Frank William Micklethwaite (1849–1925) was a Canadian photographer, professionally known as F. W. Micklethwaite, whose photographs of Toronto and the Muskoka area form an important and unique photographic record of the province of Ontario's history in the late 19th century and early 20th century. ''F. W. Micklethwaite, 1848–1925''.
City of Toronto Archives biography
Micklethwaite specialized in outside views and landscapes, as well as architectural and commercial photography, and he was one of Toronto's best known photographers.Denison, John. ''Micklethwaite's Muskoka''. (Erin, Ontario: The Boston Mills Press, 1993). .

Background

Micklethwaite was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, on 13 March 1849. His family mpved to Ireland in the 1850s, where his father, William Barton Micklethwaite, practiced photography in Newry,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

.Tessier, Guy. ''The photographic saga of the Micklethwaite family.'' The Archivist. March–April 1986, Volume 13, No. 2, p. 9. (Public Archives of Canada, 1986).John Harold Micklethwaite fonds,

Library and Archives 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 th ...

biography. The younger Micklethwaite studied photography while in Ireland, and emigrated to Toronto around 1875. After working for three years as a proof reader for The Mail newspaper, he opened a commercial photography business at 22 Queen Street West in 1878. He later opened a studio, the location of which changed frequently until he established it at 243 Yonge Street in 1910. Micklethwaite also took up residence in

Port Sandfield Port Sandfield is a community on Lake Rosseau in Ontario, Canada, located within and governed by the municipality of Muskoka Lakes. It was founded in 1870, when a canal was built connecting Lake Joseph to Lake Rosseau. Alexander Peter Cockburn, a ...

each summertime, and he took thousands of photographs of the Muskoka lakes area and wealthy cottagers. In addition to his private clients, Micklethwaite was also commissioned by the Engineer's Department of the City of Toronto government from approximately 1891 to 1895 to take photographs of public works and their construction. As such, Micklethwaite is credited with many early images of public infrastructure in Toronto.

Death and legacy

Micklethwaite died on 5 December 1925, and he was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery next to his wife, Ruth. The photography business was willed to Micklethwaite's eldest son Fred. Fred Micklethwaite continued the family business until 1941, passing it on to his son, John Harold Micklethwaite, the fourth generation of Micklethwaite in the photography business. John was a commercial photographer in Toronto until his own death in 1983. Many of F.W. Micklethwaite's photographs are held by the

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

and 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 Public Archives of Canada, the predecessor institution to the Library and Archives of Canada, held an exhibit of Micklethwaite's work in 1978,''Aperçu: The Archives looks at Frank W. Micklethwaite - A Portrait of Toronto / Aperçu: Photographies d'archives de Frank W. Micklethwaite - Images de Toronto.'' National Photography Collection / Collection nationale de photographies. 1978. and a volume of his Muskoka photographs was published in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Micklethwaite, Frank William 1849 births 1925 deaths British emigrants to Canada Artists from Toronto Canadian photographers People from Ashton-under-Lyne People from Newry People from Old Toronto Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto