Camera Workers, 1858-1950

The British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950

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Forsythe, William Steen or Stene[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Male 1868 - 1922  (~ 54 years)


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  • Name Forsythe, William Steen or Stene 
    • VARIANT NAME: VARIANT: Forsyth, W.S.
    Born Apr 1868  BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 9] 
    Gender Male 
    Business Address/Year Sep 1900-Apr? 1902  Chilliwack, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Address:
    next to IOOF Hall
    Chilliwack, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year May 1902-1910  Chilliwack, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [11] 
    Address:
    Wellington Ave.
    near Main St.
    Chilliwack, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1910-1915  Chilliwack, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Yale Rd. East or Westminster St.
    near Nowell St.
    Chilliwack, BC
    Canada 
    Home Address/Year 1910-1915  Chilliwack, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Yale Rd. East
    near Nowell St.
    Chilliwack, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1918-1922  Mission, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Home Address/Year Apr 1915-  Port Essington, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [12] 
    Died 12 Nov 1922  Mission, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [13] 
    Buried 13 Nov 1922  Hatzic Cemetery, Mission, BC Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 14] 
    Association Tucker, E. Franklin (Relationship: Successor) 
    Person ID I1299  Camera Workers | F, vol. 2, 1901-1950
    Last Modified 2 Dec 2021 

  • Documents
    W.S. Forsythe and L.F. Croft news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 6 Nov 1912, p. 5    		W.S. Forsythe and L.F. Croft news item, Chilliwack Progress, 6 Nov 1912, p. 5
    About Forsythe taking over Croft's Mee Studio and Croft moving to Vancouver to work for Richard Broadbridge.
    W.S. Forsythe and Elbert Mee news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 25 Jan 1911, p. 5.    		W.S. Forsythe and Elbert Mee news item, Chilliwack Progress, 25 Jan 1911, p. 5.
    E.F. Tucker news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 18 Mar 1915, p. 4.    		E.F. Tucker news item, Chilliwack Progress, 18 Mar 1915, p. 4.
    In 1915 Tucker leased W.S. Forsythe's Chilliwack photo studio
    W.S. Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 31 Jul 1901, p. 1.    		W.S. Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 31 Jul 1901, p. 1.
    About his use of platinum paper for photo prints.
    W.S. Forsythe's Christmas ad, </i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 6 Dec 1905, p. 1.    		W.S. Forsythe's Christmas ad, Chilliwack Progress, 6 Dec 1905, p. 1.
    W.S. Forsythe ad, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 2 Oct 1907, p. 3.    		W.S. Forsythe ad, Chilliwack Progress, 2 Oct 1907, p. 3.
    First version of this ad.
    W.S. Forsythe's ad, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 9 Oct 1907, p. 3.    		W.S. Forsythe's ad, Chilliwack Progress, 9 Oct 1907, p. 3.
    This is the second version of an ad which first appeared on 2 Oct 1907; in this version he reminds potential customers that he is still taking photo portraits.
    W.S. Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 23 Dec 1908, p. 8.    		W.S. Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 23 Dec 1908, p. 8.
    About his studio and store, part of a series of Christmas news advertisements presented by the newspaper.
    W.S.Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 22 Dec 1909, p. 3.    		W.S.Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 22 Dec 1909, p. 3.
    About Christmas at his studio and store.
    W.S. Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 11 May 1910, p. 8.    		W.S. Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 11 May 1910, p. 8.
    About his old studio being demolished and the construction of a new studio next to the Baptist Church on Westminster Street.
    W.S. Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 14 Sep 1910, p. 10.    		W.S. Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 14 Sep 1910, p. 10.
    About the reopening of his new studio on Westminster Street next to the Baptist Church.
    E.A. Mee news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 8 Feb 1911, p. 4.    		E.A. Mee news item, Chilliwack Progress, 8 Feb 1911, p. 4.
    About Mee assuming management of W.S. Forsythe's studio.
    W.S. Forsythe news item, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 18 Nov 1915, p. 5.    		W.S. Forsythe news item, Chilliwack Progress, 18 Nov 1915, p. 5.
    About his relocating to Mission.
    W.W. Forsythe's obituary, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 16 Nov 1922, p. 4.    		W.W. Forsythe's obituary, Chilliwack Progress, 16 Nov 1922, p. 4.
    W.S. Forsythe's funeral article, <i>Chilliwack Progress</i>, 23 Nov 1922, p. 7.    		W.S. Forsythe's funeral article, Chilliwack Progress, 23 Nov 1922, p. 7.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Amateur (1892?-1900); Commercial (1900-1915; 1918-1922).
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: He opened his first studio in Chilliwack in 1900. He built a new studio in Apr 1902 next to Mrs. McKenzie's restaurant. He travelled to Mount Baker to photograph mining activity in Aug 1902; he displayed some of these photographs the following month.
      He championed incorporation of Chilliwack in a letter to the Chilliwack Progress editor in Jan 1903. In Aug 1903 it was reported he accompanied a group led by trapper James Patterson to a waterfall, likely Bridal Veil Falls, in east Chilliwack; he took at least one photograph of the waterfall.
      In Jul 1906 he helped save the IOOF Hall and possibly his own studio next door from burning down.
      He constructed a new studio on Westminster Street next to the Baptist Church in Chilliwack in 1910. During the time of its construction he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified illness at the "Burrard Sanitarium" in Vancouver, likely for much of May and Jun 1910. In Aug 1910 he attended the Photographers' Association of the Pacific Northwest conference in Vancouver.
      The Chilliwack Progress published several of his poems in the 1910s.
      In the 1911 Canada census he was living with his mother Susan Forsythe. Elbert Mee, formerly of the Elite Studio in Vancouver, leased Forsythe's studio in Jan 1911 and took possession on 5 Feb 1911. In late Oct or early Nov 1912, Forsythe took over the former Mee Studio from L.F. Croft and renamed it the Pioneer Studio.
      Forsythe was a member of the Chilliwack Boating Club and owned a launch named "The Swallow."
      On 1 Apr 1915, E.F. Tucker assumed the lease on Forsythe's Chilliwack photograph studio following which Forsythe left for his new home at Port Essington. Eventually he moved to Mission where he continued in commercial photography until his death in 1922.
      Following his death his will was contested due to a bequest being made to the Rationalist Association of North America in Chicago, IL. His bequest was upheld. [9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27]

  • Sources 
    1. [S339] Voters List, (Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia, 1874-), Ref. NW 324.1 B862., 1903, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1913.
      Chilliwack

    2. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 1, 12 Sep 1900.
      Opens studio next to I.O.O.F. Block; intends to build a studio in the near future.

    3. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 11 May 1910.

    4. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 4, 18 Mar 1915.
      E.F. Tucker assumes studio lease

    5. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 8, 22 Apr 1915.
      Left last week for Port Essington where he intends to live

    6. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 7, 23 Nov 1922.
      "Unique Funeral of Wm. Forsythe"
      Obituary

    7. [S692] Correspondence, David Mattison, 6 Sep 1991.
      Chilliwack Museum and Archives to Mattison

    8. [S56] COLLECTION: BCHM.

    9. [S667] FamilySearch.org (Web site), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
      "Recensement du Canada de 1911," URL (accessed 4 Feb 2020): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV95-MS28

    10. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 1, 5 Dec 1900.
      "W.S. Forsythe studio is reopened...."

    11. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 7 May 1902.
      He has moved into his new studio.

    12. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 8, 22 Apr 1915.

    13. [S652] BVIPA death registration index.
      Registration no. 1922-09-299417 (microfilm B13120)

    14. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 4, 16 Nov 1922.
      "Died at Mission"
      Obituary

    15. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 2 Apr 1902.

    16. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 20 Aug 1902.

    17. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 3 Sep 1902.

    18. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 1, 14 Jan 1903.
      "Incorporation of the Town"

    19. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 4, 26 Aug 1903.

    20. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 1, 25 Jul 1906.
      "Serious Fire Narrowly Averted"

    21. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 8, 11 May 1910.

    22. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 29 Jun 1910.

    23. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 4, 3 Aug 1910.

    24. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 25 Jan 1911.

    25. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 3, 14 Jun 1911.
      "Opening Day of the Chilliwack Boating Club"

    26. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 5, 6 Nov 1912.
      "Local."

    27. [S693] Chilliwack Progress, 8, 28 Jun 1923.
      "Forsyth Will Held Valid"