Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

Leeson, Ben Williams

Leeson, Ben Williams[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Male 1866 - 1948  (81 years)

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

  • Name Leeson, Ben Williams 
    Birth 11 May 1866  Coventry, Warwickshire, UK Find all individuals with events at this location  [11
    Gender Male 
    Home Address/Year ca. 1891-1900+  Winter Harbour, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Quatsino Sound 
    Address:
    Winter Harbour, BC
    Canada 
    Where Active (Non-Specific Address) ca. 1887-ca. 1891  Cariboo district, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 15 Feb 1912  Quatsino, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [12
    At B.W. Leeson's home. He married Evelyn May Hawkins 
    Death 15 Mar 1948  Vancouver, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [11
    Burial 18 Mar 1948  Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Burnaby, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [11
    Person ID I143  Camera Workers | L, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 3 Jan 2017 

  • Photos
    B.W. Leeson and his wife on a wash day, 1900s.
    B.W. Leeson and his wife on a wash day, 1900s.
    Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library, accession number 71662.
    B.W. Leeson, Evelyn Leeson and Anna Leeson, 1900s.
    B.W. Leeson, Evelyn Leeson and Anna Leeson, 1900s.
    Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library, accession number 71706.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur.
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: According to Eleven Early British Columbian Photographers 1890-1940, he emigrated to Vancouver in 1886 and began taking photographs in the Cariboo in 1887; his negatives were destroyed there by fire.

      Some time between 1891 and 1894 he moved to Quatsino Sound where he ran a store with his father (J.L. Leeson & Son) and engaged in a number of pursuits. He was especially noted for his portraits of brooding First Nations figures and was fascinated by the flat-headed Kwakiutl women of the area. He retired in 1939 and moved to Vancouver. [13]
    • IDENTIFYING MARKS/FORMATS: Prints and postcards. Print surface and/or mount may be blind-embossed "B.W. Leeson Quatsino, B.C." [14]

  • Sources 
    1. [S134] COLLECTION: BVA.
      Glass negatives

    2. [S45] COLLECTION: BVAA.
      Includes hand-colored prints.

    3. [S138] COLLECTION: BVAUS.

    4. [S34] WIL95, (Victoria, B.C.: Williams' B.C. Directory Co., 1895).

    5. [S37] WIL97, (Victoria, B.C.: Williams' B.C. Directory Co., 1897).

    6. [S38] HEN98, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1898).

    7. [S39] HEN99, (Victoria, B.C.: Henderson Publishing Co., 1899).

    8. [S650] (Vancouver) Province, 16 Mar 1948, 15 (Reliability: 2).
      Obit.

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

    10. [S303] Peter Grant, Grant (2002), (Victoria, B.C.: TouchWood Editions, 2002) (Reliability: 2).

    11. [S652] BVIPA death registration index (Reliability: 3).
      Registration no. 1948-09-003385 (microfilm B13196); digital facsimile URL (accessed 2 Jan 2017): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/4ceb8455-efb3-4879-8fa9-fcd3b6a7f13a

    12. [S670] BVIPA marriage registration (Reliability: 3).
      Full name: Leeson, Ben Williams. He signed as B.W. Leeson.
      Registration no. 1912-09-365246; digital facsimile URL (accessed 2 Jan 2017): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/262f595d-780d-4093-a696-93ed4497a286

    13. [S880] BC Dept. of Agriculture Report, (Victoria, BC), 1894, published 1895, 1038 (Reliability: 3).
      In his 1894 report to the Dept. of Agriculture, Leeson stated "I have been in the [Quatsino] district three years."

    14. [S138] COLLECTION: BVAUS (Reliability: 3).
      Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs: [B.W. Leeson Mining Photos]; digital facsimile URL (accessed 2 Jan 2017): https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/langmann/items/1.0053361