Robert Wilson Reford (1867–1951) was a Canadian photographer, businessman and art collector.

Birth and education

Reford was born in the

Golden Square Mile / ''Mille carré doré'' , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, Neighbourhood , image_skyline = Ravenscrag.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = ''Rave ...

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 ...

, the eldest son of

Robert Wilson Reford Robert Wilson Reford (1867–1951) was a Canadian photographer, businessman and art collector. Birth and education Reford was born in the Golden Square Mile, Montreal, the eldest son of Robert Wilson Reford Sr., Robert Wilson Reford and Kather ...

and Katherine Sheriff Drummond, daughter of Andrew Drummond of Tredinnock, near

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was educated at

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and Lincoln College, Sorel,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Career

His father was the founder of the Robert Reford Company, a shipping agency established in

in 1866. In 1888, he began his apprenticeship in business, working as a

Purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

on board a Thomson Line vessel in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. The following year he was sent to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

to act as the assistant manager of the Mount Royal Rice Mills, a company his father had founded in 1882 and which had rice mills in

and Victoria. There he was placed in charge of the Thermopylae, the former clipper ship which Robert Reford had acquired in 1890 to carry rice from the Far East to Victoria. He then worked in shipping offices in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. On his return to Montreal, he joined the staff of the Robert Reford Company. Made a partner in 1906, Robert Reford succeeded to the presidency of the Robert Reford Company on the death of his father in 1913. The Robert Reford Company were the agents for the

Cunard-White Star Line Cunard-White Star Line, Ltd, was a British shipping line which existed between 1934 and 1949. History The company was created to control the joint shipping assets of the Cunard Line and the White Star Line after both companies experienced fina ...

from 1911. Tickets for the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

rs departing from

were sold from the Reford agency buildings 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 ...

and

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

. Robert Reford was also active in the business and political life of the city. He was President of the Montreal Board of Trade in 1912. During the war he was the vice-president of the Montreal Branch of the Canadian Patriotic Fund. He served as President of the Canadian Club from 1915-16. In 1919, he was made a director of the

Cunard Steamship Company Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...

Private life

Robert Reford enjoyed

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. Acquiring one of the first

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

cameras in 1888, he became one of Canada's most prolific amateur photographers. During his sojourn in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, he photographed various first nation communities along the coast of British Columbia including the Kitlope at Wakasu in Gardner Canal, the Chinese community in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and the Mount Royal Rice Mills. His photograph albums were donated by the Reford family to the

National Archives of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

and are considered to be among the treasures of the Archive's collection.

Family

On June 12th, 1894, Robert Reford married (Mary) Elsie Stephen Meighen, daughter of Robert Meighen and Elsie Stephen, niece of

George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, (5 June 1829 – 29 November 1921), known as Sir George Stephen, Bt, between 1886 and 1891, was a Canadian businessman. Originally from Scotland, he made his fame in Montreal and was the first Canadian ...

. They had two sons, Bruce (1895-1972) and Eric (1900-1983). In 1902, they built their Montreal home at 300 Drummond Street in the

, designed by architect

Robert Findlay Robert Findlay (1859–1951) was a Scottish-born Canadian architect. He was born in Inverness, Scotland, and moved to Montreal in 1885. He won the competition to expand the first Sun Life Building and was the architect for that project, which ...

References

Sources

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
*''Canadian Men & Women of the Time 1912'', Ed.

Henry James Morgan Henry James Morgan (November 14, 1842 – December 27, 1913) was a Canadian civil servant, lawyer, author and editor, probably best known for publishing collections of biographical sketches of notable Canadians. The son of Robert Morgan, a Scotti ...

, Toronto, William Briggs, Richmond St. W., 1912. * ''Jardins de Métis'', Les guides des jardins du Québec, , texte d'

Alexander Reford Alexander Reford is an historian by training, with master's degrees in history from the University of Toronto and Oxford University. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1962, he was raised and educated in the Outaouais region of Québec. He held the posi ...

, traduction d'Albert Beaudry. *''Private Realms of Light. Amateur photography in Canada 1839-1940'', edited Lilly Koltun, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1984, p. 324. *''The Canadian Who's Who 1949-1951'', Ed. Arthur L. Tunnell, Trans Canada Press, 1951 *''Treasures of the National Archives of Canada'', University of Toronto Press, 1992, p. 34 and p. 330-331. *Jardins de Métis (Reford Gardens)
jardinsdemetis.com

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reford, Robert Canadian photographers 1867 births 1951 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery