South Wales Photographic Company George and Richard Von Dix

George William and Richard Von Dix were brothers born in Swansea, South Wales in the same year, 1834. George is recorded in Scarborough in a directory of 1867 (but without the ‘Von’ in his name). During the 1860s both brothers are working in Scarborough un the name South Wales Photographic Company. By 1870 the brothers seem to have gone their own ways, with Richard heading North to Consett, County Drham and Alston, Cumberland, and George working in Grimsby. In 1881 the census records George working as a photographer and a daughter, Mary J. Von Dix (b. 1865, Scarborough) in Castor in Lincolnshire.

Richard was the first photographer in Alston in Cumberland, where he was also involved in entertainment and ran an Inn.

Portrait of an unknown woman, South Wales Photo Co, Von Dix Photographers Scarborough
back of Carte de Visite, by the South Wales Photographic Company, George and Richard Von Dix, Scarborough

Portrait of an unknown woman,

Carte de Visite

Carte de visite portrait of an unknown man photographer Von Dix, Grimsby
back of carte de visite photographic portrait by G W Von Dix, Grimsby

Portrait of an unknown man

Carte de Visite

George William Dix, Grimsby

Photographic Practice

  • Portraiture

  • Landscapes

  • Richard Von Dix employed Mr Joseph Cornish as an assistant in 1877

Studios

Eastborough, Scarborough - George William Dix, 1867

Eastborough, Scarborough - South Wales Photographic Company

Townfoot, Alston, Cumberland - R. Von Dix, 1874-1877

Sportsman Inn, Penrith Road, Alston, Cumberland - R. Von Dix, 1877-1879

Low Bailes, Alston, Cumberland - R. Von Dix, 1877-1879

Castor, Lincolnshire - George William Von Dix, 1881

Royal Dock Photographic Salon, Cleethorpes Road, Grimsby - G. W. Von Dix

10 Mount Pleasant, Consett, County Durham - R. Von Dix

References

Adamson, K.I.P., 1996, p5

Story No: 27. Von Dix _ Alston’s Photographer, Alston Moor Historical Society

Bayliss, A. and P., 1998, p47 and p68

Museum Collections

G. W. Von Dix portrait of a Victorian couple, Grimsby and Cleethorpes Virtual Museum

Richard Von Dix portrait in an album, Yale University Collection