Monday, October 10, 2011

Full Circle 32

Meet Mabel Jones.

 

Canadian Lady Cdv Solway

Photo Number 628

This is the back of the CdV .

Canadian Lady CdV back Solway

A gentleman by the name of Ken left me a comment:

her name is mabel jones ,daughter of the photographer.That is the work of my great grandfather.john lewis jones who later in life moved to montreal quebec and joined with the noted photographer william notman.


I also got an email from Ken:


The photo by l jones quebec canada..thats my grandfathers sister in the photo...mabel jones..she died young from scarlet fever.Mr jones was john lewis jones ,the first english professional photographer in the city of quebec.His niche was the carrige trade .Many many notables of his time had their pictures taken by him..He later moved to the city of montreal and worked with a very notable photographer by the name of william notman. Mr notman was famous for taking his camera outdoors and taking pics of the newly emerging industrial world..He's easily found on google.I grew up with tons of those photo"s and now am always so surprised when I spot one on the internet.Thank you very much for posting it..If you'de like some more info just email me..thanks again..oh and as a sidenote ,he was a southern sympathizer during the civil war and it was always mentioned in our house that he"de met jefferson davis ..as a result there is always someone from each generation with the middle name of lee..thats me.and to really go back his wifes people go all the way back to the mayflower.

I asked him for more info and if he knew when this photo was taken?

I believe it was 1912 or thereabouts..It was always a family moment of pride that my grandfather"s father was the first english photographer in the city of quebec..Now through the net I see his work from time to time..Now as to the year it was taken I would have to say around 1881 through to 1900..the back of the photo"s changes..most of the family photo"s were about 1888..I have many of my grandfather as a young boy..Long hair and beautiful baby clothes..there was a family history of john lewis jones studing at mattew brady"s studio..Now I don"t know which location..that was probably just before the civil war..he would have been about 16..his father dabled in early photography and hand painted early pieces.Imagine my surprise when I walked into a little private museum on the west coast of canada and saw some of his work being displayed..


They were not an early working class family by any means..My great grand father took shots of visiting dignataries and local heads of government..I have only one pic of mabel and always heard from my grandmother what a beauty she was..She was one of five children..only two made it to adulthood..there supposedly was a huge epidemic of scarlet fever during world war one..followed by an influenza epidemic in 1918..this country had a small population at that time and I guess no town was spared its share of grief.
I am amazed to see this ..thanks so much for posting this..You don"t know how I jumped when I saw it..


I google his name from time to time and more and more things turn up..there is a poor canadian early photographer site..they never respond..I've tried a few times to have john lewis jones put up there.I was a little kid and we had boxes and boxes of his work.It all got destroyed except for family photo"s..history just wasn’t respected..Same with family history..If you told my grandmother that being descended from Mayflower people was special ,well she would have said so what..anytime anything by john lewis jones turns up I am very very interested

 

It took 17 days for the photo to reach him. When I mailed it I wrote: The photo is in the mail, sometimes it seems like a Pony Express route between the US and Canada..so be patient!

 

hello connie, thank you for the photo, She is now beside many of her brother and one of her as a young child of about eight..this photo was probably done on older stock..most of the ones from fabrique street have the name at bottom front.all the way from quebec to the usa .I have only two of mabel and some of her sister ,Some very much older in draq..some on copper..probably of the oldest women in the family ,they 80 ? or so..the pics taken in about 1865 or so..thank you very much for the addition.today is canadian thanks giving. So happy thanks giving.....snail mail indeed..sept22 to oct 8 ..could have used the pony express

I was very happy to have this photo go Full Circle. I enjoyed reading about Ken’s family..I found his comments very interesting.   Awesome. Mabel is back home in Canada!

Thanks for stopping by, do come again:)

9 comments:

  1. It is sad to know, Mabel Jones died young of Scarlet fever. Finally, Ken could get in touch with you and received Mabel's photograph. It must mean a lot to them, and to you. I am happy for that. Thank you for sharing.

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  2. What an amazing story! Thanks so much to both you and Ken.

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  3. That is quite a story! I found it fascinating.

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  4. What a story! I'm so glad that one made it full circle. I remember that photo...such a singular effect. Nice to know who she was and the history behind the photographer.

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  5. Now that is the reason we do all this! Fantastic full circle and it is nice to know that the photo is with family who will cherish the memory of Mabel.

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  6. Beautiful portrait.
    Does she remind anyone else of the actress, Julie Harris?

    marlu

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Hi, Thanks for the comments, your input on these old photos is appreciated! English only please! All comments will be moderated! Connie