Collection consists predominantly of late-19th/early 20th century portraits of political leaders and prominent personalities; views of historic buildings and monuments in Québec, Ontario, and Manitoba; and photographs documenting aspects of the Cariboo Gold Rush in B.C., the Montréal flood of 1886, the Boer War, and World War I.
Portraits of the following individuals and groups: Ishbel Aberdeen (1898); R.B. Bennett; Cree Chief Bobtail; Hon. Joseph Howe; Blackfoot Chief Rabbit Carrier; Hon. James Alexander Robb, P.C. (1929); Sir Henry Smith (ca. 1868); Stanley of Preston, 16th Earl of Derby (1893); Confederates (after raid on St. Albans, Vermont) outside the Montréal jail (1864); railway surveyors. Photographs by unknown photographers and by the following: Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau; E. Livernois, Québec; William J. Topley, Ottawa.
Views of the following: model of the Chateau St. Louis, Québec; Royal Fusiliers memorial tablet at Chateau Frontenac, Place d'Armes, Québec (1928); St. Gabriel Farm House, Point St. Charles, Québec; old Hudson's Bay church, Lachine, Québec; Fort Lennox, Ile-Aux-Noix, Québec; Montréal harbour (1859); ice palace in Montréal, Québec (1886); Molson's House on Sherbrooke St., Montréal; flooded streets in Montréal (1885); commercial buildings in Montréal and Toronto; the new Parliament Buildings, Ottawa; Laurier statue, Ottawa; Drill Hall, Ottawa (1890); Ebert House, Walkerton, Ont. (1962); Town Hall, Sidney, Ont.; cheese factories in Ontario (Bayside Cheese Factory, Bayside; Melrose and Highland factories, Hastings County; Mountain View and Allisonview cheese factories, Prince Edward County); York Factory, Man.. Photographs by unknown photographers and by the following: Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau; Alexander Henderson; George Thompson; William James Topley, Ottawa.
Views of the following: Simon Fraser monument, New Westminster, B.C.; surveying operations in northern B.C. (1860-1861); Cariboo country in B.C. (Barkerville, Bonaparte House, Clinton, Colonial House, 164 Mile House at Frank Ways, Fraser River, Minehaha Claim at Mosquito Creek, Roadside House, Soda Creek, Alturas and Mucho Oro gold mining companies at Stouts Gulch, Neversweat Tunnel Co. at Williams Creek); naval guns at Bloemfontein, South Africa; ceinture flêchée (sash) of Gen. Sir Isaac Brock. Photographs by unknown photographers and by R. Thiele.
The following events and activities are documented: review at Ottawa (1867); T. D'Arcy McGee's funeral, Montréal (1868); Montréal Snowshoe Club Carnival (1883); toboganning in Westmount, Montréal; Montréal flood of 1886; Fancy Dress Carnival to mark the opening of the new Rideau Skating Rink in Ottawa (1889); soldiers going to the Boer War in Ottawa and Québec (1899); return of the Canadian contingent from the Boer War in Ottawa (1900); Prince Arthur of Connaught and Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng inspecting weapons and Canadian troops (1917). Photographs by unknown photographers and by the following: Alexander Henderson; William James Topley, Ottawa.