professional photographer, was born in Birmingham, England, on 10 August 1842, son of William Millington Nixon and brother of Joseph and Samuel Nixon . He was one of the Nixon Brothers who operated a photographic gallery at Kapunda, South Australia in 1862, which was in his name alone by 1867, the year he produced a special album of photographs (Mortlock Library) to commemorate the Duke of Edinburgh’s visit to South Australia. In the early 1870s he worked in the copper-mining towns of Moonta and Kadina, calling his firm the Yorke Peninsula Photographic Company, then was probably the Nixon partner of John Blood ( see Matthew Blood ). In November 1875 Stephen Nixon purchased Townsend Duryea 's photographic business in King William Street, Adelaide, his father’s old firm, inheriting Charles H. Manning as manager. Manning soon became a partner; he bought Nixon out in about 1880.
After a short period at Yorketown, Nixon returned to Kadina in 1881 for four years. During this period he renamed his firm the South Australian Photographic Association. He then moved back to Kapunda and took his son, Charles M. Nixon, into partnership. They operated a second studio at Tanunda from 1886 until Charles moved to Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1893. Nixon’s cartes-de-visite proclaim that his business had been established in 1855, so he obviously identified himself with his father’s firm (owned by Duryea Brothers until 1858).
Stephen Nixon married Mary Ann Ellis at Macclesfield on 2 April 1863. They had ten children, of whom only Charles appears to have taken up photography professionally. He died at Fremantle on 5 February 1910, presumably having joined Charles after retiring from photography.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
