William J. Topley started work in 1864 as an apprentice for the highly successful photographer William Notman in Montreal.

In 1868 Topley opened Notman's studio branch in Ottawa and fulfilled numerous requests for portraits from local patrons, politicians and, most notably, the prime minister. By 1875 Topley and Notman had parted ways and Topley opened his own studio. Within several years Topley had become the official photographer to Lord Lorne, Canada's fourth Governor General.

Topley's photographic interests varied widely. He created composite images, documented marginalized communities and photographed costume balls. He also photographed his travels across Canada.

Topley spent some of his leisure time boating on the Rideau River, undoubtedly bringing him to Smiths Falls on a number of occasions. The four images presented in this exhibit were taken within a concentrated area of town - at the Beckwith Street bridge and immediately east, along the Rideau River. The photographs do not have dates associated with them, but likely date between 1890 and 1900.

Please note that the four images were downloaded from the Library and Archives (LAC) website. LAC acquired the Topley collection, numbering 150,000 images of primarily glass-plate negatives, in 1936. Currently the four images presented here represent the available digital images of Smiths Falls.