Edwin Dale was born on 3 January 1882 and has left behind a fascinating selection of island views taken between 1910 and 1920; some of them possibly earlier. There is a collection in the Photographic Archive of La Société Jersiaise, and images are also held by private collectors.
He entered the Jersey Eistedfodd photographic competition for the first time in 1913 he won four first prizes and two second prizes. He made his living running his father’s boot, shoe and leather shop at 63 New Street but he had a passion for photography, and among his favourite subjects were harbour scenes and steamships, churches, houses, country lanes and coastal views, sport and the railway. He also took portraits and photographs of islanders at work.
He had a motorcycle which he used to travel around the island to take his photographs.
He covered such events as the Royal Visit of 1911, and could be described as an amateur 'photojournalist'. He was active a few years before Jersey's acknowledged first professional photojournalist, Percival Dunham.
At least 40 of his images were published as a series of postcards around 1914. Many of his photographs are numbered among the most iconic images of the island in the second decade of the 20th century, and others not on this page will be found in various galleries throughout this website.
A self portrait of Edwin Dale with his motor cycle
Collecting vraic
Militia at Grouville Common
Militia at Grouville Common
Rifle practice at Grouville Common
Militia officers and Ncos at a Grouville camp
Militia artillery
Passengers ready to disembark in St Helier Harbour
A Royal Square parade
Edwin Dale's father John's shop at 13 Union Street
Militia artillery on the sand dunes
Trinity Church
Vraic cart
Unloading a vessel at the Harbour
A Battle of Jersey commemorative plaque in the Royal Square
A cycle race at the FB Fields
A penny farthing bicycle
Coiffe Jersiaise, or Jersey bonnet
A woman on a swing
Vallee des Vaux
Lady in a flower garden
A Jersey country lane
A Jersey cow
Don Monument in the Parade
Victoria Avenue
Don Monument
An informal portrait of a lady
Edwin Dale, his wife and daughter in Southampton
A 1914 portrait
La Corbiere
Woman and baby at La Corbiere (probably the Bivouac Tearoom)
New North Quay slipway
Concours Musicale competitors arrive
Loading coal
English Harbour
Great Union Road Methodist Chapel
York Street arch for Edward VII's coronation
Beaumont
Quarrying stone for roadmaking
The Esplanade
King George V and Queen Mary pass through Bath Street in 1911
