At the turn of the 20th century, the arrival of halftone reproductions in the illustrated press provided professional photographers with a new and lucrative market.
Theatrical impressarios were also quick to recognise the value of portraying actors and actresses in all their stage finery using high-quality photographs rather than engravings.
Images once displayed in and around theatre foyers to attract potential audiences could now be shared with millions of readers through the pages of newspapers and magazines.
One firm that established a reputation in this competitive field was Auty & Heaven of Edinburgh, who featured in the first Pressphotoman post of 2026.
Auty & Heaven blogpost – 5th January 2026
That post prompted a response from the other side of the world graphically illustrating how far the trend travelled.
In the spring of 1903, Auty & Heaven were commissioned to take photographs featuring scenes from My Lady Molly, an old-fashioned comedy with music,” staged at Terry’s Theatre in London’s West End.
Two of Auty & Heaven’s production photographs duly appeared in the popular illustrated paper The Tatler and, pleasingly for the firm, were credited.
Audiences flocked to see My Lady Molly creating a huge hit and the show later opened on Broadway in New York.
However, it is in a collection held by the National Library of Australia in Canberra where a total of eight Auty & Heaven photographs featuring scenes from My Lady Molly can be viewed.
National Library of Australia – My Lady Molly pictures
Pressphotoman was made aware of their existence by Michaela Heaven, a relative of photographer Robert Archibald Heaven (1860-1916) whose portrait is pictured here.
Two examples from the J.C. Williamson collection of photographs well illustrate the fine detail of the cast’s costumes that is rather diminished in the halftone versions featured in The Tatler.
Further detail about who supplied the show’s outfits, and perhaps commissioned the photographs, is revealed on the versos of the prints.
All are stamped ‘Simmons’s Court and Fancy Costumier, 7 & 8, King Street, Covent Garden, W.C.’
Founded in 1857, Simmons was a legendary name in the theatrical world well into the mid-20th century and the company’s designs for stage and screen feature in museum collections around the globe.
The man we have to thank for archiving the Auty & Heaven prints of My Lady Molly was James Cassius Williamson (1845–1913), an American actor and theatrical entrepreneur.
In Australia, Williamson made an unrivalled impact on the country’s theatre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Following its success in London, his Royal Comic Opera Company staged a successful production of My Lady Molly in Melbourne.
Williamson’s collection of around 4,000 theatrical photographs and ephemera demonstrates how a photographer based in Scotland such as Robert Archibald Heaven could find his work reaching a global audience thanks to its quality.
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