Photographer/Publisher - Lyall Commercial

The following description was primarily researched and developed by Andrew Cunningham...

Lyall was probably the city's preeminent producer of real photo postcard images and generally exhibited excellent technical skill, making images that were detailed and well-focused and, in a computer age, enlargeable to several times their original size without serious loss of image resolution. More than any other photographer, Lyall captured the look of the city (as well as Winnipeg Beach and the Kenora area) in the midst of the exuberance of the boom period just before the First World War.

Maurice Lyall was born in Montrose, Forfarshire (now usually called Angus), Scotland in 1885 or 1886, son of Thomas Lyall, photographer (who appears as a photographer as early as the 1891 census of Scotland) and his wife Anne Lundie. The younger Lyall appears as an apprentice photographer in Montrose in the 1901 census of Scotland. He came to Montreal aboard the ship Victorian, arriving May 16, 1908, listing himself as "photographer". After a year and a half, he returned to Scotland but soon returned to Canada, arriving at Halifax aboard the Virginian on March 11, 1910 with the ultimate destination of Winnipeg. The 1911 census shows him living with his widowed mother, Annie, at 33 (?) Provencher in St. Boniface. Both are shown as having emigrated in 1911, but perhaps this was really just the year of Annie's arrival. In the census he is listed as "photographer" and as employed in a studio (although at first the word "self" was entered for employer, but this was struck out and replaced by "studio", maybe because this emphasized the success he was having at the time (given that it was likely his own studio that was meant)).

On October 18, 1913 Lyall married Catherine ("Katie") Fyvie. In the 1916 census they are shown at 462 Kylemore Ave. at the corner of Osborne Street. On January 10, 1919 Catherine died. Lyall remarried to Jessie Greenwood on July 14, 1923 at Kenora. In 1922 the Henderson's Directory listed Lyall's residence as 661 Jubilee Avenue.

On June 30, 1911, a classified advertisement appears in the Free Press looking for a boy to take up photography. Possibly this means that Lyall did not take all of his photos -- or his assistant(s) could have helped out with the production of the photos, which was a labour-intensive task often undertaken by the photographer's family (Lyall had only the one daughter, who wouldn't have been born at this time). His company, Lyall Commercial Photo Co., may have continued to exist for some time as it appears in the Free Press of April 27, 1937 in a list of abandoned accounts at the Bank of Montreal ($50).

From 1929 until 1960, Lyall was a commercial photographer with Brigden's Ltd. He is credited with the special full colour photos produced by Brigden's and published on the front page of the Free Press on May 25, 1939 and June 5, 1939 showing, respectively, George VI and Queen Elizabeth as they rode past crowds on Main Street and the departure of their Highnesses from the city on their return journey from the west. According to an article in the Centennial Edition of the Winnipeg Free Press on November 30, 1972 (p. 27 or 225 in the archive pagination), the May 25 photograph was the first colour photo of a spot news event ever printed by any newspaper anywhere in the world, and the account of how the feat was accomplished leaves no doubt that it depended on Lyall's technical proficiency as a photographer.

He died at the age of eighty on February 28, 1966 in Winnipeg, leaving his wife Jessie and a daughter, Louise (Mrs. William Lee) of St. Louis, Mo., as well as two grandchildren. At that time the Lyalls were living at 836 Jubilee Ave. In addition to his work as a photographer, Lyall was also an accomplished organist who, having graduated from the London College of Organists, served at a number of Winnipeg churches. (WFP, death announcements March 1, 1966). His widow Jessie died in Winnipeg on May 20, 1968. (WFP, death announcements May 22, 1968

Source document: www.flickr.com/photos/26266017@N00/sets/72157622727165441/comments

Additional notes:

At some point in his career, Lyall travelled west and produced a number of photo postcards in both Alberta and British Columbia - particularly Vancouver and Victoria. (I have not seen posted cards, but they are printed on AZO stock that was known to be used 1904-1918.)

His marriage to Jesse Greenwood took place in her home town of Kenora, Ontario where she had worked as a school teacher.

Daughter Louise Lee (nee Lyall) died on Oct. 14, 2005.

The following description was primarily researched and developed by Andrew Cunningham...

Lyall was probably the city's preeminent producer of real photo postcard images and generally exhibited excellent technical skill, making images that were detailed and well-focused and, in a computer age, enlargeable to several times their original size without serious loss of image resolution. More than any…  (read more)

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