Anne Alice Girling - Saanich Archives Exhibit

Developing Roots

Photographic Perspectives on Home and Nature

Anne Alice Girling was born in Suffolk, England in 1880 and studied photography at Woolwich Polytechnic before coming to Canada with her parents and siblings in 1912. The Girlings settled on the shores of Swan Lake in Saanich before moving to Thetis Lake and later to Finnerty Road where they converted an old school house to a family home. Annie never married and continued to live with family members in the Finnerty Road house until her death in 1953.

During Annie’s lifetime she experimented with photographic methods, capturing images of her family and community as well as nature scenes and still lifes. She kept a darkroom in her home and developed her own images. Her collection of work, including many photographs of Saanich and Victoria taken from 1912 to the 1940s, consists of 916 images -- 535 glass plate negatives, 357 film negatives, and 24 prints.

The collection was nearly destroyed when the Finnerty Road house was demolished in the 1960s, but was rescued and preserved for over 30 years by Lindsay Lambert, a photographic historian. In 2008, Mr. Lambert generously donated Annie’s 1901 field camera, plate holders, printing frames and collection of negatives to Saanich Archives. Descendants of the Girling family have helped immeasurably by identifying images and providing a wealth of background information.

A representative selection of Annie's photographs are presented on this website. Her complete work can be searched through Saanich Archives online database. With its images of home, family and nature, this remarkable collection provides a rich record of the work of a female photographer in the early 20th century, and a glimpse of life in the young Municipality of Saanich.

Annie Girling's 1901 Instantograph field camera

Annie Girling's 1901 mahogany

Instantograph field camera

Girling family portrait

Girling family portrait, ca. 1904

(Annie is standing)

Saanich Archives, 3100 Tillicum Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V9A 6T2

Telephone: 250-475-1775 Email: archives@saanich.ca