George Morrison

George G Morrison

THEN

George Morrison

Studios

George G Morrison was a professional photographer based at several addresses in Edinburgh, Leith and Portobello from 1912. They had studios at several addresses in Edinburgh.

Morrison's Studio addresses, 137 Leith Street and 21 Promenade Portobello, appear on the back of many post card portraits. These studios operated from 1915-36 and 1912-28 respectively.

The Portobello Studio

Postcard Portraits

Here is one of George G Morrison's postcard portraits. Several of the his postcard portraits in my collection are of men in military uniform.

Dates

GG Morrison produced a very large number of postcard portraits. Many of these can still be found. Most are numbered on the back in pencil. These numbers may be of some help in dating photos:

- 1 to 22,561: Many of these postcards have both the Leith Street and Portobello addresses on the back. I assume that these were all produced between about 1915 and 1923.

- 22,561 to 39463: Many of these postcards have both the Leith Street and Portobello addresses on the back. I assume that these were all produced between about 1923 and 1928.

- 39,464 to 52,032: I have not seen any numbers in this range, so I cannot yet say which of these are likely to be pre-1928.

- 52,033 to 67,169 (the highest I have seen): All of these postcards that I have seen give only one studio address, 137 Leith Street. This suggests that these photographs probably date from the period 1928-36.

Acknowledgement

The dates above have been taken from postcard portraits in my own collection, with additional information provided by Murray Hesketh Henderson of New South Wales, Australia who told me of a photograph of his father in 1923 (No. 22561).

Mr Henderson comments that Morrisons did a good job on retouching his father's cheeks: he had been burnt earlier in an e-ray machine.

Morrisons produced many postcards portraits. I expect they were one of the more affordable studios in Edinbrugh, so it is good to know that they did good work with their retouching.

Thank you also to Gavin Ramsay for telling me about his Morrison studio postcard of Ada Jardine. Gavin tells me:

- The card was numbered 3077 and had the address of the studio as 137 Leith St.

- Ada died on 10th Jan 1922 aged 16 of 'flu and its complications.

- Ada looks about 16 in the photo, so believes the photo was taken around 1921.

This seems a very low number for a 1921 postcard. More research is needed!

Portobello and Leith Studios

If the Portobello studio did open in 1912 and the Leith Street studio opened in 1915, as the directories suggest, I would have expected to find some cards with early numbers giving just the Portobello address.

In fact, the three lowest numbers I have in my own collection are 4742 (Leith Street address), 7515 (Leith Street address) and 8,142 (both addresses). More research - and more postcards - needed!

55 Lothian Road

George G Morrison

George G Morrison moved from his studio in Leith Walk to 55 Lothian Road in 1939. The company advertised:

Commercial,

Press,

Social,

Outdoor

and

Wedding

Photography.

George Morrison

George Morrison, photographer, was based at 55 Lothian Road from 1952.

Edinburgh Camera Shop

The address, 55 Lothian Road, became the Edinburgh Camera Shop in 1956, the company remaining there until 1999, then moving about a mile further south, to Bruntsfield.

Question

Was George Morrison (above) the son of George G Morrison?

Reply

Thank you to Andy Aitken who wrote:

"You speculate on whether George G Morrison and George Morrison were father and son?

The answer is 'yes'. George Morrison was my father's cousin and apparently was quite eccentric. He originally attended Edinburgh College of Art before leaving to help his father.

He sold the business (which became Edinburgh Cameras) to move to Ullapool and run a B&B. Subsequently he moved to Lewis, apparently because it was the ancestral seat of the Morrisons!"

Andy Aitken, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland: June 18, 2007