Mrs. James Barnswell 1889

This photograph of Mrs. Barnswell shows a woman who is elegantly dressed for her 1889 portrait, with many accessories and white gloves and carrying a parasol as a nod to her participation in the leisure class. Her husband was a prolific carpenter, many of whose buildings still stand across the city. The use of the balustrade in the portrait is a sensitive reference to her husband’s profession.

Living in the newly established city of Victoria offered Maynard opportunities that might not be available to women in more established metropolitan centres, such as travelling to remote areas, participating in civil affairs, and, most importantly, becoming the proprietor of an entrepreneurial business. Women weren’t the only ones to benefit from this environment. Chinese and Black settlers were also able to find opportunities in the commercial and service industries, enabling them to establish businesses and flourish in an otherwise discriminatory and racist landscape.

The photograph of Mary Lowe, later known as Mrs. Barnswell, is held in the BC Archives as part of a collection of portraits of Black British Columbians. Although the work is not part of the Maynard family’s collection, there are visual clues that the photograph was taken by Hannah Maynard. Most notably, the background appears from time to time in Maynard’s portraits. It also seems likely that, given the frequency of Black children appearing in her Gems of British Columbia series, and the range of sitters from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds in her larger body of work, Maynard’s studio was a welcoming place for Black settlers.

Mary Lowe was one such individual. Originally from Puerto Rico, she arrived in Victoria as an orphan in the 1860s. She was part of a wave of Black settlers drawn north by the offer from the then-governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, James Douglas (1803–1877), for passage by steamer to Victoria. Legislation in California in the 1850s permitted the arrest of anyone who was suspected of escaping from enslavement and instituted a ban on Black migration to the state. Douglas seized this opportunity to increase settlement in the colony and ward off any threats of American annexation. Despite encountering racism and segregation, many Black settlers set down roots in Victoria. She married James Augustus Barnswell in 1871, who counted James Douglas among his many carpentry clients. Together, they became a pillar of the community.

Maynard also photographed “Old Teenie,” a somewhat legendary figure who, facing extreme poverty, made a living as a fortune teller. The photograph shows the hardships of this life in the tattered skirts and worn features of the woman. Unlike Mrs. Barnswell, it is unlikely that Teenie could afford to commission her photograph, and much more likely that Maynard photographed her with the goal of making money through selling cartes-de-visite of the curious local figure. Teenie’s photograph is found in the same collection as Mrs. Barnswell’s at the BC Archives, and can similarly be attributed to Maynard, thanks to its painted backdrop. Taken together, these portraits show a diversity of Black settlers in Victoria. The photograph of Mrs. Barnswell is a powerful reminder of the contributions made by these settlers to building the city in its earliest days.