Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

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Murchie, Archibald

Murchie, Archibald[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]

Male 1852 - 1930  (78 years)

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  • Name Murchie, Archibald 
    Birth May 1852  Arran Island, Buteshire, Scotland, UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [17, 18] 
    Gender Male 
    Home Address/Year 1893  New Westminster, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    1411 Sixth Ave.
    New Westminster, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year 1895  New Westminster, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Murchie Rd.
    New Westminster, BC
    Canada 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) 1890-1895  New Westminster, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Business Address/Year 1897-1898  New Westminster, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    807 Columbia St.
    New Westminster, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1910  Princeton, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 26 Dec 1916  Peachland, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [18] 
    Bride: Amy Cossar 
    • He resided at Glenrosa near Westbank in the Okanagan Valley.
    Burial 1930  Glenrosa Cemetery, Glenrosa, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [19] 
    Death 2 Jun 1930  Glenrosa, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [20] 
    Person ID I133  Camera Workers | M, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 22 Jul 2023 

  • Photos
    Archibald Murchie portrait, 1890.    		Archibald Murchie portrait, 1890.
    From a glass negative by an unidentified photographer. Courtesy of UBC Library, Uno Langmann Family Collection of B.C. Photographs.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: From the description of an album of photographs at UBC Okanagan Library in the Doug and Joyce Cox Research Collection:

      Archibald Murchie (1852-1930) immigrated to Victoria, BC as an adult. His brother, Thomas Murchie would go on to found Murchie's Tea & Coffee. Following his calling to become an evangelist minister for the Spiritualist Church (an off-shoot of the Church of England), Archibald Murchie set off into the interior of BC to preach as a missionary. Marcus Smith, famed CPR engineer and previous associate of Murchie's by function of their common membership to the Spiritualist Church, hired Murchie to photograph the creation of a bridge over the Fraser River at Sheep Creek. Work on this project was slow enough to afford Murchie to engage in side trips to Quesnel, B.C., and farther north. Here he made a connection with the Reverend A. H. Cameron who suggested he establish a parish in Princeton. After this failed, Murchie returned to the Cariboo and set up a photography studio in Ashcroft, BC. In 1911 Murchie moved again to the Okanagan Valley and in 1916 at age 64 he married Amy Wood. His last accredited photograph was taken in 1918. After Murchie's death in 1930, his wife quickly remarried and had his photography equipment destroyed. In 1948 a few glass negative plates were salvaged from a chicken house by the Gorman family children as a worker was scraping off the emulsions to use the glass. After this, the photographs were assumed into the custody of B.W. Wilson, from which point they were transferred to the Doug Cox collection.
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS: "A. Murchie Photographer" stamped on verso of print (BVAA BOATS P. 121). "Archibald Murchie, Photographer" stamped on verso of print mount (BVIPA photo no. HP073022). Print surface may also be titled and marked "A. Murchie, Photo".

  • Sources 
    1. [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA.
      Prints and watercolour of Summerland, 1916

    2. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA.

    3. [S1108] COLLECTION: BKLUBC.
      Doug and Joyce Cox Research Collection: Archibald Murchie Collection (album)

    4. [S947] Open Collections (UBC Library and Archives) (Web site).
      Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs (prints)

    5. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), 1890, Ref. NW 324.1 B862.

    6. [S30] WIL92, (Victoria, B.C.: R.T. Williams, 1892).
      New Westminster: not listed

    7. [S32] Williams' B.C. Directory Co., comp., WIL93, (Victoria, B.C.: Printed by the Victoria Printing Company, 1893), 902.
      New Westminster: Murchie A photographer res 1411 Sixth ave

    8. [S33] Williams' B.C. Directory Co., comp., WIL94, (Victoria, B.C.: Williams' B.C. Directory Co., 1894).
      New Westminster: not listed

    9. [S34] WIL95, (Victoria, B.C.: Williams' B.C. Directory Co., 1895), 696.
      New Westminster: Murchie Archibald photographer Murchie rd Burnaby

    10. [S36] HEN97, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1897).
      New Westminster: not listed

    11. [S37] WIL97, (Victoria, B.C.: Williams' B.C. Directory Co., 1897), 89.
      New Westminster: Murchie A 807 Columbia St res Burnaby

    12. [S38] HEN98, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1898).
      New Westminster: not listed

    13. [S785] HEN05, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1905).
      Not listed?

    14. [S732] HEN10, (Vancouver: Henderson Publishing, 1910), 572.
      Princeton: Murchie Archie photographer

    15. [S973] W.A. Jeffries, JEFVERNON13, (Vernon, BC: W.A. Jeffries, 1913).
      Not listed?

    16. [S740] WRI18, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1918), 197.
      Glenrosa: Murchie Rev Archibald farming bee-keeping

    17. [S647] Census of Canada 1901.
      Province of BC, District no. 1 (Burrard), Sub-district no. D, Polling sub-division no. 9 in Vancouver City, p. 13, line 17

    18. [S670] BVIPA marriage registration.
      Registration no. 1916-09-182059 (microfilm B11388); digital facsimile URL (accessed 25 May 2021): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/c8c6a969-5206-45b5-92a3-705dec2707c6

    19. [S832] Find a Grave (Web site).
      About Glenrosa Cemetery
      URL (accessed 28 Apr 2023): https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2705706/glenrosa-cemetery

    20. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Registration no. 1930-09-444448 (microfilm B13140)