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George Washington Wilson
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PLAQUE059

George Washington Wilson

PLAQUE059
Dedicatee (Alvah, Banffshire, Scotland, 1823 - 1893)
DescriptionGEORGE WASHINGTON WILSON 1823 - 1893 FIRST PHOTOGRAPHER ROYAL DESIGNED AND LIVED IN THIS HOUSE

HistoryGeorge Washington Wilson (1823-1893)

George Washington Wilson was born on 7th February 1823, into a crafting family, at Brownside croft, Alvah, Banff. He was the second son of the eleven children of George and Elspet. He attended the local parish school, Forglen School, between 1830and 1835, which he left to begin a career as an apprentice to a local carpenter and house builder. While training as a builder he was able to expand his artistic skills and decided to peruse a new career in art. He travelled down to Edinburgh in 1846 and then to London in 1849 in order to learn to be a miniaturist. He returned back to Aberdeen after a visit to Paris, in 1849, in order to create a name for himself as a miniaturist and also due to his fathers death, in 1848, he felt it was necessary for him to live closer to Aberdeen.

Wilson had two illegitimate sons in 1841 and 1844, with Isabella Johnstone. They were never married and Wilson went on to marry Maria Ann Cassie on the 15th December 1849. Together they had five sons and four daughters.

Wilson soon had a keen interest in the new science of photography. This type of art was a gamble for many artists, yet GWW took upon the challenge and set up a business, in 1853, along with his friend John Hay. They offered the people of Aberdeen the choice of having either a photograph or a miniature. The business was doing well, with there being an increasing demand from the new and rising Victorian Middle Class all wanting to be encapsulated in a portrait.

In 1854 Prince Albert, who along with Queen Victoria had a liking and interest in photography, had commissioned George Washington Wilson to capture the images of the old and new Balmoral Castle. This began Wilson’s long association with the Royal family. In 1873 he was granted the royal warrant.

The increase in tourism meant that there was a new market in which photography could be benefited from; Wilson began to produce postcard size photographs which captured to scenic views of the Highlands and cities of Scotland. He also began to travel around the world, to places such as Spain, France and England, where he would concentrate on capturing the images of popular haunts and picturesque spots beloved by tourists.

By 1865 he had produced around 550000 topographic and portrait prints. He and his family had also moved to Queen’s Cross. A decade later, with the business doing well, he opened larger premises on St. Swithin Street, and employed over 150 people over the summer. Three of his sons were also employed by Wilson to help with the business. John was in charge of the portrait studios in Crown Street, while Louis and Charles assisted in the running of St Swithin Street. In June 1882 there was a fire within the St. Swithin Street property that nearly destroyed all the negatives, but fortunately the fire did not reach the area they were stored in. Yet as a safety precaution Wilson built a fireproof store, for the negatives, in Stanley Street. The 1880’s also saw a change in technology, from ‘wet collodion’ to ‘dry gelatine plate’, which resulted in increased competition for Wilson.

Near the end of his life Wilson was suffering from epilepsy, believed been brought on by prolonged exposure to photography chemicals. With increased numbers of fits Wilson had to end his work with the company. He died on the 9th March 1893. He left the company to his sons and by 1902 the company went into voluntary liquidation. They attempted to set up a new company however that went bankrupt in 1908 and all the assets were auctioned off, with 65000 negatives being sold for £284.

Many of his images were used to illustrate many novels, including Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake. Queen Victoria also allowed 42 photographs to be published to illustrate her Leaves from Journal of Our Life in the Highlands as a tribute to Albert.

His plaque is erected at 1 Queens Cross (Clydesdale Bank) where he lived with his family.

Sources:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Heather F. C. Lyall “Treasures on Glass” in Leopard Issue 132 Jan 1989
Mike Craig “The Man With an Eye for the Future” in Leopard issue 177 March 1993

Location Info1, Queen's Cross - Clydesdale Bank
NotesImage Attribution: watty62, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons