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Edinburgh Professional Photographers named Mitchell

-  George G Mitchell  d.1916

-  Grierson G Mitchell

-  Miss Maude Mitchell

-  WB Mitchell

-  WB Mitchell & Co

-  Mitchell & Laing

George G Mitchell

Partnerships

-   Lawrie & Mitchell from 1857 to 1898

-   Mitchell & Laing from 1910 to 1915.

QUESTION

Was it George or Grierson Mitchell or both  who were partners in the above partnerships?

Literature

About three years before giving his first lecture to Edinburgh Photographic Society, George G Mitchell wrote an article for the British Journal Photographic Almanac for 1881 setting out several approaches to intensifying gelatine negatives.     [TEPS:  Sep 1881]

Edinburgh Photographic Society

George G Mitchell was Secretary from 1885 to 1888.  He gave the following lectures to the Society:

-  1884:  Photographers and Sitters

-  1886:  The New Year and Development

-  1886:  A Scheme of Cabinet Print Exchange

-  1887:  The Camera and its Improvements.

He presented transparencies to EPS Popular Meetings in 1886, 1887.  and 1890. These meetings also provided musical entertainment and attracted large attendances.

In 1886, he made suggestions that led later to the setting up of the EPS Survey Section.

At the 1890 EPS Exhibition he exhibited landscape photographs (silver) and a pinhole camera, with a negative and print produced by it.

Obituary

The British Journal of Photography reported the death of George G Greenhill in 1916 at the age of 1884.  It was reported that:

 "In early life he had been an employee of the Telegraph Co before the business was taken over by the State.

"When photography came to be a commercial undertaking he started a business in the North Bridge where the Calton Hotel now stands, removing afterwards to Nicolson Square.

For some years, he taught photographic classes in the evening at Heriot Watt College   [BJP:  12 May 1916]

W B Mitchell

WB Mitchell was a photographer in 1889, before setting up his business as WB Mitchell & Co for the next two years.  

He exhibited 4 photographs in the 1890 PSS Exhibition.

1881 Census

There was a William Mitchell listed as a Photographer in the 1881 census.  Was this the same person as WB Mitchell, above, who did not appear as a professional photographer in the Edinburgh Trade Directories until 1889-91?

The 1881 census showed:

Photographic Artist:  aged 32

Born:  Whiitburn, West Lothian

Resident:  23, Queensferry Street Lane, Edinburgh

Grierson G Mitchell

Professional photographer

Grierson G Mitchell was listed in the trade directories as:

- 1865-1879  -  Partner in Laurie & Mitchell

- 1880-1888  -  Artist

- 1889-1921  -  Photographer.

COMMENT

The period above seems very long to have been covered by one photographer.  However, my first impression was that this may have been the case because I regarded Grierson Mitchell as being a fairly unusual name.

However, David AM Grierson, author of 'Grierson World Project' has discovered that there were several generations of the family given that name  -  See below.  So it now seems more likely that there might have been more than one Grierson Mitchell in the above partnerships.

Miss Maude Mitchell

Miss Maude Mitchell was based at the same address as Grierson G Mitchell from 1911 to 1919.

1881 Census

There was a Grierson Mitchell listed as a Photographic Artist in the 1881 census.  Was this the same person as Grierson G Mitchell, above, who was shown as being an Artist in 1881 in the Edinburgh Trade Directories?

The 1881 census showed Grierson Mitchell to be:

Photographic Artist:  aged 47

Born:  Edinburgh

Resident:  3, Gladstone Place, Edinburgh

Wife:  Helen M

Children

1.  Henry C:  aged 16    (born:  Edinburgh)

2.  Alice P:   aged 13    (born:  Edinburgh)

3.  Ernest:     aged  9    (born:  Edinburgh)

4.  Helen M:  aged  6    (born:  Edinburgh)