Hannah MaynardLife & Work

“Hannah Maynard’s photographic practice was all-consuming and seeped into almost every facet of her life: her professional livelihood; leisurely bike rides; cottage excursions with her family; her relationships with her husband, children, and grandchildren; and her sensibilities about life and death. It is unique to have such a full visual record of one’s life and community as we have with Hannah Maynard.”

– Elizabeth Anne Cavaliere

Born in Cornwall, England, Maynard and her husband, Richard, immigrated to Canada in 1853, settling first in Bowmanville (a small but growing town on the northern shore of Lake Ontario) before making their way out west. In 1862, the Maynards arrived in Victoria—a frontier town filled with prospectors and miners eager to strike it rich from the gold rush. Within a year, Maynard established her own portrait studio, an endeavour she successfully ran for more than forty years. As her practice expanded, so too did her clientele, and her oeuvre reflects a diverse cross-section of Victoria’s immigrant and Indigenous populations.

Copyright Information

Banner Image: Hannah Maynard, Hannah Maynard in a tableau vivant, 1893–97. Maynard Family Collection, BC Archives (MS-3380, F-05043). Courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.