Frederick Dundas Todd - EPS Lecturer

EPS Speakers

Frederick Dundas Todd

Thank you to Tom Yanul for providing the photograph below:

Frederick Dundas Todd

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Tom Yanul, Chicago, USA

Frederick Dundas Todd was founder and editor of Photo Beacon.

This is one of the photographs from ' American Masters' series by J C Strauss, St Louis, USA. In this picture, Todd is posed in the same position as one of the figures in Raphael's Sistine Madonna.

This photo appeared in the English magazine, The Sketch, in 1911,

Frederick Dundas Todd gave lectures to Edinburgh Photographic Society Wednesday Evening Meetings in the 1890s:

Frederick Dundas Todd

EPS Lectures

5 Feb 1890

Notes on Development

3 Jun 1891

Exposure Tables and Meters

Frederick Dundas Todd

Background

I was pleased to hear from Rod Dundas Todd's, grandson of Frederick Dundas Todd in April 2005. He gave me the following information on his grandfather:

Scotland

Frederick Dundas Todd was born 30 April 1858 at Springfield, Cupar, Fife. He moved to Edinburgh where he was a teacher at Heriot-Watt School.

USA

He then travelled to New York in 1893, where he founded the Photo-Beacon, and subsequently moved with the Photo-Beacon to Chicago, Illinois. He was involved with George Eastman at that point.

Subsequently he moved to Ashland, Oregon but I know nothing of his life there.

Canada

Fredrick then moved to Victoria, B. C., where he became the first Provincial Apiarist, still carrying on with his photographic work.

Indeed many of his photographs are with the Ladner Cannery outside of Vancouver; these primarily focusing on the fishing industry on the West Coast of Canada.

In addition he took a considerable number of photographs of early Western Canada.

Family

Frederick married Rebecca Keay, my grandmother, (born 8 April, 1861 at Dundee) on 31 July, 1885, at 4 Airlie Terrace, Dundee, Scotland.

Frederick died 2 April, 1927, at Victoria, B. C., Canada and is buried at Royal Oak Cemetery in Victoria. He had five children:

- Eric (1888-1928)

- Roderick (My father) (1890-1936)

- Elsie (1892-1974)

- Ian (1895-1929)

- Isobel (1897-1957)

All sons became Civil Engineers.

Rod Dundas Todd, grandson of Frederick Dundas Todd; 24 April 2005

Frederick Dundas Todd

Requests for Information

Questions

1. Please e-mail me if you have any info about Frederick Dundas Todd, so that I can pass it on to his grandson, Rod Dundas Todd.

2. Please e-mail me if you have a photograph of Frederick Dundas Todd so that I can pass on the news to Liz Graves of New Hampshire, USA, his great-grand-daughter.

3. I received an e-mail from Anne Deaton in March 2007. Ann wrote:

"I have a photo taken by F. Dundas Todd (copyright 1895). It is of two men and two women sitting outside in an opening formed by a shed and small building.

They are cleaning fish and appear to be very poor. One woman is bundled up for warmth, the men are not so heavily clothed nor is the other, younger woman who is staring, hauntingly, directly at the photographer."

Anne wonders if anybody can tell her anything more about this photo. If you can, please e-mail me.

Thank you. - Peter Stubbs.

Reply to Question 2

Thank you to Tom Yanul for providing the photograph above of Frederick Dundas Todd taken by J C Strauss!

Reply to Question 3

Thank you to Rod Todd who writes:

"I have the same photograph - taken by my Grandfather - and am afraid that I can tell you little about it - except he had entitled it 'Mending the Nets'."

Rod Todd: December 21, 2007