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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:

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 Item

Mt. Earnslaw, Head of Lake Wakatipu, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/50
Scope and Contents

190 x 139 mm. A view looking north from the head of Lake Wakatipu, with the mountain rising in the background to a height of 9250 ft.

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

Near R.C. [Roman Catholic] Mission, Apia, Samoa, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/55
Scope and Contents

192 x 146 mm. A view showing three Samoans in rough country in a creek, with two in a rowing boat and one standing in the water.

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).
 Fonds

New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089D
Scope and Contents An album containing mounted prints, most measuring approximately 200 x 140 mm, depicting the landscape and people of New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa. All the prints except for ten are signed and captioned by Burton Brothers. The ten unsigned photographs, mainly of Maori warriors, are the work of American Photo Company, Auckland (Y3089/53-54) and Pulman Studio, Auckland (Y3089D/58-65). The album breaks down into geographical locations thus:65 prints of New Zealand10 prints of...
Dates: 1884 - 1885
Conditions Governing Access: 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

Normal School, Christchurch, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/15
Scope and Contents

194 x 139 mm. A view of the school, with children playing outside. The foundation stone for this ornate building, which was designed by S.C. Farr, was laid in 1873.

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

Ohinemutu, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/14
Scope and Contents

199 x 147 mm. A view looking down on the old Maori village which lies on the shore of Lake Rotorua, with a cultivated garden in the foreground and scattered Maori huts around the lakeside.

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

On Pigeon Island, Lake Wanaka, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/53
Scope and Contents

181 x 144 mm. A view showing a small curved beach on the island with trees reaching to the water’s edge.

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

On the Avon, Christchurch, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/18
Scope and Contents

193 x 137 mm. A view looking along the tree-lined river, with school or church buildings beyond the trees.

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

Otira Gorge: W. Coast Road, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/25
Scope and Contents

190 x 138 mm. A view looking down on to the river which flows through the steep wooded gorge, with mountains in the distance. Otira lies in the Southern Alps near Arthur’s Pass.

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

Papaseea Falls, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/69
Scope and Contents

146 x 198 mm. A view of the rock and waterfall, with a party of men at the top of the falls, and two men in the water below.

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

Papiloa falls, Samoa, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/68
Scope and Contents

145 x 198 mm. A view of the waterfall also known as the 'sliding rock.'

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

Passage Point Cove, Dusky Sound, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/33
Scope and Contents

195 x 140 mm. A view looking along a small stream, with trees on either 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

Pembroke, Lake Wanaka, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/52
Scope and Contents

204 x 145 mm. A view looking down from a small settlement and across the lake, 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

Pink Terrace-destroyed by Great Earthquake, 1886 - 1889

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y308A/131
Scope and Contents 198 x 147 mm. A view of the collapsed Pink Terrace, destroyed in the volcanic eruption and subsequent earthquakes of June 1886. Mt Tarawera believed even by the Maoris to be extinct, killed 153 people, submerged the Pink and White terraces and caused enormous devastation over hundreds of square miles.For photographs of the terraces before their destruction, and descriptions of the phenomena see D.L. Mundy’s ‘Rotomahana and the Boiling Springs of New Zealand’ (Sampson Low, London...
Dates: 1886 - 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

Pink Terrace [Rotomahana], 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/20
Scope and Contents

186 x 148 mm. A view looking from the lake towards the terraces, with steam rising from the geyser behind.

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

Port Chalmers, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/45
Scope and Contents

198 x 147 mm. A view looking down on Port Chalmers, with Otago Harbour in the background. The picture gives a good view of the layout of this as yet small settlement, with streets running off outwards from the curving beach. Port Chalmers lies 9 miles north-east of Dunedin.

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

Preservation Inlet [West Coast Sounds], 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/30
Scope and Contents

194 x 144 mm. A view looking across the inlet, with a mountain visible in the distance beyond the far shore. Preservation Inlet lies at the extreme south western tip of the South Island and is now part of the Fiordland National Park.

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

Reception on arrival, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/77
Scope and Contents

175 x 140 mm. A view looking down on Samoan boats and canoes drawn up alongside a steamer in Pago-Pago harbour (Tutuila Island). Copyright registered 28 Aug. 1899.

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

Rotomahana, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/15
Scope and Contents

206 x 140 mm. A view along the lakeside looking towards the geysers and mineral terraces from which steam is rising. For other pictures and for contemporary descriptions of these phenomena, which were largely destroyed in the eruption of 1886, see Y308B/99-104, New Zealand postcards 100-111 and Y308A/131.

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

Rotomahana Boiling Mud Hill, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/21
Scope and Contents

187 x 148 mm. A view looking across one of the boiling pools of mud in the Rotomahana district, with hills in the background.

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

Russell, Bay of Islands, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/36
Scope and Contents

191 x 143 mm. A view looking down on to the town, with houses built right down to the beach. A steamer is moored to a jetty in the harbour. The original town of Russell (named after Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the Colonies) was destroyed by fire in 1842 and never rebuilt, and the use of the name Russell here applies to Kororareka, an older nearby settlement and port.

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

Sealey Gorge: W. Coast Road, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/23
Scope and Contents

193 x 139 mm. A view looking down on the road through the gorge, with a small wooden bridge in the foreground. The snow-capped mountain in the background is possibly Mt. Sealey.

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

Sealey River, N. Branch, W. Coast Road, 1885

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089C/24
Scope and Contents

194 x 138 mm. A view looking along the river with steep, wooded hillsides reaching down to the water and a snow-clad mountain in the distance. Exact location unknown.

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

Self-Acting Tramway, Waoirongomai, 1880

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3089E/28
Scope and Contents

142 x 205 mm. A view showing the steep hill which the line ascends (the machinery and freight trucks at the top of the incline can be seen in Y3089E/26). The operating procedure is unclear.

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

Suva, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/79
Scope and Contents

197 x 146 mm. A view looking down on a street in Suva, the Fijian capital, and showing wooden shop premises with verandahs running along the street.

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

Suva, Fiji, 1899

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y309C/83
Scope and Contents

198 x 145 mm. A view looking down on Suva harbour with steam and sailing ships at their moorings. Copyright registered 21 Aug. 1899.

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).
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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