| Administrative History | George Washington Wilson (1823-1893), born in the North East of Scotland, went to Edinburgh and then London in the 1840s to train as a portrait miniaturist. He became established in Aberdeen in the 1850s as an artist and photographer, and quickly made a name for himself among the middle classes and landed gentry. His patronage by the Royal Family during their visits to the Balmoral Estates began in 1854 when he was invited to take photographs of the Royal family in the grounds of Balmoral. He received the official appointment of Photographer Royal for Scotland in 1860 and his relationship with the Royal family continued throughout his career. Wilson's success allowed him to employ staff photographers to carry out the routine portraiture business whilst he travelled the country indulging in his new interest in landscape photography.
Wilson won a number of prizes for his photographic works including winning medals at the Great London International Exhibition of 1862 for his experimentation for quick exposures.
George Washington Wilson and Co., captured images from all over Britain, recording everything from the natural grandeur of Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa to the bustle of London's Oxford Street. Wilson had a staff of photographers including his son, Charles Wilson, who with senior staff photographer Fred Hardie, toured the colonial townships of South Africa. Dispatched to capture images of Australia in 1892, Hardie also travelled through Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. These tours provide a vivid picture of gold miners and early settlers at work and play, and of the native or aboriginal way of life. The company invested in sourcing independent photographer to capture the western Mediterranean, where they took images of Gibraltar and the south of Spain, Morocco and Tangiers.
Throughout, Wilson demonstrated technical and commercial acumen, and, by the early 1880s, the company he founded had become the largest and best-known photographic and printing firm in Scotland. Wilson handed the business over to his sons, Charles, Louis and John Wilson in 1888. The company, however, only survived for a short time under the management of Wilson's sons, with much of the company being sold in 1905 and the company finally ceasing trading in 1908.
(for biographical information on other members of the Wilson family please see the relevant sections)
Roger Taylor career started as a professional photographer. He moved into teaching at the Leicester Polytechnic in 1967 as a photography subject leader. In 1976, Taylor completed his thesis: 'G.W. Wilson, Artist Photographer: A study of the first fifty years of his life and work'. Taylor later published this work in association with the University of Aberdeen. He became the director of fine art studies at Leicester Polytechnic in 1981, moving to the National Museum of Photography in Bradford in 1985. In 1996, Taylor received a number of fellowships when he became a freelance curator and writer. In 1997 - 1998, he was the recipient of the Lisette Model/Joseph G Blum fellowship in the history of photography at the National Gallery of Canada. In 2003, Taylor published 'Lewis Carroll the photographer: The Princeton University Albums' and became a senior research fellow at De Montfort University in Leicester. The Royal Photographic Society awarded Taylor the J Dudley Johnston Award in 2007. Also in 2007, Taylor was the curator and author of the catalogue for 'Impressed by Light: Metropolitan Museum of Art: British Photographs from paper negatives 1840 - 1860'. This exhibition and catalogue was followed in 2008 by 'All the mighty world: The photographs of Roger Fenton 1852 - 1860' also at the Metropolitan Museum. In 2010, the National Gallery of Art in Washington awarded Taylor the Edmond J Safra visiting professorship. |
| Description | The collection is the personal research papers of Roger Taylor into the life of George Washington Wilson compiled by Taylor for his MA thesis and following publication 'George Washington Wilson Artist and Photographer (1823 - 1893)'. The papers comprise three broad areas: research into Wilson, his family and his business; correspondence with Wilson's living relatives and papers relating to Taylor's publications. Please note that the vast majority of the collection are photocopies, excepting personal correspondence in section 4 and two photographs in section 5.
The Wilson family papers include research material related to Alexander Johnstone Wilson and Charles Albert Wilson, two of George Washington Wilson's sons and one of G.W. Wilson's brothers, Robert Franklin Wilson. The collection of business papers include a large volume of material documenting G.W. Wilson's time at Balmoral, which includes copies of images produced for the Royal Albums for Queen Victoria; legal business documents, mentions and reviews featuring the George Washington Wilson and Co. and an incomplete set of business catalogues. Taylor also collected writing by G.W. Wilson and articles containing references to G.W. Wilson, including obituaries. Also, there is a wealth of correspondence between Roger Taylor and surviving Wilson family members. Prints from the George Washington Wilson collection accompany the collection including a set of index cards which Taylor recorded image details and a copy of the image. Lastly, Taylor collected related material comprising research into the photography industry in Aberdeen including a copy of the diary of George Walker (one of G.W. Wilson's close friends).
The papers relating to the publication of Taylor's book include his typed and annotated version of the manuscript and a copy of his MA thesis. These are accompanied by reviews of the book and correspondence received by Taylor after the publication of the book. |