The Armstrong, Beere and Hime panorama is an almost complete

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

of the city of Toronto taken in 1856–1857 by the firm Armstrong, Beere and Hime. They are the earliest known photographs of the city of Toronto, and create an almost complete record of the city at that time. A fictionalized history of the photographs and their story plays a central role in Michael Redhill's ''Consolation''. They were created by the firm Armstrong, Beere and Hime under contract from the city of Toronto. In 1857 the British Colonial Office was deciding which city should be made the capital of The Canadas. As part of their bid, the city of Toronto elected to present a set of photographs of the city to the authorities in London. The city paid Armstrong, Beere and Hime £60 to create four copies of 25 pictures. The panoramic images were taken from the roof of the

Rossin House Hotel Rossin House Hotel was a mid-19th century hotel located at the southeast corner of King Street and York Street in Toronto, Canada. The original structure was built in 1856 and was destroyed by a fire and re-built in 1863. It was one of the city's ...

, at the southeast corner of King and York streets. Toronto's bid to become the capital failed, and the photographs were lost and forgotten. They were rediscovered on October 9, 1979, when archivist Joan Schwartz located them when looking through records at the Colonial Office Library. Subsequently, a second set of the pictures was found in Ottawa. A set of modern duplicates, reproduced from copy negatives, was presented to the City of Toronto as a Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) gift from the British government in 1984. These are housed in the

City of Toronto Archives The City of Toronto Archives is the municipal archives for the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It holds records created by the municipal government and its amalgamated former municipalities from 1792 to the present day, as well as non-governme ...

The images

There were 25 pictures taken in total. 13 make up the almost complete panorama of the city, others were taken of various prominent buildings. File:Toronto 1856 - 1.jpg, Looking west down King Street West Government House can be seen on the south side of the street File:Toronto 1856 - 2.jpg, Looking west north west File:Toronto 1856 - 3.jpg, Looking north north west File:Toronto 1856 - 4.jpg, Looking north up York Street. Osgoode Hall is visible at the end of the street File:Toronto 1856 - 5.jpg, Looking north north east File:Toronto 1856 - 6.jpg, Looking north east. On the left hand edge one can see the Church of the Holy Trinity and in the centre can be seen the spire of the Toronto Normal School. Further to the right are group of churches, one which is Knox Presbyterian ( photo) File:Toronto 1856 - 7.jpg, Looking east north east. File:Toronto 1856 - 8.jpg, Looking east along King Street. On the north side of the street can be seen St. James Cathedral, which at that point did not have a spire. Across the street one can see St. Lawrence Hall File:Toronto 1856 - 9.jpg, Looking east south east. File:Toronto 1856 - 10.jpg, Looking south south east. File:Toronto 1856 - 11.jpg, Looking south towards the Toronto Harbour. A train can be seen along the railway File:Toronto 1856 - 12.jpg, Looking south south west. File:Toronto 1856 - 13.jpg, Looking south west. What was then the

Provincial Parliament The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...

can be seen.

External links

Toronto Archives - The Earliest Known Photographs of Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Beere And Hime Panorama History of Toronto Black-and-white photographs 1857 works 1850s photographs

The images

See also

External links