Edward Gordon Smith

Edward Gordon Smith postcard of Poynter's Grove, Totteridge, London

Edward Gordon Smith (15 June 1857 – 30 May 1906) was an English photographer and postcard publisher. He produced photographs of London and its suburbs, as well as theatrical, railway and tramway subjects, and published postcards from London between about 1903 and 1906.

Early life

Edward Gordon Smith was born in Westminster St James’s on 15 June 1857, the son of Edward Smith (1825 – 1895) and Helen Smith née Farrar (1820 – 1888). The 1881 England Census recorded Smith living at 5 Somerset Villas in Stoke Newington and working as a “Fancy Goods Salesman”. His father was described in the same census as a “Fancy Goods Warehouseman & Photographer Master employing 7 men and 4 women”, showing that photography was already part of his father's business.[1][2]

By 1901, Smith was recorded in the census as a photographer and employer, living at 68 Allerton Road with his wife, Elizabeth Ellen Smith née Fox (1857 – 1912), and their two daughters Dorothy Fox Smith and Ethel Gladys Smith.[3]

Photography and postcard publishing

Smith photographed views of London, the surrounding counties, events, theatres, railways and tramways. His photographs were reproduced in contemporary publications. In 1902, The Sketch published a photograph of a scene from Paolo and Francesca at the St James's Theatre credited to “Gordon Smith, Allerton Road, N.” [4] A report on the King’s Dinner to the Poor (1902) in celebration of the Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra also included a photograph credited to “Gordon Smith, Allerton Road, N.”, showing guests and helpers in Stoke Newington.[5] His photographs of the former New Providence Chapel in Gray's Inn Lane and Hermes Hill House, Pentonville, were reproduced later in Thomas Wright's The Life of William Huntington, S.S. (1909). [6]

His photographs were variously marked or credited as “G. Smith”, “Gordon Smith” and “E. Gordon Smith”, and surviving attribution records are not always consistent.[7] Some of his photographs were registered for copyright. Records held by The National Archives identify Edward Gordon Smith as the author or copyright owner of photographs, including scenes from The Great Millionaire at Drury Lane Theatre, registered in 1901, and views of the Bank and Mansion House and St Paul’s Cathedral, registered in 1906.[8][9][10]

Smith began publishing postcards in about 1903 from 68 Allerton Road, Stoke Newington. His early cards depicted London and the countryside of Hertfordshire and Essex.[7][11][2]

In 1905 he moved to 15 Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, where the business expanded its range, including the Photorprint series, Gems of British Scenery, Beauty Spots of the British Isles, the colour Pinachrome series, London cards with twin views, and sets of railway-engine cards covering several British railway companies. The Pinachrome series included reproductions of paintings by the artist Walter Hayward-Young (also known as “Jotter”).[7][11]

Smith died on 30 May 1906.[12] His widow, Elizabeth, and daughters carried on the business, which appears to have ceased about 1916. Further series including Beauty Spots of the British Isles and Gems of British Scenery were produced after his death. [7][11]

Many of the postcards were numbered, although the complete numbering sequence or reliable chronology for the series is uncertain. The attribution of material bearing the name “E. Gordon Smith” after Smith’s death is also uncertain. The name appears in a 1912 letter to the British Journal of Photography from 15 Stroud Green Road, showing that the name continued to be used in connection with the business. [13]

Collections and legacy

Smith’s photographs and postcards are preserved in institutional and local collections and reproduced in local-history literature.

The Victoria and Albert Museum’ Gabrielle Enthoven Collection contains photographs catalogued under “Gordon, E (photographers)”; several bear the printed attribution “Gordon Smith, 68 Allerton Road, N.” Its records include photographs of theatrical stage sets and productions at Drury Lane Theatre, including The Great Ruby (1898), Hearts and Trumps (1899), The Price of Peace (1900), The Best of Friends (1902), and The Flood Tide (1903). [14][15]

The Historic England Archive’s Nigel Temple Collection contains historic postcards attributed to Edward Gordon Smith. The Canterbury Museum collection also attributes three London postcards to Edward Gordon Smith: views of the Tower and Mint, London Bridge and Victoria Embankment.[16][17]

The London Transport Museum likewise catalogues multiple postcards attributed to Gordon Smith. The National Tramway Museum identifies Gordon Smith as the photographer of a commemorative postcard showing the inauguration of London County Council electric tramcar operations on 15 May 1903.[18][19]

Local-history collections also preserve examples of postcards attributed to Smith, including collections documented by the Finchley Society and Basildon History Online. [20][21]

His photographs have been reproduced in later local-history works. Brian Girling’s Westminster’s Villages (1996) includes a view of Wellington Buildings in Pimlico bearing the inscription “Gordon Smith”.[22] David Mander’s Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill & Upper Clapton (1992) includes two photographs attributed to Smith. One shows Seven Sisters Road and Woodberry Down and is described as a view by local postcard publisher “G. Smith” from around 1900. The other shows Clapton Common and St Thomas’s Church and is dated to around 1901.[23] Ian Finlay's London in Old Picture Postcards (1985) reproduces a Gordon Smith postcard of Winchmore Hill, published from 15 Stroud Green Road and postally used in March 1908.[24]

Smith’s photographs and postcards provide a valuable visual record of Victorian and Edwardian London, its people, places, transport and changing urban landscape.

References

  1. ↑ "1881 England Census". Ancestry.com. 2004. RG11; Piece 282; Folio 22; Page 10; GSU roll 1341061. Retrieved 23 August 2026 – via Ancestry.
  2. 1 2 "Postcards by Gordon Smith". Hertfordshire Genealogy. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "1901 England Census". Ancestry.com. 2005. RG13; Piece: 204; Folio: 73; Page: 21. Retrieved 23 August 2026 – via Ancestry.
  4. ↑ ""Paolo and Francesca," at the St. James's". The Sketch. 12 March 1902. pp. 285–286 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ The King's Dinner to the Poor, in Celebration of Their Majesties' Coronation, A.D. 1902: Reports of the Mansion House Committee and of the Borough Sub-Committees appointed to carry our the necessary arrangements. 1902. p. 277. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Wright, Thomas (1909). The Life of William Huntington, S.S. Farncombe & Son – via Internet Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Coysh, Arthur Wilfred (1984). The Dictionary of Picture Postcards in Britain, 1894–1939. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0907462553 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ "Photograph of Carlton Hotel Scene in drama entitled 'The Great Millionaire', played at Drury Lane Theatre, London". The National Archives. COPY 1/453/46. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Photograph of The Bank & Mansion House". The National Archives. COPY 1/493/542. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Photograph of St Paul's Cathedral from Cheapside". The National Archives. COPY 1/493/541. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 Byatt, Anthony (1978). Picture Postcards and Their Publishers: An Illustrated Account Identifying Britain's Major Postcard Publishers 1894 to 1939 and the Great Variety of Cards They Issued. Golden Age Postcard Books. pp. 249–250. Smith, E. Gordon
  12. ↑ "Death notice". The Times. No. 38035. 1 June 1906.
  13. ↑ "A Curious Form of Marking". British Journal of Photography. 59. Henry Greenwood & Co.: 508 28 June 1912.
  14. ↑ "The Great Ruby". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "The Flood Tide". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "Nigel Temple Collection". Historic England Archive. Historic England. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Edward Gordon Smith". Canterbury Museum. Canterbury Museum. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "15th May 2023 – 120th Anniversary of the Start of London County Council Electric Tramcar Operations". Tramway Museum Society. Tramway Museum Society. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "LTM Collections". London Transport Museum. London Transport Museum. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Andrew Forsyth postcard collection". The Finchley Society. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  21. ↑ "Vange Postcards". Basildon History Online. B. Cox. 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2026.
  22. ↑ Girling, B. (1996). Westminster's Villages. Chalford – via Internet Archive.
  23. ↑ Mander, David (1992). Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill & Upper Clapton. Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 0750910720 – via Internet Archive.
  24. ↑ Finlay, Ian F. (1985). London in Old Picture Postcards. European Library – via Internet Archive.

Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Edward Gordon Smith at Wikimedia Commons

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.