Any Old Pictures of The Fort or Victoria Square?

The Friends of Fort York and site staff have formed a committee on History & Archaeology to support fort-related research either for publication or to aid the reconstruction of buildings and restoration of the landscape as proposed in Fort York: Adding New Buildings. To this end, we ask anyone who has old photographs or sketches of the fort or of Victoria Square to allow us to copy them. We would also want any information on their history and provenance. They may be amateur watercolours, photos mounted in old albums to recall a Victorian afternoon, or stereo views sold by a local photographer. Whatever the image, we want to recognize its importance by including it in the fort’s collections. It may be possible to publish some of new pictures in Fife & Drum. Contact Andrew Stewart (416-968-1013) if you have something to offer.

As well, we intend to appeal for pictures through military associations in the U.K. connected to regiments who saw service in Toronto in the 19th century before 1870, when our defences were handed over to the Government of Canada. Research on Quebec City has shown that British sources can be particularly rich because of the training in drawing officers received to enable them to record strategic information, and because they brought cameras to take pictures as souvenirs of their tours of duty.