Trio Photograph and Supply Company

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Trio Photograph and Supply Company

Parallel form(s) of name

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Other form(s) of name

  • Trio Photo Co. ; Trio Photography Co.; Trio Photographers; The ‘Trio’ Photograph & Supply Co.

Identifiers for corporate bodies

Description area

Dates of existence

1903-1946

History

The Trio Photograph and Supply Company was allegedly founded in 1903 by Ernest Crocker and two other English emigrants in Vancouver, Canada. Shortly after, the business moved to Victoria, B.C. where the partnership was dissolved, leaving Crocker as the main operator. In 1908, the studio relocated to Suite 8 at 604 Yates Street where it would remain for the next 37 years.

In its early years, Trio produced scenic postcards which were sold at a cigar-stand at the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Empress Hotel. Around 1910, the studio was hired to photograph mining properties in Mexico. During both World Wars, Trio flourished as a military photographer, capturing many candid, portrait and group shots of soldiers and personnel. During World War I, the majority of photographs were taken at Exhibition Grounds at Willows Camp and during World War II, at Work Point Barracks in Esquimalt and the Officers Training Camp at Gordon Head. In addition to his military portfolio, Trio photographed local landscapes, indigenous and other cultural communities, and took portraits of Victorian families and individuals as well as sporting and school groups. Trio also photographed three Royal visits: the Prince of Wales in 1919, the Prince of Wales and Prince George in 1927 and King George VI in 1939.

While Crocker remained the principal photographer at Trio, he appears to have received help during the course of his business. Sometime in the 1910s, G.E. Welsh joined Crocker in some form of business partnership before leaving in 1918. After that time, it would appear that a man named Orlebar (Charlie) Walls joined the studio as a part time assistant. In 1946, the Imperial Bank Chambers renovated the top floor of 604 Yates Street where the Trio studio was established, forcing them to evict the premises. Advanced in age, Crocker did not seek to reopen his studio.

Places

Legal status

Functions, occupations and activities

Mandates/sources of authority

Internal structures/genealogy

General context

Relationships area

Related entity

Crocker, Ernest William Albert (1877-1968)

Identifier of related entity

16581

Category of relationship

associative

Type of relationship

Crocker, Ernest William Albert

is the business partner of

Trio Photograph and Supply Company

Dates of relationship

Description of relationship

Access points area

Subject access points

Place access points

Occupations

Control area

Authority record identifier

17825

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Revised: ARUIZ 2018-10-18

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Name taken from the contents of the records (business stationary, postcard fine print etc.)

Maintenance notes

  • Clipboard

  • Export

  • EAC

Related subjects

Related places