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Mccord Museum of Canadian History Biographical Notes the Notman http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/ BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES THE NOTMAN FAMILY William Notman, father (1805-1867) William Notman (1805-1867) was the father of the founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. He was raised in Scotland on the dairy farm of his father William and mother Helen McFarlane. His two brothers were Peter and John. William married Janet Sloan in 1823. They had seven children: William (1826-1891); Jessie (1828-?); John Sloan (1830-1879); Helen (1835-?); Robert (1837-1882); Margaret (1846-1873); and James (1849-1932). A designer and manufacturer of Paisley shawls, William first worked as a commission salesman before launching his own wholesale bedding business. With this enterprise on the verge of collapse in the mid-1850s, his eldest son William sought to avoid bankruptcy by taking steps that would, unfortunately, prove illegal. To escape an encounter with the law, the younger William left Scotland to begin a new life in Montreal. In 1859, the elder William Notman decided to reunite with his son who had, by then, established a photographic studio in Montreal. He set out on board the ship United Kingdom in the company of his wife and their two youngest children, Margaret and James. Janet Sloan Notman (1805-1889) Mrs. William Notman, née Janet Sloan (1805-1889), was the mother of the founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. Her marriage to the elder William Notman took place on September 23, 1823, in High Paisley, Scotland. McCord Museum of Canadian History 1 Biographical Notes The Notman Family Janet gave birth to seven children: William (1826-1891); Jessie (1828-?); John Sloan (1830-1879); Helen (1835-?); Robert (1837-1882); Margaret (1846-1873); and James (1849-1932). Accompanied by her husband and two youngest children, Margaret and James, Janet set sail for Canada in 1859 on board the United Kingdom. Upon arrival in Montreal, the couple reunited with their eldest son William who had, by then, established a photographic studio in the city. Janet Notman was widowed on December 19, 1867 and died August 12, 1889 of senility. Alice Merry Woodwark Notman (1832-1906) Alice Merry Woodwark (1832-1906) was the wife of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. A native of Nailsworth, England, Alice married William Notman in Paisley, Scotland in June 1853. Alice and William had seven children: Frances Elizabeth (1855-1867); William McFarlane (1857-1913); Jessie Sloane (1859-1942); Alice Richenda (1863-1881); Emily Mary (1865-1946); George Richard Woodwark (1868-1921); and Charles Frederick (1870-1955). In November 1856, Alice immigrated to Canada to join her husband who had been living in Montreal since August of that year. She arrived on board the ship S.S. Canadian in the company of her 16- month-old daughter Frances Elizabeth. Alice Notman was widowed in 1891. Suffering from bronchial pneumonia, she died in Montreal on January 2, 1906, at age 74. She is buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery. Richard Woodwark (1798-1866) Richard Woodwark (1798-1866) was the father-in-law of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. Richard was the father of Alice Merry Woodwark (1832- 1906), the wife of William Notman, and the husband of Frances Elizabeth Thomas (1806-1870), the daughter of George Thomas. Richard Woodwark lived in Whitby, England where he was a factory owner. His 1865 visit to Montreal is captured in photographs taken of him at the Notman studio. Frances Elizabeth Notman (1855-1867) McCord Museum of Canadian History 2 Biographical Notes The Notman Family Frances Elizabeth Notman (1855-1867), or Fanny, was the eldest daughter of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal, and Alice Merry Woodwark (1832-1906). She was born in Glasgow, Scotland on July 23, 1855. In November 1856, 16-month-old Fanny and her mother Alice crossed the Atlantic Ocean on board the ship S.S. Canadian, en route to Canada. There, they reunited with William Notman who had been living in Montreal since August of that year. In 1867, Fanny succumbed to meningitis at age 11. Fanny was the eldest of seven children. Her siblings were: William McFarlane (1857-1913); Jessie Sloane (1859-1942); Alice Richenda (1863-1881); Emily Mary (1865-1946); George Richard Woodwark (1868-1921); and Charles Frederick (1870-1955). William MacFarlane Notman (1857-1913) Octobre 10, 1873 : $8; last entry September 29, 1882-1913 : $40 Eldest son of William Notman, he was born November 1, 1857, made a partner in 1882, inherited the business in 1891 upon his father’s death, brought his brother Charles into the business about 1894, and died on May 1, 1913. Alice Maud Claxton Notman (1863-1960) Alice Maud Claxton (1863-1960) was a daughter-in-law of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. Alice was the wife of William McFarlane, the eldest son of William Notman. They were married on September 20, 1888. Her father was T. James Claxton. William McFarlane Notman (1857-1913) went into partnership with his father in 1882. He inherited the photographic studio outright on the death of his father in 1891, and named his brother Charles a partner in approximately 1894. Alice and William McFarlane had three children: William Russell (1890-1916); Wilfred McKenzie (1892- 1916); and Keith Claxton (1893-1985). Alice was widowed in 1913, three years before her two eldest sons were killed in action during the First World War. She lived several more decades before her death on September 13, 1960, at age 97. McCord Museum of Canadian History 3 Biographical Notes The Notman Family Jessie Sloane Notman Belcher (1859-1942) Jessie Sloane Notman (1859-1942) was the third child of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal, and Alice Merry Woodwark (1832-1906). In 1884, Jessie married Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) at St. Martin’s Anglican Church in Montreal. Reverend Samuel Belcher, the father of the groom, celebrated the marriage. Jessie and Henry had seven children: Frederick Gordon (1885-1970); Alice Dorothy (1887-1946); Henry Lawrence (1889-1946); Charles Stuart (1891-1917); Edith Constance (1893-1971); Leslie Kenneth (1895-1918); and William Vincent (1901-1957). Jessie Sloane was widowed in 1923 and died in 1942 at age 83. George R.W. Notman (1868-1921) August 29, 1884: $8; October 3, 1890: $28 The second son of William Notman, George’s name was entered in the wages book upon arriving home from the first trip to the west in 1884 as assistant to his brother William McFarlane Notman. He was not quite sixteen at the time. In 1887, he represented the company at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in London, and later in the year made a second trip out west as his brother’s assistant. In the fall of 1890, George left Montreal to work, it is thought, in Boston, although he is not listed in the city directory until 1892. By this time he was in the Park Street studio, with his cousin Annie, replacing his brother Charles who had returned to work in the Montreal studio with his oldest brother, when his father died in 1891. George left Boston about 1893 to open a studio on Madison Avenue in New York City. At least by 1898 he was back in Boston at a Boylston Street location. In 1900, he returned to Montreal, but left the photographic business altogether to become manager of the Eclipse Acetylene Gas Co. He died in Montreal in 1921. Charles F. Notman (1870-1955) December 11, 1891 : $40; March 2, 1894 : $40; Spring 1935 Charles, the youngest son of William Notman, was born in Montreal in 1870. He was the only one of the three sons that served his apprenticeship away from home. After completing High School at eighteen, he was sent to the Park Street studio in Boston in 1888. The following summer he assisted his brother William McFarlane Notman on the third western trip along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He continued at the Boston studio until the end of 1891 when, upon the death of his father, McCord Museum of Canadian History 4 Biographical Notes The Notman Family he joined the staff of the Montreal studio. In 1894 his brother took him into the business as a junior partner. During the next few years, Charles’ increasing talents in the portrait department aided substantially in maintaining the Notman reputation as the leading studio in the city. The period from Charles’ entry into the business through 1913 when he became sole owner after his brother’s death, and his management of the many changes in the trade up to 1935 when he sold the studio, is a subject worthy of a later study. Reaching retirement age, Charles probably felt the strain of carrying on such a competitive business, especially in the middle of the Depression. The death of William Haggerty, his right-hand man, the previous year may have influenced his decision. Charles sold the business and the collection of 400,000 negatives and prints, representing seventy-eight years of photography, to the Associated Screen News. He continued on as director and vice-president in charge of the studio. Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) was the son-in-law of William Notman, founder of the William Notman photographic studio in Montreal. In 1884, he married Jessie Sloane Notman (1859-1942), a daughter of William, at St. Martin’s Anglican Church in Montreal. Reverend Samuel Belcher, the father of the groom, celebrated the marriage. Henry and Jessie had seven children: Frederick Gordon (1885-1970); Alice Dorothy (1887-1946); Henry Lawrence (1889-1946); Charles Stuart (1891-1917); Edith Constance (1893-1971); Leslie Kenneth (1895-1918); and William Vincent (1901-1957).
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