View Full Version : Johnson Photography Collection
I notice that the Wick Heritage Museum is currently organising the digitisation of this enormous collection of photographs. Since many of the people who would be interested in looking through this archive are not able to reach Wick will there be any possibility of this collection being put online in varying categories eg landscapes, people, fishing boats etc.
I would gladly pay a fee to be able to access it as Wick is a long way north for a look at the archive. Perhaps if enough people show an interest this will be possible.
Marion
I notice that the Wick Heritage Museum is currently organising the digitisation of this enormous collection of photographs. Since many of the people who would be interested in looking through this archive are not able to reach Wick will there be any possibility of this collection being put online in varying categories eg landscapes, people, fishing boats etc.
I would gladly pay a fee to be able to access it as Wick is a long way north for a look at the archive. Perhaps if enough people show an interest this will be possible.
Marion
What a wonderful idea Marion It's a long way from here and I have a lot of postcards and photo's from Johnson's studio
robyn
Note: name is JOHNSTON not Johnson.
Perhaps someone currently in Wick has contact with someone in the Wick Society and could ask if they have any plans to make the collection available online.
I think a lot of people would pay a fee to search and then of course pay for any copies and keep to copyright laws.
Several other collections are online.
I know that many of the Johnston collection have been digitised and catalogued but it is a pity that many photos of people have only a surname and some not even that. Great though that so many have survived.
Perhaps that will be something for me to chase from England. I may forward these messages - keep them coming.
Tricia.
g g/daughter of James Johnston 1854-1922 - Photographer.
Great idea, putting the photos online.
Might get more names for the photos that way.
Jeemag_USA
06-Jul-07, 14:00
I have been saying that for a long time, I have been to the Wick Heritage Society many times and spent ages browsing through copies. If they put them online they need to make them into a Flash program where they cannot be copied and make it so only proper photo copies can be ordered online or bought at the museum, its very important that they continue to make money and this is a good source of income for them.
I found a photo of my Grandfather William Miller playing for Wick Academey in there, if I get a chance I will post it in the wick photos page.
I think a lot of people would pay a fee to search and then of course pay for any copies and keep to copyright laws.
Several other collections are online.
Tricia.
g g/daughter of James Johnston 1854-1922 - Photographer.
Tricia, I would love to be able to view the photos online and would be only too pleased to pay for copies of relevant ones.
I'm not quite sure how paying a search fee would work though, if some photos don't even have a surname as starting point. :confused
I found a photo of my Grandfather William Miller playing for Wick Academey in there, if I get a chance I will post it in the wick photos page.
May I ask who your grandfather William Miller parent's were. I have two sets of Miller's in my family tree.
Jeemag_USA
07-Jul-07, 02:03
I found a photo of my Grandfather William Miller playing for Wick Academey in there, if I get a chance I will post it in the wick photos page.
May I ask who your grandfather William Miller parent's were. I have two sets of Miller's in my family tree.
I'll need to ask my mum when she calls on Sunday. My grandad had 5 brothers, can't remember all their names one was Marcus. The photo is of all 6 brothers, three in their Wick acadamey kit and the other three in Wick Thistle. My Grandfather who played for Acadamey is also the grandfather of Zeeky Munro who is now the co manager of Acadamey and is also my cousin of course.
The Wick Society
07-Jul-07, 09:52
The Wick Society is actively looking at ways of making The Johnston Collection available online. There are formidable technical challenges surrounding this project and it will require a substantial investment of money (which we do not have). This is indeed a significant collection and we are committed to finding ways of making it widely available as a resource for study, research and general interest.
If you live locally and have previous technical experience in this subject why not drop an email to info@wickheritage.org and share your thoughts with us.
The Wick Society is actively looking at ways of making The Johnston Collection available online. There are formidable technical challenges surrounding this project and it will require a substantial investment of money (which we do not have). This is indeed a significant collection and we are committed to finding ways of making it widely available as a resource for study, research and general interest.
If you live locally and have previous technical experience in this subject why not drop an email to info@wickheritage.org and share your thoughts with us.
I know the approach made by the University of St Andrews, who hold various photographic collections, including Valentines postcards at:
http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/saspecial/
You can search the collection (e.g. for Wick or Caithness) and can then see thumbnails (i.e. SMALL) images. If you want full size images they can be bought (as prints or electronic images) by contacting whoever deals with this - i.e. this is a manual process for the purchase.
Could that even be hosted on caithness.org ?
Making the thumbnails freely available over the internet could also be a marvellous method of getting feedback on the contents.
JimBews
Good to see the response to this suggestion. Sorry Tricia, I should have paid more attention to the spelling of the name. I originally suggested it as a result of having been sent some old photos from relatives who contacted me as a result of genealogical searches. Previously when in Wick I would not have recognised any of my relatives from generations past but I might now!
One of the biggest surprises was a photo of my grandfather as a young fisherman (he died when I was a baby so I hadn't any memory of him) and he is the image of my brother at the same age facially and in his build and way of standing. It would be a labour of love for a lot of subscribers to look through online photos of people and places from the past.
Best regards and let's hope that a Lottery grant or something similar will make this project possible.
Marion
Nice to see some positive responses -
Done properly this could lead to more well needed income for the Wick Society to continue their great work with the museum. Also would give the chance for more names etc to be added to photos and help with the family research (without breaching copyright).
The photographer Humphrey also has photos in the Heritage Centre which should also be of interest.
Jeemag_USA - look forward to seeing your William Miller.
Marion - who is your g'father? It must have been so exciting when you found the photo.
I have loads of photos in a private album - would love to match them up with any in the collection.
The Wick Society: Thanks for your reply here - Hope someone can offer help with the technical bits. I look forward to my next visit 'home' and to catch up with all the exciting developments.
Take Care All
Tricia
Tricia, my grandfather was James Fleming b 1875 of Pultneytown. He and his brothers Alexander b1860 and John b1870 were the children of Kenneth Fleming of Fanagmore, Sutherland and Elizabeth Bremner of Sarclet.
I had photos of my grandfather as an old man but through relatives I had never met until researching the family, I was given photos of him with his two brothers when they were young men. That is when family resemblances are most noticeable, before the ravages of time set in!
It would be a marvellous resource for Caithness descendants all over the world if they could access the Johnston and Humphreys records.
Marion
Sorry Tricia I know how annoying it is when someone spells your name wrongly. still I would be happy to pay to access an archive of the Johnston Studio regards robyn from aus
What a wonderful idea Marion It's a long way from here and I have a lot of postcards and photo's from Johnson's studio
robyn
Had a trip up to Wick a week ago to look again at the museum and see what is involved in the photography collection. The museum is unique - a veritable rabbit warren of wonderful artifacts which would keep you interested for hours. The volunteers have approached it perfectly for a local museum with an eclectic mix, some laid out elegantly and some tightly packed so that you marvel at the amount they have collected.
The volunteers are doing a wonderful job.
The glass plate negatives which Donald Sinclair kindly showed me are a life's work in themselves (or maybe two!) to get them to the stage where they could be digitised and put online for the Wick diaspora. They will need a huge input of money from the Lottery or elsewhere so if any of you have good contacts now is the time to use them.
They have some catalogues of prints upstairs and I especially loved the photos of groups of workers eg, roofers, joiners, plumbers, bakers etc. They are a historical gem - taken in their workplace showing the clothes they wore for the particular job they did - the fish must have made them strong too as they are all a healthy bunch of folk. I knew that the crowd scenes must hold some of my relatives but too much time has passed to find anyone to identify them.
In short a great place to visit.
All Wick needs to match its fascinating past is some classy restaurants specialising in fish and local products.
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