Robert Wilson Reford
Encyclopedia
Robert Wilson Reford was a Canadian photographer, businessman and art collector.
Reford was born in Montreal. The eldest son of Robert Wilson Reford
and Katherine Drummond, he was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto and Lincoln College, Sorel. His father was the founder of the Robert Reford Company, a shipping agency established in Montreal in 1866. In 1888 he began his apprenticeship in business, working as a purser on board on a Thomson Line vessel in the Mediterranean. In March 1889 he was sent to Victoria 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 Montreal 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 and Paris. On his return to Montreal, he joined the staff of the Robert Reford Company. He married Mary Elsie Stephen Meighen (Elsie Reford
) in June 1894 and they had two sons, Bruce and Eric. In 1902 they built a residence at 300 Drummond Street designed by architect Robert Findlay.
Robert Reford enjoyed photography and painting. Acquiring one of the first Kodak cameras in 1888, he became one of Canada's most prolific amateur photographers. During his sojourn in British Columbia, he photographed the Haida villages on northern Vancouver Island, the Chinese community in Victoria and the Mount Royal Rice Mills. His photograph albums were donated by the Reford family to the National Archives of Canada and are considered to be among the treasures of the Archive's collection.
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 was agents for the Cunard White Star from 1911. Tickets for the Cunard liners departing from Montreal were sold from the Reford agency buildings in Montreal and Toronto, Quebec City and St. John, New Brunswick. 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 Limited.
Reford was born in Montreal. The eldest son of Robert Wilson Reford
Robert Wilson Reford Sr.
Robert Wilson Reford was a businessman and philanthropist born in County Antrim and he emigrated to Canada in 1845 with his mother and siblings....
and Katherine Drummond, he was educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto and Lincoln College, Sorel. His father was the founder of the Robert Reford Company, a shipping agency established in Montreal in 1866. In 1888 he began his apprenticeship in business, working as a purser on board on a Thomson Line vessel in the Mediterranean. In March 1889 he was sent to Victoria 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 Montreal 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 and Paris. On his return to Montreal, he joined the staff of the Robert Reford Company. He married Mary Elsie Stephen Meighen (Elsie Reford
Elsie Reford
Elsie Reford was a pioneer of Canadian horticulture, creating one of the largest private gardens in Canada on her estate, Estevan Lodge in eastern Québec. Located in Grand-Métis on the south shore of the St...
) in June 1894 and they had two sons, Bruce and Eric. In 1902 they built a residence at 300 Drummond Street designed by architect Robert Findlay.
Robert Reford enjoyed photography and painting. Acquiring one of the first Kodak cameras in 1888, he became one of Canada's most prolific amateur photographers. During his sojourn in British Columbia, he photographed the Haida villages on northern Vancouver Island, the Chinese community in Victoria and the Mount Royal Rice Mills. His photograph albums were donated by the Reford family to the National Archives of Canada and are considered to be among the treasures of the Archive's collection.
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 was agents for the Cunard White Star from 1911. Tickets for the Cunard liners departing from Montreal were sold from the Reford agency buildings in Montreal and Toronto, Quebec City and St. John, New Brunswick. 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 Limited.
Sources
- Canadian Men & Women of the Time 1912, Ed. Henry James Morgan, Toronto, William Briggs, Richmond St. W., 1912.
- Jardins de Métis, Les guides des jardins du Québec, Éditions FIDES, texte d'Alexander RefordAlexander Reford- Biography: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 position of Dean of College at St. Michael’s...
, 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.
- http://www.refordgardens.com/english/gardens/history-elsie-reford.php