Skip to main content

Burton Brothers (fl. 1868-1898) (photographers)

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: fl. 1868 - 1898

Biography

Alfred Henry Burton was born in England in 1834. In circa 1868 he joined his brother Walter Burton in Dunedin, New Zealand, where Walter had established a photographic business (Turner 1996, p.282). Walter advertised as being 'of the firm of John Burton and Sons, of Leicester, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, and Burton-upon-Trent, England, Artist and Photographer' in Mackay's Almanac for 1867 (Knight 1971, p.46). Trading under the name 'Burton Brothers', Alfred and Walter remained in business together until 1876, when their partnership was dissolved (Turner 1996, p.282). Initially the company seems to have been primarily involved in selling fancy goods, engraving and hiring out masonic regalia. They later became successful publishers of photographic views, employing photographers to take topographical views and photographs of special events and expeditions (Knight 1971, p.47). Walter died in 1880. However, Alfred continued to trade under the name 'Burton Bros' until 1898, apparently appointing Thomas M.B. Muir to take over the portrait work ( Knight 1971, p.51). In 1898 Alfred sold his remaining interests to Muir and Moodie. Alfred was most famous for his trip up the Wanganui River in April and May 1885. His photographs from this trip form one of the most important records of Maori life. He spent his last years teaching elocution at Knox College. Alfred died in 1914 (Turner 1996, p.282; Knight 1971, pp.46-52).

Publications:

Burton Brothers (1884), 'The Camera in the Coral Islands'.

Burton Brothers (1884), 'New Zealand through the Camera'.

Burton Brothers (1886), 'The Maori at home: a catalogue of a series of photographs illustrative of the scenery and of native life in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand', Dunedin: Burton Bros.

Burton Brothers (1889), 'Wintering on Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri'.

Sources:

Turner, Jane ed. (1996), 'The dictionary of art'. Volume 5. New York: Grove.

Knight, Hardwicke (1971), 'Photography in New Zealand. A social and technical history'. Dunedin: John McIndoe.

Found in 102 Collections and/or Records:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
 Item

Dunedin from Queen Street North, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/46
Scope and Contents

196 x 145 mm. A view showing Queen Street in the foreground with the city and harbour beyond.

Dates: 1880
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

Fijians bathing, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/84
Scope and Contents

196 x 144 mm. A view showing 8 Fijian men and women bathing in a river.

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

‘Fuia’ Samoan girl, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/65
Scope and Contents

139 x 192 mm. A full length portrait of a Samoan girl, wearing a mat skirt and standing in front of a palm thatch house.

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

George Sound, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/38
Scope and Contents

137 x 188 mm. A view from a hillside with a man and a woman in the foreground, looking down towards the Sound on which a steam ship can be seen.

Dates: 1885
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

George Sound [34 miles from Caswell Sound], 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/37
Scope and Contents

187 x 136 mm. A view looking across the Sound towards a waterfall, wooded hills and mountains on the far side.

Dates: 1885
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

Grahamstown, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/23
Scope and Contents

197 x 146 mm. A view showing the front of the post office in Grahamstown, with passers-by and a horse and carriage posed for the camera in front of the building. The settlement in the Thames district was founded at the start of the gold discoveries in the North Island in the early 1860s.

Dates: 1880
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

[Group of women, Vavau, Tonga], 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/11
Scope and Contents

196 x 144 mm. A view showing a row of Tongan women performing a ceremonial dance.

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

Hot Water basins: White Terrace [Rotomahana], 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/17
Scope and Contents

187 x 148 mm. A view showing the terrace formations filled with water which drops down from the geyser above.

Dates: 1880
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

Humboldt Range, Kinloch, Head of Lake Wakatipu, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/49
Scope and Contents

191 x 140 mm. A view showing the small settlement of Kinloch on the lakeside, with the Humboldt Range rising in the background. The range, which lies north west of Queenstown, stretches northward along the shores of the lake and beyond.

Dates: 1885
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

Hutt, Wellington, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/40
Scope and Contents

198 x 148 mm. A view of the countryside in the Hutt area north of Wellington, showing fields interspersed with palm trees.

Dates: 1880
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

Interior of Meeting House and Priest, 1888 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y308A/133
Scope and Contents

201 x 151 mm. A view showing the priest, or ‘Tohunga’ (a word basically meaning an expert, of which there are several classes), standing in front of the decorated inner wall of the meeting house. The rafters are painted in a typical Maori motif (probably in red, black and white), while the walls are constructed of lattice ‘tukutuku’ panels forming a geometric decoration.

Dates: 1888 - 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

Invercargill, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/45
Scope and Contents

194 x 142 mm. A view looking across fields towards the centre of the town. Invercargill, situated on the banks of the Waihopai River, is the southernmost city in New Zealand, first settled by James Kelly and his wife in 1855.

Dates: 1885
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

Island Bay, Stewart Island, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/54
Scope and Contents

206 x 144 mm. A view looking out onto a small bay surrounded by woodland in the centre of which is a small island. Stewart Island is the most southerly part of New Zealand, separated from the south coast of the South Island by Foveaux Strait.

Dates: 1880
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

Lake Wanaka East, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/51
Scope and Contents

205 x 145 mm. A view looking down from a small settlement and across, with mountains in the distance. In the foreground stand a few farm buildings and some cleared land.

Dates: 1880
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

Makarewa River, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/4
Scope and Contents

198 x 138 mm. A view looking along the river, with woods running down to the water’s edge. The Makarewa lies just north of Invercargill at the southernmost tip of the South Island.

Dates: 1885
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

[Manubouri, Sweet Arm, caption almost cropped off], 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/50
Scope and Contents

194 x 148 mm. A view along a fiord, with mountain ranges in the distance.

Dates: 1880
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

Maori Land, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/1
Scope and Contents

152 x 197 mm. A photograph composed of a montage of Maori portraits, interspersed with landscape studies and photographs of Maori houses. The caption reads ‘Maori Land. The Maori portraits are originals-taken from life. Burton Brothers, photographers, Number forty-one Princes Street’.

Dates: 1880
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

Milford Sound, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/48
Scope and Contents

180 x 143 mm. A view looking across the Sound, with mountains rising steeply from the far shore (though here almost faded into invisibility).

Dates: 1880
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

Milford Sound, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/49
Scope and Contents

180 x 143 mm. A view looking across Milford Sound towards Mitre Peak which rises from the water’s edge on the far shore.

Dates: 1880
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

Milford Sound, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/43
Scope and Contents

190 x 140 mm. A view looking along a river in the Milford Sound area, with trees on either side and mountains in the distance.

Dates: 1885
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

Moke Lake, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/59
Scope and Contents

190 x 138 mm. A view looking across the lake, with hills and mountains rising on either side. The stillness of the water has allowed the photographer to capture a perfect reflection of the scene in the lake.

Dates: 1885
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

Mongarewa Gorge, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/22
Scope and Contents

185 x 144 mm. A view looking along the river which runs through the bottom of the gorge, with dense woodland on either side.

Dates: 1880
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

Mount Cook, 12375 feet, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/41
Scope and Contents

184 x 146 mm. A view looking along a valley at the foot of the mountain, showing part of Mount Cook at the left and part of another peak at the right.

Dates: 1880
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

Mount Rolleston, W. Coast Road, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/42
Scope and Contents

147 x 183 mm. A view looking between trees towards the distant mountain, of which little can be seen due to fading.

Dates: 1880
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

Mt. Cook (12375 feet), 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/12
Scope and Contents

193 x 138 mm. A view looking between two mountains towards Mt. Cook in the distance. All detail has been lost from Mt. Cook and it is scarcely distinguishable against the sky.

Dates: 1885
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).
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 101
Collection 1
 
Subject
Oceania (continent) 101
New Zealand (nation) 83
Auckland (inhabited place) 12
Samoa (nation) 11
Tonga (nation) 6