Lowe, Skene^{[1, 2]}

1856 - 1920  (64 years)

• Name	Lowe, Skene
  Birth	23 Apr 1856	England, UK   [3]
  Gender	Male
  Business Address/Year	1891-1900+	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 61 1/2 Government St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	Mar 1882-1884	Winnipeg, MB
  	as partner in Hall and Lowe
  Business Address/Year	1885-1888	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Government St. over Victoria House Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1889-1892	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 63 Government St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1889-1900	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 45 Carr St. corner Simcoe Victoria, BC Canada
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1885-1918?	Victoria, BC
  Death	27 Nov 1920	Essondale, BC   [4]
  Association	Hall and Lowe (Relationship: Partner)
  Association	Johnston, Nellie (Relationship: Employee)
  Person ID	I145	Camera Workers | L, vol. 1, 1858-1900
  Last Modified	7 Jul 2024

  
  

• Photos		Skene Lowe studio portrait, before 1917. A Victoria studio portrait of J.D. Hall when he was sheriff of Vancouver. The two photographers had been partners as Hall and Lowe. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item G-09207.
  		Skene Lowe studio portrait, 1889-1892. The photograph is a head-and-shoulders of a woman.

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Hall and Lowe's ad from Trout's Prospectors' Manual (1886).
  		Hall and Lowe's first Victoria, B.C., ad, Colonist, 8 Nov 1884, p. 2.
  		Hall and Lowe news item, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 2.
  		Hall and Lowe ad, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, BC Edition, Feb 1888, p. 4.
  		Hall and Lowe news article, Victoria Colonist, 2 Sep 1884, p. 3. About Hall's occupancy of part of the Denny building on Government St. over the Victoria House store. Hall was later joined by Skene Lowe who operated Hall and Lowe in Victoria while Hall eventually relocated to Vancouver by 1887.
  		Skene Lowe article, Victoria Colonist, Special Ed., 5 Apr 1896, p. 7, part 1.
  		Skene Lowe article, Victoria Colonist, Special Ed., 5 Apr 1896, p. 7, part 2.
  		Hall and Lowe news, Victoria Colonist, 4 Jun 1885, p. 3.
  		W.D. Simmonds ad, Victoria Daily Times, 14 May 1919, p. 12. Simmonds advertised that he occupied the photographer Skene Lowe's former place of business at the corner of Yates and Douglas streets. Simmonds also indicated he was a World War One veteran.
  		Hall and Lowe ad, Victoria Colonist, 23 May 1892, p. 7. This dissolution of partnership ad is dated 1 May 1892. Skene Lowe would continue to operate as Hall and Lowe in Victoria and J.D. Hall would continue to own the Vancouver Photographic Company, which by Jun 1892 David Wadds was managing.
  		Hall and Lowe news, Victoria Colonist, 8 Jun 1892, p. 5. Following the dissolution of the Hall and Lowe partnership, with Skene Lowe carrying on business in Victoria under the name, he commissioned the architect Thomas Hooper to make improvements to his studio space.
  		Hall and Lowe news, Victoria Colonist, 22 Jun 1892, p. 5. This news item announced the opening of the remodelled Hall and Lowe studio.

  
  

  Headstones		Skene Lowe's gravestone closeup, Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.
  		Skene Lowe's gravestone, Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial. BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: A partner with J.D. Hall in Hall and Lowe, Lowe moved to Victoria and arrived there on Friday, 17 Oct 1884. He opened the Victoria branch of their Winnipeg operation on Monday, 10 Nov 1884 (the Colonist newspaper ad mistakenly gave the opening date as Monday, 9 Nov 1884). The partnership was dissolved on 30 Apr 1892 when Hall became Sheriff of Vancouver. Lowe continued to use the name Hall and Lowe until at least the turn of the century and was in business for several years after 1900 under his own name; his last listing in the Victoria directory was 1918. Lowe was admitted to the mental hospital at New Westminster on 3 Apr 1919 and transferred to the Essondale branch on 10 May 1919. He died in the hospital and was buried in Victoria. Skene Lowe was survived by a daughter, Miss Margaret Lowe, a son, Dr. Archibald M. Lowe (a dentist), who lived in Vancouver at the time of his death, and another married daughter (the 1891 census lists her as Nannie Lowe, age 5). IDENTIFYING MARKS: "Skene Lowe, 63 Government St., Victoria, B.C." on bottom front of print mount. REFERENCES: WIL85; MAL87; WIL89; HEN90; HEN91; WIL92; WIL93; WIL94; WIL95; HEN97; WIL97; HEN98; HEN99; WIL99; HEN00; Colonist, 1885 06 03/3; 1896 04 05 (Special Edition); BVIPA GR-1304, file 82/1921 (probate); BVIPA GR-2880, box 72, patient case file 5845; Dempsey (1978).

  
  

• Sources

  [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), 1916, Ref. NW 324.1 B862. Victoria [S483] Manitoba Historical Society, Manitoba Photographers, 1858 to Present (Web site), (Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Historical Society) (Reliability: 3). Manitoba Photographers: Hall & Lowe URL (accessed 4 Jan 2017): http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/photographers/halllowe.shtml [S647] Census of Canada 1901. Province of BC, District no. 4 Victoria, Sub-district no. D, Polling sub-division no. 3 in Victoria City, p. 10, line 2 [S652] BVIPA death registration index. Registration no. 1920-09-271984 (microfilm B13118)