William Notman - Prince of Wales visit to Montreal, August, 1860
Maker: William Notman (1826-1891)
Born: Scotland
Active: Canada/USA
Medium: albumen print
Size: 3 1/2" x 4 5/8"
Location: Canada
Object No. 2013.685
Shelf: C-22
Publication: Stanley G. Triggs. William Notman's Studio, The Canadian Picture, McCord Museum, Montreal, 1992, pg 22
Portrait of a Period, McGill University Press, Montreal, 1967, fig 17 (variant)
Other Collections: NPG, Royal Collection Trust
Notes: In 1860, Prince Edward undertook the first tour of North America by a Prince of Wales. He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776.. The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain. Group includes Sir Edmund W. Head,Governor General; Sir Christopher C. Teesdale (Master of The Ceremonies and Extra Equerry to H.R.H.); King Edward VII; Hon. Robert Bruce (brother of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the previous Governor General); Henry P. F. Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (at that time the British Secretary of State for the Colonies) standing in front of Sir John Rose's house, Sherbourne Street, Montreal.
Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. He moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on Bleury Street. His first important commission was the documentation of the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River. The Bridge opened with great fanfare in 1860, attended by the Prince of Wales. The gift to the Prince of a Maple Box containing Notman's photographs of the construction of the bridge and scenes of Canada East and Canada West so pleased Queen Victoria that, according to family tradition, she named him "Photographer to the Queen." Notman's reputation and business grew over the next three decades, the first Canadian photographer with an international reputation, and he operated his business as a partnership with other noted Canadian artists, initially John Arthur Fraser and then Henry Sandham, whom he also mentored. He established branches throughout Canada and the United States, including seasonal branches at Yale and Harvard universities, to cater to the student trade. Notman was also an active member of the Montreal artistic community, opening his studio for exhibitions by local painters; the studio also provided training for aspiring photographers and painters. Notman was highly regarded by his colleagues for his innovative photography, and held patents for some of the techniques he developed to recreate winter within the studio walls. He won medals at exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, and Australia. William Notman was a regular contributor to the photographic journal Philadelphia Photographer and in partnership with its editor, Edward Wilson, formed the Centennial Photographic Company for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the United States of America in 1876. He won the only gold medal to be awarded by the British judges and the portrait identification card required for entrance to the grounds was the ancestor of today's various photo-ID cards. (source: Wikipedia)
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William Notman - Prince of Wales visit to Montreal, August, 1860
Maker: William Notman (1826-1891)
Born: Scotland
Active: Canada/USA
Medium: albumen print
Size: 3 1/2" x 4 5/8"
Location: Canada
Object No. 2013.685
Shelf: C-22
Publication: Stanley G. Triggs. William Notman's Studio, The Canadian Picture, McCord Museum, Montreal, 1992, pg 22
Portrait of a Period, McGill University Press, Montreal, 1967, fig 17 (variant)
Other Collections: NPG, Royal Collection Trust
Notes: In 1860, Prince Edward undertook the first tour of North America by a Prince of Wales. He inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, across the St Lawrence River, and laid the cornerstone of Parliament Hill, Ottawa. He watched Charles Blondin traverse Niagara Falls by highwire, and stayed for three days with President James Buchanan at the White House. Buchanan accompanied the Prince to Mount Vernon, to pay his respects at the tomb of George Washington. Vast crowds greeted him everywhere. He met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Prayers for the royal family were said in Trinity Church, New York, for the first time since 1776.. The four-month tour throughout Canada and the United States considerably boosted Edward's confidence and self-esteem, and had many diplomatic benefits for Great Britain. Group includes Sir Edmund W. Head,Governor General; Sir Christopher C. Teesdale (Master of The Ceremonies and Extra Equerry to H.R.H.); King Edward VII; Hon. Robert Bruce (brother of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, the previous Governor General); Henry P. F. Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (at that time the British Secretary of State for the Colonies) standing in front of Sir John Rose's house, Sherbourne Street, Montreal.
Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1826, the same year in which photography was born in France. He moved to Montreal in 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on Bleury Street. His first important commission was the documentation of the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River. The Bridge opened with great fanfare in 1860, attended by the Prince of Wales. The gift to the Prince of a Maple Box containing Notman's photographs of the construction of the bridge and scenes of Canada East and Canada West so pleased Queen Victoria that, according to family tradition, she named him "Photographer to the Queen." Notman's reputation and business grew over the next three decades, the first Canadian photographer with an international reputation, and he operated his business as a partnership with other noted Canadian artists, initially John Arthur Fraser and then Henry Sandham, whom he also mentored. He established branches throughout Canada and the United States, including seasonal branches at Yale and Harvard universities, to cater to the student trade. Notman was also an active member of the Montreal artistic community, opening his studio for exhibitions by local painters; the studio also provided training for aspiring photographers and painters. Notman was highly regarded by his colleagues for his innovative photography, and held patents for some of the techniques he developed to recreate winter within the studio walls. He won medals at exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, and Australia. William Notman was a regular contributor to the photographic journal Philadelphia Photographer and in partnership with its editor, Edward Wilson, formed the Centennial Photographic Company for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the United States of America in 1876. He won the only gold medal to be awarded by the British judges and the portrait identification card required for entrance to the grounds was the ancestor of today's various photo-ID cards. (source: Wikipedia)
To view our archive organized by themes and subjects, visit: OUR COLLECTIONS
For information about reproducing this image, visit: THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY ARCHIVE