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1925), 1423.
      Victoria: Trio Photo Co (O C Walls) 604 Yates

    33. [S763] WRI30, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1930), 1883.
      Victoria: Trio Photograph & Supply Co E W A Crocker mgr 604 Yates

    34. [S769] SUN35, (Vancouver: Sun Directories, 1935), 1908.
      Victoria: Trio Photographers (E W A Crocker) 604 Yates

    35. [S774] SUN40, (Vancouver: Sun Directories, 1940), 1864.
      Victoria: Trio Photographers (E W A Crocker) 604 Yates

    36. [S779] SUN45, (Vancouver: Sun Directories, 1945), 2024.
      Victoria: Trio (E Crocker) photog 604 Yates

    37. [S714] SUN46, (Vancouver: Sun Directories, 1946), 2162.
      Victoria: Trio (E Crocker) photog 604 Yates

    38. [S715] SUN47, (Vancouver: Sun Directories, 1947).
      Victoria: not listed

    39. [S521] University of Victoria, Faculty of Fine Arts (1993), (Victoria, B.C.: Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, April 1993).