Josiah Bruce was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

known for creating notable photographs of historic value, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Bruce's maternal grandfather, John Taylor, was a naval hero, who served under

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

, who had his picture painted for Britain's National Picture Gallery, after he dived in and managed to retrieve dispatches a French officer had tried to dispose of by throwing them overboard. Bruce's parents joined Taylor, in

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Welli ...

, in 1837. Bruce was born there, in 1840. Bruce studied at the Paisley Block School there, and studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. In 1861, Bruce worked briefly as an architect in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, but soon started working under established photographer

William Notman William Notman (8 March 1826 – 25 November 1891) was a Scottish-Canadian photographer and businessman. The Notman House in Montreal was his home from 1876 until his death in 1891, and it has since been named after him. Biography Notman ...

, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Bruce worked for Notman for about fifteen years, before setting up his own photography studio in Toronto. According to his biographer Joan M. Schwarz, Bruce's 1876 photo of

Ned Hanlan Edward Hanlan (12 July 1855 – 4 January 1908) was a Canadian professional sculler, hotelier, and alderman from Toronto, Ontario. Early life Hanlan was born to Irish parents; one of two sons and two daughters. His mother was Mary Gibbs, his fath ...

was probably the first ever taken of the famous rower. According to Graeme Mercer Adam's 1891 ''Toronto, Old and New'', ''"There are few houses of refinement in Toronto, or for that matter, in Ontario, that do not contain one or more photographs executed in Mr. Bruce's excellent studio."'' In 1894 Bruce was awarded a contract from Toronto's City Engineer to take photographs of the city's work on public projects. Bruce replace photographer F.W. Micklethwaite. Bruce documented city work for five years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Josiah 1840 births 1913 deaths 19th-century Canadian photographers