Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
ca. 1914- ca. 1922 (Creation)
- Creator
- MacLaughlan, W.G., 1871-1935
Physical description area
Physical description
153 photographs: 30 panoramas and 2 small albums, sepia tone and b&w; 25 x 135 cm and smaller.
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Walter G. MacLaughlan, professional photographer, was born on 9 August 1871 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. After finishing school he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, United States where he opened his first photographic studio and married Ella Jane Murray of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada. He subsequently moved to Pugwash and opened a photographic studio there in 1895. He travelled west circa 1908 and opened a photographic studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, but returned to Halifax in 1914, just prior to World War I, to open a studio at 237 Barrington Street. MacLaughlan was appointed the official military photographer of the City of Halifax and he also began making motion pictures. He appears to have worked for both British-Canadian Pathe News and International Newsreel until late 1922. He was subsequently employed by Fox Films from 1923 to 1926. In 1926 he and his wife moved to Florida for health reasons where he continued to work part-time in still photography until his death on 9 May 1935.
Custodial history
The panoramas were purchased or donated to NS Archives from various persons in multiple accessions over three decades, from 1983 to 2007. The two small albums were donated by the children of Bill and Audrey Allison in 2014.
Scope and content
Collection consists of photographs, including panoramas, of Nova Scotia soldiers in World War I and scenes of the city of Halifax immediately after the Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917. The images include wide angle views of the North End of the city, the shipyard or ‘graving yard’, and 5x7 images in 2 small albums of individual homes (some with people in doorways), stores, warehouse and a church. The photographs in the albums bear MacLaughlan’s name and a sequential number. Some also have the name of the property owner and street name written in pencil. The fonds also includes large group portraits, mostly of soldiers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for World War I. Most soldiers are identified by name.
Notes area
Physical condition
Album front covers are missing, photographs warped, some have stains.
8 panoramas are tightly rolled, torn at ends.
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Collection assembled by Nova Scotia Archives.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
To prevent damage, the 8 tightly rolled panoramas are not accessible.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Associated materials
Additional MacLaughlan photographs can be found in the Harold Medjuck Collection, 1979-199 at 32.4.7.
A microfilmed copy of the scrapbook compiled by Bertha MacLaughlan is available Nova Scotia Archives microfilm 10886.
Accruals
Physical description
Albums: 123 photographs: sepia toned with canvas backing; 13 x 18 cm.