Manitoba Historical Society
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Manitoba Photographers: Sydney Edgar Prest (1873-1925)

Link to:
Work locations | Samples | Sources

Born in Nova Scotia on 16 October 1873, he was working as a lumberman at the time of the 1901 Canadian census. In 1904, he came to Manitoba and opened a photographic studio at Morden, with a branch at Manitou. Some of his photographs were used by Nellie McClung to illustrate her novels. Prest worked at Morden until around 1913 then moved to Winnipeg where he continued to work as a photographer. Sometime after 1916, he moved with his wife to the United States, living for a time in Maine. He died at Concord, New Hampshire on 26 June 1925.

Work location(s)

Year(s)

Address

1904-1913

Morden & Manitou

1913-?

Winnipeg

Samples

Postcard view of Maple Leaf School

Postcard view of Maple Leaf School (circa 1910)
Source: Rob McInnes, MN0607

Postcard view of the Freemason’s Hospital at Morden

Postcard view of the Freemason’s Hospital at Morden (date unknown)
Source: Walter Beatty

Postcard aerial view of Morden

Postcard aerial view of Morden (date unknown)
Source: Walter Beatty

Postcard view of Eighth Street in Morden with the Land Titles Office at left and St. Thomas Anglican Church at right

Postcard view of Eighth Street in Morden with the Land Titles Office at left and St. Thomas Anglican Church at right (date unknown)
Source: Walter Beatty

Postcard view of bridge over Cheval Creek, Morden [now Dead Horse Creek]

Postcard view of bridge over Cheval Creek, Morden [now Dead Horse Creek] (date unknown)
Source: Walter Beatty

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

1916 Canada census, Ancestry.

“Public/Private construction: The photographic album of Nellie L. McClung” by Lara Jane Wilson, MA thesis, Department of History in Art, University of Victoria, 1998.

Sydney Edgar Prest, Ancestry.

We thank Rob McInnes, Walter Beatty, and Hugh Lumgair for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 October 2020

Manitoba Photographers: 1858 to Present

A list of professional photographers who have worked in Manitoba, from 1858 to the present, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.

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