Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1932-1990 (Creation)
- Creator
- Ron Nelson Photography, Ltd.
Physical description area
Physical description
ca. 48,000 photographs; 1 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
George Ronald Nelson was born on January 2, 1915 in London, Ontario. Nelson began his career as a professional photographer in 1932. For a time, he operated as G.R. Nelson Photography. He served as an official photographer for the Royal Visit of 1939. Nelson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Navy between 1941 and 1946. Nelson received a licence from the City of London to operate a photography business in late 1946. This business was known as Ron Nelson Photography. The firm's work was primarily commercial and aerial photography, although some individual and group portraits were done as well. The Province of Ontario established a corporation called Ron Nelson Photography, Ltd. in October, 1966. Nelson transferred all of his assets to the new corporation later that same year. In 1985, Nelson began to wind the business down by selling off many assets, including his studio at 388-392 Horton St. The corporation was formally dissolved in 1990. Ron Nelson died on April 4, 1994.
Custodial history
The fonds was inherited by Ron Nelson's children Robert, Martha, and Janis Nelson. They donated it to Western University in 2018.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of photographic records in a variety of formats, as well as some textual business records created by Ron Nelson Photography, Ltd. and its predecessors. The photographs provide comprehensive documentation of the firm's work, which was primarily focused on commercial and aerial photography.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
The fonds is arranged into nine series: Job Indexes and Log Books, Photographic Negatives, Photographic Prints and Proofs, Topical Job Files, Corporate Documents, Photo Albums, Slides and Transparencies, Oversize Prints and Posters, and Studio Prints.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Access to records is generally unrestricted, but access to some is restricted for preservation reasons, the presence of personal information, and/or because the records have been reformatted.; Photographs pre-dating Dec. 31, 1949 are in the public domain. For later photographs, copyright was transferred to Western in 2023.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Copyright held by Western. Permission is required for publication or exhibit.
Finding aids
Associated materials
See A18-016 for Ron Nelson personal and family records (unprocessed).