Camera Workers, 1858-1950

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

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Gould, William John[1, 2]

Male 1854 - 1926  (72 years)


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  • Name Gould, William John 
    Birth 24 Jan 1854  Toronto, ON Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Business Address/Year 1899-1900+  Golden, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Golden, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 188-?-189?-  Owen Sound, ON Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Address:
    Owen Sound, ON
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1892  Wolseley, SK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Wolseley, SK
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1894  Revelstoke, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Visited in Mar and Aug 
    Address:
    Revelstoke, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1894-1895  Medicine Hat, AB Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Medicine Hat, AB
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1895  Gleichen, AB Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Gleichen, AB
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year Nov 1895  BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    location undetermined 
    Address:
    BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1895-1896  Regina, SK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Regina, SK
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1893-1895, 1897  Moose Jaw, SK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Moose Jaw, SK
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1897  Vernon, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Vernon, BC
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year Apr 1897  Revelstoke, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Business Address/Year 1892, 1898  Qu'Appelle, SK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Qu'Appelle, SK
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1892, 1898  Indian Head, SK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Address:
    Indian Head, SK
    Canada 
    Business Address/Year 1899  Revelstoke, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death 13 Dec 1926  Victoria, BC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I226  Camera Workers | G, vol. 1, 1858-1900
    Last Modified 14 Jun 2023 

  • Photos
    Card mount imprint: 'W.J. Gould, Owen Sound'    		Card mount imprint: "W.J. Gould, Owen Sound"
    Owen Sound, Ontario, was possibly where W.J. Gould first practiced as a commercial photographer

    Documents
    W.J. Gould news, <i>Revelstoke Herald</i>, 28 Apr 1897, p. 4.    		W.J. Gould news, Revelstoke Herald, 28 Apr 1897, p. 4.
    This item announces his arrival and notes his use of a tent.
    W.J. Gould news, <i>Revelstoke Herald</i>, 28 Apr 1897, p. 4.    		W.J. Gould news, Revelstoke Herald, 28 Apr 1897, p. 4.
    Like other photographers, he passed along samples of his work to newspaper offices, hoping for some free publicity.
    W.J. Gould news, <i>Revelstoke Herald</i>, 12 Jul 1899, p. 4.    		W.J. Gould news, Revelstoke Herald, 12 Jul 1899, p. 4.
    In this brief item, he is reported to be leaving for the east.
    W.J. Gould ad, <i>Revelstoke Herald</i>, 27 May 1899, p. 3.    		W.J. Gould ad, Revelstoke Herald, 27 May 1899, p. 3.
    W.J. Gould ad, Revelstoke <i>Kootenay Star</i>, 17 Mar 1894, p. 1.    		W.J. Gould ad, Revelstoke Kootenay Star, 17 Mar 1894, p. 1.
    A news item on the same page also noted his presence in town.
    S.A. Smythe ad, <i>Vernon News</i>, 2 Dec 1897, p. 5.    		S.A. Smythe ad, Vernon News, 2 Dec 1897, p. 5.
    Smythe took over W.J. Gould's Vernon location.

  • Notes 
    • STATUS: Commercial (itinerant).
    • BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: The eldest child of William John Gould (1830, London, England-1896, Toronto, ON), W.J. Gould the son married on 25 May 1876 in Owen Sound, ON, Sarah Ann McGregor (1852, Owen Sound, ON-1892 or 1894). The couple had three children, two of whom were born in Owen Sound, and the last in Rochester, New York, in 1882.

      Gould operated as an itinerant photographer, possibly following his wife's death, out of several different Prairie locations between 1892 and 1899 by which time he had remarried and moved to Golden, BC.

      Operating out of a tent in Moose Jaw, SK, in June-Jul 1893, Gould's ad (Moose Jaw Times, 16 Jun 1893) claimed "twenty-seven years experience in the best studios in Canada and United States." If this statement is true, it means he likely apprenticed as a photographic assistant at age 12 (1866).

      Gould visited Revelstoke in Aug 1894 where he worked out of a tent near the bakery. Moving his headquarters to Regina in 1895, he worked out of Vernon as an itinerant in 1897 and visited Revelstoke that year, and again in 1899. Gould married Mary Etta Rennie (1874-1941, Prince Albert, SK) on 10 Aug 1898 in Indian Head, SK, and they had six children in Golden.

      According to a biographical account by a granddaughter, Gould operated out of a two-story building later known as Marr's Drugstore.
    • REFERENCES: WIL97; Kootenay Mail, 1894 08 04/3; VL1903, 1907, 1911/Golden; Duns BC (1912); BVIPA Vital Events death registration no. 1926-09-362765, microfilm reel B13128; Dempsey (1978); Maurice, (1996-); Shirley Giske (W.J. Gould's granddaughter) to Mattison, 1999.11.29 (name, life dates, biographical information).

  • Sources 
    1. [S669] (Revelstoke) Kootenay Star, 17 Mar 1894, 1.
      News item and an ad

    2. [S397] Glen C. Phillips, Phillips (1997), (London, Ont.: Iron Gate Publishing, 1997; 2nd printing, 2002), 127.
      Regina, SK, 1895-1899

    3. [S657] Facebook.com, 14 Mar 2015 (Reliability: 3).
      "W.J. Gould, Owen Sound."
      Photo from John S. Rochon's post with a digital reproduction of a portrait with a card imprint.
      URL: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204733346108339&set=gm.405518639622329&type=1&theater