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Historical Views of Guelph


by Judith Nasby

 

This exhibition depicted a tranquil and picturesque view of 19th century Guelph.  A period when the city had established its reputation as a manufacturing and commercial centre and home of the Ontario Agricultural College.  Few views from this time are as complete as those by artist David Johnston Kennedy (1816-1898).  A railway agent by trade, Kennedy dedicated his spare hours to recording, in precise topographical detail, cityscapes and buildings.  Later in his life Kennedy moved away from his family in Guelph to work in Philadelphia.  When visiting his family he recorded the rapid growth of the town from 1845 to 1864.  Kennedy’s watercolours show the site of Guelph’s first house the “Priory” (now the site of the River Run Centre), the Canada Company Mill, and a passenger train crossing the Grand Trunk Railway Bridge in 1861.  Many of his images contain detailed notes, such as the location of the first schoolhouse and the remaining stump of the tree that was felled to signify the founding of the city by John Galt.

 

1.         F. Cattlin
Plan of the Town of Guelpf (sic), Upper Canada Founded by the Canada Company,1827 (engraving) Art Centre Purchase, 1984.
 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS984.042

Cattlin’s plan was engraved by J.&C.  Walker in England and included in Joseph Bouchette’s 1831 monograph.  The plan notes street names and the location of the market ground, burying ground and St. Patrick’s Church.

 

2.         G. Childs
Guelph, c. 1831 (lithograph)
Presented in Memory of Carol Page FACS’78 by her friends and classmates, 1984
University of Guelph Collection – UG983.020

A lithograph of the Priory in the new settlement of Guelph, published in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and County, Volume 2, November 1830.  As a promotional image to encourage readers to emigrate and settle in Guelph.  Market Square is shown in the background.

 

3.         David Johnston Kennedy  (1816-1898)
Allan’s Mill on the River Speed, Guelph, Canada West, 1845 (watercolour and graphite on paper)
Purchased through the 1972 Alma Mater Fund, 1973. University of Guelph Collection – UG973.030

The watercolour and pencil sketch shows the mill built in 1830 by Horace Perry for the Canada Company.  William Allan took over the mill in 1832, adding the distillery and carding mill seen on the opposite bank of the river.  On the right is the Priory, built in 1827, which was used as the headquarters for the first settlers brought in by the Canada Company.  The Delemere Tavern is on the far left.  The painting is inscribed, ‘Alan’s Mill, on the river Speed Guelph, Canada West, sketched from Strange’s Hill in November, 1845 by D.J. Kennedy of Philadelphia on a visit to W. Robert Allan/sketch taken from the brow of the hill opposite to the Court House and Jail - D.J.K.’  The mat is inscribed, ‘Alan’s Mill, Guelph, Ontario . . . showing where the first tree was cut/in locating the city, the stump of which is shown in front of the horse and sled leaving the mill.’  Kennedy was born in Scotland in 1816 and moved to Ireland with his family.  In 1833 the family emigrated to Canada, first to Kingston, and then to Nichol Township.  He later moved to Philadelphia where his sister lived.

 

4.         David Johnston Kennedy  (1816-1898)
Sketch of Part of the Town of Guelph, Canada West, 1853 (watercolour and graphite on paper)
Purchased through the 1972 Alma Mater Fund, 1973. University of Guelph Collection – UG973.031  

The watercolour is dated 1853 by the artist.  The 1850 date which appears on the lower left was probably added by someone else.  In addition to Allan’s Mill (left) and the Priory (centre), this sketch shows the Court House and Jail built in 1843 from a design by William Allan’s son David.  The painting is inscribed, 'Sketch of part of the town of Guelph, Canada West/on the river Speed from Father’s House in June 1853/Sketched from the front door of Father and Mother’s cottage looking up to the town/Mr. William Allan’s Mill on the left and on the right the Court House and jail'.

 

5.         David Johnston Kennedy  (1816-1898)
View of the River Speed, Guelph, Canada West, From the Railway Bridge Looking up on October 4, 1864 (watercolour on paper)
Purchased through the 1972 Alma Mater Fund, 1973. University of Guelph Collection – UG973.035

The painting depicts the view north of Allan’s Bridge showing the Priory’s bathhouse on the left.

 

6.         David Johnston Kennedy  (1816-1898)
Grand Trunk Railway Bridge, Across the Speed at Guelph, Canada West, 1861
(watercolour and graphite on paper)
Purchased through the 1972 Alma Mater Fund, 1973. University of Guelph Collection – UG973.032

This watercolour and pencil sketch depicts the Toronto-Guelph line of the Grand Trunk Railway which began in 1854.  The line opened the trade route to Toronto and Montreal for Guelph’s various industries.  The mat is inscribed, ‘Grand Trunk Railway Bridge across the River Speed at Guelph Ontario.  Sketched from Mother’s front window 2nd story facing south on July 16, 1861. / Mother died June 5th, 1861 at 20 minutes past 8 a.m.  Father died Oct.  24th, 1874 at 30 minutes past 5pm.’  

 

7.         David Johnson Kennedy (1816-1898)
The Kennedy Cottage, 1852 (watercolour and graphite on paper)
Purchased through the 1972 Alma Mater Fund, 1973. University of Guelph Collection – UG973.033  

The watercolour, ink, and graphite sketch records ‘Yankee cottage’, a brick house built in Guelph by the artist’s father, William Kennedy, on the bank of the Speed River adjacent to Allan’s Bridge.  The free-standing temple on the porch roof was likely never constructed.

 

8.         W.H.E. Napier
Woodlands, 1855 (watercolour and graphite on paper)
Purchased through the Florence G. Partridge Fund with financial assistance from the Ontario Government in consultation with the College of Arts, 1980. University of Guelph Collection – UG980.003

A watercolour of the stone residence and farmstead of Thomas Saunders in Guelph Township.  Napier grew up in Quebec where he trained as a civil engineer under Walter Shanly.  He worked on various canal building projects in the United States, and was later employed by the Grand Trunk Railway.  His precise watercolour style reflects his training in topographical drafting. 

 

9.         Charles M. Manly
The Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Canada, 1906 (watercolour on paper)
Ontario Agricultural College Purchase, 1906. University of Guelph Collection – UG997.002

This watercolour was used for a lithograph reproduction which was widely distributed through the publication Farmers Advocate.  The lithograph was produced by the Toronto Engraving Company.

 

10.       Minnie Catherine Little (1869-1954)
Speed River, Guelph, The Footbridge and St. George’s Anglican Church, c. 1910 (oil on canvas )
Gift of Marion Colwill-Maddock, 1997. University of Guelph Collection – UG997.006.007

Minnie Catherine Little married artist Will Calvert in 1905.  Will was the son of artist Fanny Colwill Calvert.  Minnie Little developed an interest in painting and was encouraged by her mother-in-law.  Little lived most of her life in the Muskoka Region.

In the background of this painting Little depicts the mansard roof of the Wellington Hotel and Griffin’s Opera House.

 

11.       Fanny Colwill Calvert  (1848-1936)
Looking Down Macdonnell Street from Church of Our Lady, c. 1901 (watercolour on paper)
Gift of Marion Colwill-Maddock, 1997. University of Guelph Collection – UG997.006.006 

Fanny Colwill emigrated to Canada from England in 1890.  She in Guelph in 1892 shortly after her marriage to Herbert Calvert of Hamilton.  The marriage did not last and she pursued her own career as one of the city’s early businesswomen owning a shop selling drapery and milling supplies and managing rental homes.  The family moved to the Muskoka region in the mid-1910s.  As an artist, Fanny did oil paintings, wood carvings, and crafts.    Fanny’s son, Will was the architect who designed Torrance Public School.

In this watercolour Calvert shows the Albion Hotel on the left.

 

12.       Fanny Colwill Calvert  (1848-1936)
Gow’s Bridge, August 1st, 1901 (oil on canvas board)
Gift of Marion Colwill-Maddock, 1997. University of Guelph Collection – UG997.006.002

13.       Fanny Colwill Calvert  (1848-1936)
Gow’s Bridge, July 10, 1902 (oil on canvas board)
Gift of Marion Colwill-Maddock, 1997. University of Guelph Collection – UG997.006.001  

14.       Martha Ann Scroggie  (1864-1906)
St. George’s Church and Footbridge Across the Speed River, Guelph, c.1900 (watercolour on paper)
Bequest of Mr. Innes M. Allen, Guelph, 1981. Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS981.021  

‘Matt’ Scroggie lived at 15 Oxford Street and was an art teacher, probably at Central Public School.  She painted landscapes, still life subjects and portraits in both oil and watercolours.

 

15.       Martha Ann Scroggie  (1864-1906)
Stone Bridge Across the Speed River from McCrae St. to Wellington St, Guelph, c.1900
Bequest of Mr. Innes M. Allen, Guelph, 1981. Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS981.022  

An untitled oil painting of Gow’s Bridge.

 

16.       Effie Smith  (1867-1960)
Riverside Park, Guelph, as it was in 1908 (watercolour on paper)
Gift of Margaret Hales, 1988. University of Guelph Collection – UG988.022

A watercolour inscribed, ‘Riverside Park, Guelph about 1908/artist, Effie Smith.  Guelph/from Mother and Dad’s home.  August 1959.  (sale of our home that year) / Margaret Hales Starkey./ Dick restored this / picture for me / Marg’.  Effie Smith was born in Cumberland, Ontario in 1867, came to Guelph in 1877, and later studied in Hamilton, Ontario and at Dischoff-Aukleck’s in Chicago.  She did china painting until 1935 and then began oil, watercolour and charcoal sketches, specializing in flowers.

 

17.       Daniel Herbert Jones  (1875-1954)
Landscape, 1938 (oil on masonite)
Gift of the Artist, 1943. University of Guelph Collection – UG900.064

An oil painting of sheep grazing under a tree on the Ontario Agricultural College farm field.  Jones emigrated to Canada from England in 1901 and graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1908.  He joined the OAC faculty in 1914 and was Head of the Department of Bacteriology until his  retirement in 1936.  His realistic views in bright colours depict the Guelph area and scenes on campus.

 

18.       D.H. Pasfield  (b.1914)
The Darkened Forge (Corner of Wellington St. and Gordon St.), c. 1933 (ink on paper)
Gift of the Artist, c. 1933. University of Guelph Collection – UG900.382

A sketch of a blacksmith’s forge that was identified by Gordon Couling as being on the corner of Gordon and Wellington Streets.

 

19.       D.H. Pasfield  (b.1914)
Back of Old Johnston Hall when it was being demolished in 1928 or 1929, 1935 (ink on paper)
Gift of the Artist, c. 1935. University of Guelph Collection – UG900.379  

The sketch was reproduced in the OAC Review in 1933.  Pasfield graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture from OAC in 1934, and lived for a time in Surrey, England.

 

20.       Nicholas Hornyansky  (1896-1965)
Adminstration Building, Ontario Agricultural College, c. 1940s (aquatint and drypoint on paper)
Gift of Ontario Agricultural College Students, c.1940s. University of Guelph Collection – UG900.233 

This aquatint work depicts the Administration Building with a pond in the foreground.  This proof was commissioned by the College for a greeting card, but it was never produced.  Hornyansky was born in Budapest, and later studied in Vienna and other cities.  In 1919 he went to Belgium to study landscape painting in association with the school of Franz Hens, and emigrated to Toronto in 1929.  he promoted printmaking in Canada through his work with the Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers and was an instructor of printmaking at the Ontario College of Art from 1945 to 1965.  Many of his works were reproduced in books, calenders, and Christmas cards.

 

21.       Gordon Couling  (1913-1984)
Church of Our Lady, 1958 (oil on canvas)
Gift of the Guelph Creative Arts Association, 1980. Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS980.019

22.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
Johnston Hall, Ontario Agricultural College, 1962 (graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.007

23.       A.Y. Jackson
Chemistry Building, Ontario Agricultural College, 1958 (graphite and ink on paper)
Gift of the Artist, 1958. University of Guelph Collection – UG900.239

A.Y. Jackson was a visiting artist at OAC in 1958 at the invitation of President J.D. MacLachan.  Jackson stayed in the President’s House with the MacLachan family while he did paintings and sketches of campus buildings.

 

24.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
The 1965 Demolition of the Guelph Public Library, 1965 (oil on canvas)
Gift of the Guelph Creative Arts Association, 1980. Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS980.001

 

Seven drawings were commissioned by the city for a 1962 brochure written by Dick Brimmell.

  

25.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
Church of Our Lady, Guelph, 1962 (graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
 Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.006

26.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
The Wellington Hotel (1876) and the Cenotaph at the Corner of Wyndham St. at Eramosa Road,
Guelph. 1962 (graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.008

27.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
Corner of Carden and Wyndham Streets Looking North on Wyndham Street, Guelph, 1962
(graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.011

28.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
Corner of Carden and Wyndham Streets, Looking West on Carden Street, Guelph, 1962
(graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.009

29.       Evan Macdonald  (1905-1962)
Douglas St. Looking Towards St. George’s Church, Guelph, 1962 (graphite on paper)
Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.012

 30.      Evan Macdonald  (1905-1972)
         The Old Bank of Commerce, St. George’s Square (on the site of the present CIBC building),
         Guelph (demolished in 1968), C. 1962 (graphite on paper)
         Gift of Brian Ayer in Recognition of his Friendship with Norman Webb, 2001
         Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection – MS2001.0010

 

© 2002
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

Exhibition Curator: Judith Nasby
Dates: 11 April to 14 July 2002

 

 

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