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G R Lambert and Co (fl. 1875-1919) (photographers)

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: fl. 1875 - 1919

Biography

G.R. Lambert, from Dresden, arrived in Singapore in 1875. According to Wright, Lambert established a photographic studio in 1875 (Wright 1908). However, Lambert's firm was not advertised in the 'Singapore directory for the Straits Settlements' until 1878. In 1878 it had premises in Orchard Road and was possibly connected with the Lamberts who ran the Singapore Carriage Works and Livery Stables. In 1885 Lambert left the Straits Settlement. From 1885-1905 the firm was managed by Alexander Koch. There was also a branch in Deli, Sumatra, run by H. Stafhell in the mid-1880s and a branch in Kuala Lumpur. A Bangkok branch was run by C Frichas circa 1895. The firm's head office was at Gresham House, Battery Road in the 1890s. The firm was run by H. Thomas Jensen of Reutlinger's, Paris from 1905. G.R. Lambert and Co. were photographers by appointment to the King of Siam and the Sultan of Johore. They also photographed the Federal Conferences of 1896 and 1903 and the visit of Sir John Anderson to Kelantan in 1909. The company was the largest business in the Malay Peninsula. The firm possibly wound up during the First World War.

Wright wrote: 'Lambert has maintained a high reputation for artistic portraiture, and of landscapes they have one of the finest collections in the east, comprising about three thousand subjects relating to Siam, Singapore, Borneo, Malaya and China. An extensive trade is done in picture postcards, the turnover being about quarter of a million cards a year. A large stock of apparatus for amateurs is always kept in hand' (1908).

The firm also employed:

1885: C. Petersen, H. Schübert, Miss Besagoiti, T.A. (or J.A.) Rodrigues. 1901: R. Herbst, H.V. Katte, C. Warleberg, A Beattie. 1910: O. Schwemer (Chairman), H.L. Coghlan, W. Ewald, S. Gauder, R. Matsunaga.

Sources:

Falconer, J (1987), 'A vision of the past : a history of early photography in Singapore and Malaya : the photographs of G.R. Lambert and Co., 1880-1910'. Singapore: Times Editions.

Wright, Arnold and Cartwright, H.A. ed. (1907), 'Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources'. London.

Found in 105 Collections and/or Records:

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 Item

Garden party at the R[esident] G[eneral], Perak, [July 1897], 1897-07

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 3/46
Scope and Contents 357 x 272 mm. A group portrait of British and Malay dignitaries gathered in the garden of the Residency at Kuala Kangsar during the Federal Conference of 1897. With three elephants at the right of the print. At the start of the meeting a telegram telegram of loyalty from the Sultans to Queen Victoria was sent and in the following days various matters relating to federation were discussed. Figures so far identified in the print are: Sir Hugh CLIFFORD (1866-1941), seated on middle...
Dates: 1897-07
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Government House, Singapore, 1880 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/98
Scope and Contents

275 x 207 mm. A general view of Government House. Photograph probably by G.R. Lambert and Co.

Dates: 1880 - 1889
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Government House [Singapore]., 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/26
Scope and Contents 293 x 245 mm. A view looking up from one of the driveways in the garden towards Government House. Singapore's first gubernatorial residence had been the house build by Raffles on the summit of what was to become Fort Canning and for a period after the building of the Fort, the Governor lived in rented accommodation in the town ( Buckley, p. 675). As with St Andrews Cathedral, Government House was erected under the supervision of J.F.A. McNair, using largely convict labour, and was ready...
Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Head and shoulders mounted portrait Dr De Vicq, Netherlands Consul General at Singapore ; killed by a fall from his horse May 1899, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3031C/6
Scope and Contents

105 x 165 mm.

Dates: 1899
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Hindu Temple [Singapore], 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/30
Scope and Contents

207 x 27 mm. Showing the gopuran (entrance gate-tower) of the Sri Mariamman Temple on South Bridge Road, built between 1827 and 1843.

Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, 1890 - 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/95
Scope and Contents

260 x 208 mm.

Dates: 1890 - 1899
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Singapore, 1890 - 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/94
Scope and Contents

269 x 204 mm.

Dates: 1890 - 1899
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Hugh Clifford and Martin Lister, 1886, 1886

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 7/21
Scope and Contents 97 x 143 mm. A cabinet portrait showing a seated Hugh Clifford and the Hon. Martin Lister (1857-1897) standing behind him. Lister, after an unsuccessful planting career in Ceylon and Malaya was a local appointee, becoming Secretary to the British Resident, Perak in 1884; the following year he became Magistrate and Collector, Ulu Selangor, and in 1887 was appointed Superintendent, Negri [i.e. Negeri] Sembilan. He became the first Resident on the federation of old Negri Sembilan with Sungei...
Dates: 1886
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Java Street, Kuala Lumpur, 1882-1883, 1882 - 1883

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/7
Scope and Contents 264 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view looking across Java Street towards the verandahed commercial premises of Chinese traders. Beyond these substantial stone buildings with tiled roofs are more modest atap houses. These more modern buildings are probably seen here soon after completion: one of the first orders promulgated by Swettenham on his arrival as Resident in 1882 was that all houses should be rebuilt with corrugated iron roofs. This order never came into effect, but in 1884 a...
Dates: 1882 - 1883
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Kuala Lumpur, circa 1882, 1882

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/1
Scope and Contents 265 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view looking down onto the Klang River and across to Welds Hill (still at this period heavily wooded) with a sprinkling of Malay houses with atap roofs clustered around the river. The area in the foreground was later to be the site of the Government Offices and cricket ground. The view looks eastward from a point a little to the south of the confluence of the Klang and Gombah Rivers. The photograph dates from the period just after the British centre of...
Dates: 1882
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Kuala Lumpur, circa 1882, 1882

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/2
Scope and Contents

266 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view, taken from a similar location to the preceding print, but nearer to the Klang River, looking across towards Weld's Hill, with atap houses in the foreground.

Dates: 1882
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Kuala Lumpur, circa 1882, 1882

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/3
Scope and Contents

264 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view looking towards Welds Hill with atap houses in the foreground. A photograph probably taken from a spot near the east bank of the Klang River.

Dates: 1882
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Kuala Lumpur, circa 1882, 1882

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/5
Scope and Contents 265 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view from just above the west bank looking down onto the Klang River, with the atap houses of Kuala Lumpur on the far side. Beside the road in the foreground is an open-sided atap house where a number of carpenters are planing wood to form planks. The note in Swettenham's hand on the reverse reads: 'This is the point from which, in 1882, just to the right of the picture, the road started to ascend the hill on which were the Residency and all other...
Dates: 1882
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Kuala Lumpur, [circa 1883-1884], 1883 - 1884

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/6
Scope and Contents

264 x 207 mm (mounted on card). A view looking across uneven, partially cleared scrubland towards (on the left) the square, two storey wooden quarters of Captain Syers, and (on the right) the Police Barracks, a series of long single storey buildings raised on brick pillars. Gullick (1955, p. 27-28) provides a detailed description of the buildings.

Dates: 1883 - 1884
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Labuan Harbour, Borneo [i.e. Pulau Labuan], 1880 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y302B/51
Scope and Contents

274 x 208 mm. View looking across the harbour towards moored shipping and warehouses, with houses on piles and a cluster of palm trees in the foreground. Photographer unknown, probably G.R. Lambert and Co.

Dates: 1880 - 1889
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Labuan [i.e. Pulau Labuan], Borneo, the New Harbour, 1880 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y302B/52
Scope and Contents

275 x 209 mm. View from a wooded hillside looking towards the wharves and warehouses of the harbour area, with the channel beyond leading to the open sea. Photograher unknown, probably G.R. Lambert and Co.

Dates: 1880 - 1889
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Landing pier, 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/10
Scope and Contents

272 x 214 mm. A view looking along a wharf, with small craft moored in the foreground and steamers tied up alongside a warehouse at the farther end. Exact location unidentified, but judging by the presence of railway trucks on the wharf, probably part of the Tanjong Pagar complex.

Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Magistrate's Quarters (H.B. Belfield), Kuala Lumpur, 1882-1883, 1882 - 1883

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/9
Scope and Contents 264 x 207 mm (mounted on card). Showing the square two storey, Magistrate's quarters set among partially cleared scrubland with a somewhat overgrown garden area laid out in front of the building. The Magistrate's quarters were completed in 1883 according to the Annual Financial Report for Selangor for that year (in C. 4192 of 1884), but if this print shows the building during Henry Conway Belfields occupancy it must date from 1884 at the earliest, in which year Belfield was appointment to...
Dates: 1882 - 1883
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Malay Gamelong, 1890 - 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/38
Scope and Contents

269 x 188 mm. Showing a Malay gamelong orchestra with their instruments.

Dates: 1890 - 1899
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Malay house, 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/42
Scope and Contents

274 x 214 mm. Showing two European men and a child standing in front of a wooden thatched house raised on stilts in a setting of coconut palms. Exact location unidentified.

Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Malay street boy, 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/36
Scope and Contents

198 x 244 mm. A full length seated studio portrait of a smiling Malay boy wearing the traditional baju (collarless tunic), kain (sarong) and songkok (black velvet hat).

Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Malay Village, Borneo [? miscaption for view of Rochore, Singapore], 1880 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y302B/42
Scope and Contents

274 x 207 mm. A view on the Rochore River north of the town, with boats in the foreground and a settlement of houses raised on stilts above the water on the farther bank.

Dates: 1880 - 1889
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Market, Kuala Lumpur, 1883, 1883

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/10
Scope and Contents 265 x 208 mm (mounted on card). Showing the Kuala Lumpur market buildings, an open sided building with a tiled roof supported by brick stanchions and situated near the east bank of the Klang River south of Market Street. The market and its site were originally under the control of the Capitan China Yap Ah Loy. Gullick (1955, p. 42) describes Swettenhams views on the market: On its reversion to the State, certain improvements were made to the building and shortly afterwards a more...
Dates: 1883
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Mohamedan [i.e. Islamic] and Chinese temples, Spore [i.e. Singapore], 1900

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 1/28
Scope and Contents

269 x 209 mm. A view looking along Telok Ayer Street, with the Islamic Nagore Durgha mosque at the right and Chinese temple, the Thian Hock Keng in the centre of the print. The Nagore Durgha (originally known as Shahul Hamid Durgha) was built by South Indian Muslims in 1828-1830. Another, unidentified Islamic mosque can be partially seen at the left of the print.

Dates: 1900
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur, 1883 [?], 1883

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/BAM 4/12
Scope and Contents

163 x 110 mm. A view looking northwest over Kuala Lumpur from the Residency Hill. The Federal Government Offices can be seen in the distance. The buildings (erected 1893-1896) appear to be completed, although the clock for the central tower is not yet in position. This was imported from England and placed in the tower in 1897.

Dates: 1883
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
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