Savannah, John^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23]}

1868 - 1925  (56 years)

• Name	Savannah, John
  	VARIANT NAME: Savannah, Jacob. [24, 25]
  Nickname	Jack
  Birth	25 Jun 1868	San Francisco, CA
  Gender	Male
  Home Address/Year	1889	Victoria, BC   [26]
  	Address: 105 Quadra St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1891	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 56 Fort St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1889-Feb? 1892	Victoria, BC   [27]
  	Address: 56 Fort St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Home Address/Year	1892	Victoria, BC
  	Address: Poodle Dog (rooming house?) Victoria, BC Canada
  Marriage	6 Nov 1894	Seattle, WA   [28]
  	Bride: Maude Middleton
  Home Address/Year	1897-1901	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 139 Fort St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	Feb 1892-1905	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 28 Fort St. Five Sisters Block Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1908-1909	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 606 and 616 Fort St., no. 25 and 27 Five Sisters Block Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1910-1912	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 606 Yates St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1913-1914	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 1122 Government St. Victoria, BC Canada
  Business Address/Year	1915-1925	Victoria, BC
  	Address: 1120 Government St. (Hibben-Bone Block) 5th Floor Victoria, BC Canada
  Death	28 Apr 1925	Victoria, BC   [29]
  Association	Savannah, Benjamin (Relationship: Employee)
  Association	Hastings, Oregon Columbus (Relationship: Successor)
  Association	Savannah and Company (Relationship: Owner)
  Association	Stewart (Relationship: Printer)
  Association	Merrill, Joseph (Relationship: Employee)
  Association	Davis, S. (Relationship: Artist (retoucher?))
  Association	Hastings Studio (Victoria, BC) (Relationship: Manager)
  Association	Howell, Kathleen Gertrude (Lena) (Relationship: Employee)
  Association	Hipwell, Arthur (Relationship: Photographer)
  Association	McDonald, Annie (Relationship: Assistant; Photographer; Finisher)
  Association	Savannah, Maude (Relationship: Spouse)
  Association	Savannah, Edward Jack (Relationship: Son)
  Association	Gibson, Wilfred (Relationship: Photographer)
  Association	Gibson, Wilfred (Relationship: Printer; Photographer)
  Association	Victoria Professional Photographers Association (Relationship: Member)
  Association	C.H. Smith and Company (Relationship: Partner)
  Person ID	I47	Camera Workers | S, vol. 1, 1858-1900
  Last Modified	7 May 2023

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Savannah, the Hastings Art Studio ID At the bottom of a card mount.
  		Hastings Studio portrait, ca. 1888-1895. Tom Hamilton on the left, and E.D. McKinley on the right. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item I-67879.
  		John Savannah ID, 1892. He operated in the Five Sisters Block from Feb 1892 until his studio was burned out in the Oct 1910 fire which destroyed the entire block.
  		John Savannah ID, ca. 1920s. As of 7 May 2023, none of the individuals or the dog have been identified. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item J-05183.
  		John Savannah ID, Feb 1892-Oct 1910. Studio portrait of Mrs. James Pottinger (nee Clara Cameron). John Savannah operated in the Five Sisters Block from Feb 1892 until his studio was burned out in the Oct 1910 fire which destroyed the entire block. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item I-67881.
  		John Savannah ID, 12 Jun 1894. This group portrait depicts a scene from D.B. Ker's wedding. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item J-05159.
  		Leonard Frank portrait, 1910s. Photograhed in John Savannah's studio, Victoria, BC. Courtesy of BC Archives, Item G-03995.
  		John Savannah imprint, recto of mounted photograph, 1890s. This portrait of an unidentified man is mounted on a "Paris Panel", a size of cabinet card stock measuring 9 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches. Savannh's imprint is blind-embossed at the bottom. Courtesy of UBC Library, Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs, UL_2001_0019.
  		Eureka Art Company group portrait, Victoria, BC, 26 Sep 1896. While not visible on this digitized copy, the Savannah studio imprint appears on the front of the mount.
  		Back of Eureka Art Company group portrait, Victoria, BC, 26 Sep 1896.

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		John Savannah and Maude Middleton's marriage news, Daily Colonist, 8 Nov 1894, p. 5. Their marriage in Seattle, WA, was reported in at least one Victoria newspaper.
  		Victoria Professional Photographers Association ad, Daily Colonist, 27 Nov 1921, p. 32.
  		John Savannah's signature, 1894.
  		Savannah and Company article, Daily Colonist, 5 Feb 1892, p. 5. Describes their "new quarters in the Five Sisters' Block." The Victoria Times ran a similar article on 3 Feb 1892.
  		John Savannah news, Victoria Times, 3 Feb 1892, p. 5. The Daily Colonist ran a similar article on 5 Feb 1892.
  		John Savannah imprint, verso of mounted photograph, 1890s. The photograph is a studio portrait of an Indigenous woman (standing) and a Caucasian man (seated). The first-prize medal was awarded by the British Columbia Agricultural Association (B.C. A. Association) at its annual exhibition. Courtesy of UBC Library, Uno Langmann Family Collection of British Columbia Photographs, UL_1565_0001.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial. BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: His studio, Savannah's, was among the most fashionable in Victoria. In his first year of business he called himself "successor to O.C. Hastings" and also used the name "Hastings Art Studio" as part of his business identification. Primarily a portrait photographer, his work increased in importance after 1900. Along with three other studios operated by William Foxall, Skene Lowe and C.H. Smith, he suffered a complete loss of his business in the disastrous Five Sisters Block fire of 1910. A signature from an 1894 invoice is found in BC Archives GR-0066, box 1, file 5. His widow Maude Savannah took over the business briefly following his death, calling it the Savannah Studio, and then his son, E.J. Savannah, operated the business. IDENTIFYING MARKS: "Savannah, Victoria, B.C." usually on front of print mount. REFERENCES: WIL89; HEN90; HEN91; WIL92; WIL93; WIL94; WIL95; HEN97; WIL97; HEN98; HEN99; WIL99; HEN00; HEN03; News-Advertiser, 1892 12 09/1 (reported having taken a photograph of Victoria's outer dock with ships loading and discharging cargo); Margaret Belford, "The Savannah Story", Colonist, 16 Jul 1978, p. 14-15 (magazine section); Castle (1984); BVICA VF.

  
  

• Sources

  [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA. Glass negatives [S139] COLLECTION: BVICA. John Savannah fonds (PR-0104); prints; URL (accessed 28 Mar 2020): https://archives.victoria.ca/john-savannah-fonds [S784] HENVIC05, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1905), 248. Victoria: Savannah J. photographer 28 Fort res 105 Cook [S789] HENVIC08, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1908), 405. Victoria: Savannah John photographer 27, 606 Fort res 921 Cook [S792] PROVI09, (Victoria: Provincial Publishing, 1909), 536. Victoria: Savannah John photographer rm 25 Five Sisters Blk h 921 Cook [S796] HENVIC12, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1912), 576. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 606 Yates h 921 Cook [S798] HENVIC13, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1913), 783. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 1122 Government h 921 Cook [S745] HENVIC14, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1914), 648. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 5th fl Hibben-Bone Blk h 921 Cook [S801] TREVIC14, (Victoria: Tregillus-Thompson Ltd., 1914), 831. Victoria: Savannah John photogr fifth floor Hibben-Bone Bldg h 921 Cook [S802] HENVIC15, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1915), 518. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 5th fl Hibben-Bone Blk h 921 Cook [S803] HENVIC17, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1917), 516. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 5th fl 1122 Government h 921 Cook [S804] HENVIC18, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1918), 376. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 5th floor 1122 Government h 921 Cook [S740] WRI18, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1918). Victoria: not listed [S738] WRI19, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1919), 1151. Victoria: Savannah J photographer 500 Hibben-Bone bldg [S805] HENVIC20, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1920), 466. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 5th flr 1122 Government h 921 Cook [S739] WRI20, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1920), 1033. Victoria: Savannah J photographer 500 1122 Govt [S806] HENVIC21, (Victoria: Henderson Publishing, 1921), 517. Victoria: Savannah John photogr 1122 Government h 921 Cook [S741] WRI21, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1921), 1097. Victoria: Savannah J photographer 500 1122 Govt [S742] WRI22, (Vancouver, BC: Wrigley Directories, c1922), 1117. Victoria: Savannah J photographer 500 1122 Govt [S809] WRI23, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1923), 1790. Victoria: Savannah John photog 500 1122 Govt h 921 Cook [S757] WRI24, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1924), 1327. Victoria: Savannah John photo 500 1122 Govt h 921 Cook [S758] WRI25, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1925). Victoria: Savannah John photog 500, 1122 Govt h 921 Cook [S759] WRI26, (Vancouver: Wrigley Directories, 1926). Vancouver: not listed [S647] Census of Canada 1901. Savannah Jack birth date: 26 Jun 1870 Province of British Columbia, District no. 4 Victoria, sub-district no. D, Polling sub-division no. 6 in Victoria City, p. 15, line 18. [S652] BVIPA death registration index. On the registration record for his son Edward Jack Savannah's death, his father's name is given as Jacob Savannah. Registration no. 1960-09-012658 (microfilm B13249); digital facsimile URL (accessed 12 Aug 2017): http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/a8b02349-f63e-4201-b821-84034a7578e6 [S21] Henderson, James, comp., HEN89, (Victoria, B.C.: Leonard George Henderson, 1889), 504. "Savannah John, artist, 105 Quadra" [S22] Draper, Thomas, comp., WIL89, (Victoria, B.C.: R.T. Williams, 1889), 148. "Savannah, J, portrait artist, 56 Fort, res 105 Quadra" [S628] (Victoria) Colonist, (Victoria: Colonist), 8 Nov 1894, 5. "Mr John Savannah,...." [S652] BVIPA death registration index. Registration no. 1925-09-345558 (microfilm B13126)