William James Topley: Reflections on a Capital Photographer

The William James Topley photographic collection is one of the most important visual records of Canada during the first 50 years after Confederation. The photographs produced by the Topley Studio provide a vivid documentation of the political, social, cultural, economic, technological and architectural changes during the first fifty years of Canada after Confederation. The collection documents life in the Ottawa area-as well as people and events in other regions of the country-between 1868 and 1923. The photographs produced by the Topley Studio vividly portray Canadian life in all its facets-political, social, economic, technological and architectural-during a time of rapid change. These images help us to envision Canada's past by capturing the construction of the Parliament Buildings; social occasions including the Governor General's balls; street scenes in Ottawa and landscapes farther afield; and portraits of our political leaders and average Canadians - Library and Archives Canada