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remained its editor until his death. He published other
photographic periodicals and authored several books
including Wilson’s Photographics (1881), Wilson’s
Quarter Century in Photography (1887), and Wilson’s
Cyclopaedic Photography (1894). He also wrote and
lectured extensively about his 1881–1882 Middle
Eastern photographic journey. Throughout his career,
Wilson worked to establish fair photographic practices
and to elevate the profession. He led the fi ghts against
a photographic tax and many restrictive patents. As a
founder of the National Photographic Association in
1868 and its successor organization the Photographers’
Association of America, he helped organize exhibitions
and conventions around the country. Through Wilson’s
efforts, a separate Photographic Hall was built at the
1876 Centennial Exposition to display photographs and
equipment. In addition to his publishing and advocacy
work, Wilson manufactured and sold photographic
equipment and supplies. After almost a decade of ill
health, Edward Wilson died in Vineland, New Jersey,
on June 23, 1903.
Sarah J. Weatherwax
WILSON, GEORGE WASHINGTON
(1823–1893)
This pioneering Scottish photographer trained as a
miniature painter before taking up photography as a
career. He was one of the fi rst photographers to produce
photographs on a scale large enough to operate in a
mass-market capacity.
George Washington Wilson was the second of
eleven children. His father was a crofter, George Wilson
(1777–1848). His mother, Elspet Hurd (1798–1883),
was his father’s second wife.
From 1830 to 1835 George Washington Wilson was
educated at the local Parish school.
At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a local
carpenter, but moved to Edinburgh to follow a career
as an artist in 1846. Little is known about his time in
Edinburgh.
In 1849 he moved to London and became a pupil
of the painter, illustrator and sculptor, Edward Henry
Corbould (1815–1905), who also tutored the royal
family in History painting. When George returned to
Aberdeen he set up business as a miniature portrait
painter. At the time, photography was on the ascendance,
and threatened the livelihood of portrait miniaturist
painters. In 1853 George took the unusual, but sensible
decision to combine his talents with those of his friend,
the photographer, John Hay, and they set up a business
which offered portraiture in both media. Furthermore,
he established many relationships with other local stu-
dios and because of his commercial links with them,
published and disseminated their work as well. Always
developing his connections with the photographic
community, Wilson was a member of the Photographic
Society of Scotland which met in Edinburgh in the
1850s and 1860s.
In 1855 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commis-
sioned Wilson and Hay to record the construction of their
new residence which was being built at Balmoral. This
was the start of a long association between Wilson and the
royal family. He was granted a Royal Warrant in 1873.
In the late 1850s improvements in photographic
technology allowed Wilson to use his Dallmeyer camera
to become a pioneer in the fi eld of instantaneous pho-
tography. This allowed him to capture landscape and
sky without recourse to the artifi cial device of combina-
tion printing, which was standard practise at the time.
In 1859 it was reported in the photographic press that
Wilson had succeeded in taking the fi rst ‘instantaneous
view’ of Princes Street in Edinburgh. There is also a
large print in the RPS Collection at the NmeN by Wilson
which claims to be the fi rst instantaneous photograph
ever taken. Scotland had become a popular travel desti-
nation due to the success of Sir Walter Scott’s romantic
novels, combined with the growth of the railways, and
Queen Victoria’s patronage of all things Scottish. Wilson
took the opportunity to provide photographic views of
Scotland for the burgeoning tourist trade. Eventually
he also began to provide topographic views of England
and parts of Northern Ireland, to the extent where he
rivalled the domain of the photographer, Francis Frith,
who was also involved in the same business.
George Washington Wilson became a household
name after he was able to take advantage of the craze
for stereoscopic photography and produced an extremely
popular range of stereoscopic views of the 1862 Inter-
national Exhibition in London. In 1864 alone, Wilson’s
photographic business sold over half a million prints.
The company continued to grow and became one of the
largest photographic fi rms in the world. To accommo-
date this growth, larger premises were built in Aberdeen
and Wilson embraced mass production techniques in
order to meet the demand for his images. Despite such a
high turnover, Wilson produced high quality, gold-toned
prints. As a result it is not uncommon for his images to
remain in excellent condition to this day.
Described as genial and good-natured, Wilson had
two illegitimate sons with Isabella Johnstone in 1841
and 1844. Although they never married, Wilson did
raise and educate the elder of his two sons, Alexander
Johnson Wilson (1841–1921), who eventually became
a well-known economist in London. In 1849 George
Washington married Maria Ann Cassie, daughter of an
innkeeper in Banff. They had fi ve sons and four daugh-
ters together. Wilson died on 9 March 1893 at Queens