Photo 92/16

Green buckram and half-leather bound volume measuring 330 x 425 mm, the binding is poor condition, with cloth lifting slightly, spine scuffed and boards loose. The album contains views by Joseph Lawton of the ruins and irrigation works at Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Minneriya and Giritella. Prints are mounted one to a page (recto only) with captions written in a neat copperplate beneath. A number of the captions (which are sometimes incorrect or misleading) have been amended in G. E. Mitton's (Lady Scott's) hand. Geraldine Edith Mitton (d. 1955), wife of Sir George Scott, was a prolific author and novelist; she visited Ceylon and India in 1915-16 and was immediately attracted to the ruins of the ancient cities of Ceylon. Her guide to the monuments, The Lost Cities of Ceylon, appeared in 1916 and the two albums forming Photo 92/16-17 were offered to her as a gift by a grateful reader of this work in the following year (see introduction to Photo 92/17). A number of views in both volumes have been heavily marked up for cropping, evidently with a view to publication, although any such work has not been traced. It is possible that Lady Scott planned another work on the subject using Lawton's photographs, since her own photographs used in The Lost Cities of Ceylon are of very indifferent quality.

Joseph Lawton, originally employed by the firm of H.C. Byrde and Sons, Kandy, had left to set up as a commercial photographer at 1 Castle Hill Street in about 1866, and swiftly made a name for himself as a talented photographer in the island. The Surveyor General Colonel Amelius Beauclerk Fyers R.E., in his 1871 presidential address to the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, announced that 'an archaeological Committee had been appointed by Government to explore, take photographs, decipher inscriptions, and endeavour to trace the history of each work in various parts of the island. Mr Lawton of Kandy had been appointed Photographer to the Committee, and has already taken very good photographs of the principal buildings in Pollonaruwa; of Minniri, Giretella and Topare Tanks; of the ancient fortified rock of Bijeri and some of the most important objects of interest in Anuradhapura'.(1) Elsewhere Fyers records that Mr Lawton accompanied Mr Smither (2) to Anuradhapura early in the year, and 'a most interesting set of photographs were taken'. (3) Lawton fell ill on this trip and had to return to England: 'his services are much required in the island...Two large volumes of photographs of ruins, etc., in Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Sigiria, are now in my possession...Duplicate copies of these have been sent back to England.'(4) Lawton's illness was to prove fatal, however, and at a meeting of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society on 7 November 1872, Fyers announced his death, noting that his illness had been exacerbated by his work for the archaeological committee: '...And how well worth an expenditure of both time and money it would be to thoroughly investigate all those ruins, to lay bare, as much as possible, of what is underground. A great deal has already been done in the way of clearing some of the most interesting architectural remains at both Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, and very beautiful photographs of them have been taken by the late Mr Lawton. I must take this opportunity of stating how much I regret the death of this very careful and excellent photographer. Mr Lawton entered into an agreement to take photographs of the principal ruins at both the ancient cities, and visited them twice. He did not confine himself only to his own legitimate work, which consisted merely in taking photographs after the ruins had been cleared, but he looked after the coolies employed in excavating and cutting down, and I fear exposed himself more than he ought to have done. At all events, he was never fit for anything after his return from his last visit to Anuradhapura. He was recommended to try a change of air and scene to Bombay, but he returned little, if at all, benefitted by his voyage. He was then ordered to England, where he died. Mr Lawton was a thoroughly honest, upright man, very hard working, and desirous at all times of doing his work efficiently and to the satisfaction of those under whom he was employed. By diligence, patience, and strict integrity he had become a first class photographer, and he was justly respected by all with whom he was associated. Had the unsparing hand of death not visited him he would, I feel confident, have made a European name for himself by the excellence of his photographs, especially of those of the ruins of the island.'(5) After Lawton's death, his business was continued by his widow until the 1880s, and his views of the sites were made available for sale to the general public. The official set of his views which remained in the island suffered somewhat from the climate and as Bell recorded in 1912, the original negatives were lost: 'A set of three volumes of excellent photographs by Lawton (now much faded and 'pitted') had been transferred from the Anuradhapura kachcheri to the Library of the Archaeological Survey. These prints represent conditions no longer existing. By short-sighted regrettable indifference to their future interest and value the negatives had been sold to different purchasers before the Archaeological Survey was initiated: they are now hopelessly scattered beyond recovery.'(6) These volumes (still with the Archaeological Department in Colombo and now in very poor condition), and the more complete set now in the National Archives at Kew, therefore form a rare and important record of the sites photographs before extensive restoration had been put in hand.

(1) Proceedings of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1870-71, p. xxxv.

(2) James G. Smither FRIBA, Government Architect, Ceylon, author of 'Architectural Remains. Anuradhapura, Ceylon' (London, 1894).

(3) Ceylon Survey Department Report for 1871, p. 253.

(4) ibid. These duplicate volumes were sent to the Colonial Office Library (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library) and have now been transferred to the National Archives at Kew.

(5) Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1870-74, proceedings 1872, pp. xix-xx.

(6) H. C. P. Bell, Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report 1911-12 (Colombo 1915), p. 1.