Reference
  • 2003/174
Archive collection
  • British Empire & Commonwealth
Level of description
  • Collection
Date
  • 1900-c.1925
Description
  • This collection consists of views taken in West Africa. It includes photographs attributed to J A Green (Jonathan Adagogo Green), born in Bonny in the Niger Delta in 1873. Jonathan Green died in 1905 but his photographic studios continued, run by relatives until the 1990s. As the first professional photographer of Nigerian birth, Jonathan Adagogo Green's photographic work shows that he was documenting two worlds, one, his own as an Ibani Ijo born into a trading family, and the other as the chief photographer for the British as they lay the foundation for the newly formed colony of Nigeria. Also included are postcards issued by Raphael Tuck & Sons (published for the Church Missionary Society, Lagos), Frank Peyton Ryff Co Ltd, Collection Generale Fortier (Dakar), and Sterling & Co. This catalogue was produced with support from the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives
Extent and medium
  • 1 bundle
Creator
Biographical history
  • Wilfred Ben South was born in 1886 and died in1981. He served in the Royal Naval Air Service during WW1 as a mechanic/engineer, and was demobolised in 1920 with the rank of Acting Captain. From 1922-1925, South worked for the Colonial Government in Nigeria, in the Posts and Telegraphs Engineering Dept. In 1930 he was employed at the Telephone and Telegraph Dept in the Gold Coast. South retired in 1939 from his post of Chief Engineer and returned to the UK.
Access status
  • Open
Access conditions
  • None