A blue plaque was unveiled by Perth Civic Trust at 62 Princes Street in Perth, Scotland to honour the local photographer, Magnus Jackson (1831-1891), at his former studio and shop, built in 1884. The plaque represents a growing recognition of Scotland’s rich contributions to the global history of photography. Magnus’s collection of 2,500 glass wet plate collodion negatives is cared for by Culture Perth and Kinross Museum and Art Galleries, representing the earliest collection of photographs that capture life in Victorian Perthshire.
Magnus was born in Perth in 1831 to Thomas Jackson and Helen Miller, one of six children. His father’s business, established in 1826, at 70 George Street, operating as a picture-frame maker, looking-glass manufacturer, restorer of oil paintings and a print seller. Magnus was trained by his father as a carver and gilder, a trade he maintainened throughout his working life.
In the local newspaper of 1845, an article describes an engraving of his Grace, the Duke of Wellington from an Antoine Claudet daguerreotype being displayed in the window of his father’s shop. Antoine Claudet an early practitioner in photography excelled in producing daguerreotypes. It is possible that the picture on display inspired Magnus, aged fourteen at the time, to take up photography. He travelled to London in the early 1850s to be trained in the art of photography. He returned as a practiced photographer and a few years later in 1860 set up a modest wooden shed studio in Marshall Place.
Magnus Jackson’s first wooden shed studio in Marshall Place, Perth.
Magnus’s photographic subject matter was diverse, beyond the normal role of a studio photographer and included the earliest photographic records of Perth streets, buildings, people, and included events of fires, floods and the laying of foundation stones of major buildings. He also travelled widely around Perthshire capturing photographs of grand country houses and estates, shopkeepers, factories and workers.
Laying the foundation stone of Perth City Chambers 1878.
Animal photography was another source of income. Magnus submitted articles to The Photographic News and The British Journal of Photography in early 1881, titled Photography outside the studio. When referencing cattle photography, he notes his results. ‘My first attempt in this line was in the year 1856, and in two days I made somewhere about twenty fine, rich looking negatives’.
Shorthorn bull and handler
Magnus excelled in tree portraiture, and was awarded a silver medal at the
International Forestry Exhibition, Edinburgh in 1884. That year he also became the official photographer for the Scottish Arboricultural Society. In 1886, he was awarded the bronze medal and diploma of merit at the International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art in Edinburgh for fern and foxglove photographs.
Elm tree at Strathallan, Perthshire.
Magnus was actively involved in Perth’s public life and was a member of the
The Guildry Incorporation of Perth, Perthshire Society of Natural Science (PSNS), and The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He became a town councillor in 1878 and was appointed Perth’s Police Commissioner in 1885 overseeing the police department, fire services and street lighting. He also served as convenor of the local committees and the abattoir and was instrumental in the construction of Perth’s first public swimming baths.
The Guildry Incorporation at Craigmakerran House, 1864
Magnus Jackson, Photographer, Carver and Gilder and Perth Town Councillor died on 27 April 1891, aged 59. His business did continue for several years by his sons Thomas and Magnus Junior, then by Burrows Bros. When the photographic business finally closed in 1903 the contents of the studio were auctioned off, subsequently a selection of the glass plates were donated to the Sandeman Public Library in 1904.
Photographs Courtesy of Culture Perth & Kinross Museums & Galleries
