Alexander Henderson

Henderson, Alexander (Photographer)

Alexander Henderson, photographer (b at Edinburgh, Scot 1831; d at Montréal Mar 1913). Soon after his 1855 marriage, Henderson immigrated to Canada with his wife and settled in Montréal, where he worked in accounting for several years. Taking up photography as a hobby, he made it his profession in 1866. He first did portraits, but attained an international reputation with his landscape photography, receiving medals in London, Dublin, Paris and New York. He documented the principal cities and resort areas of Québec and Ontario, and of many Québec villages. Especially fond of the wilderness, he made many photographic trips by canoe to the Blanche, the Rouge and other eastern rivers. In 1872 he began a series on the construction of the Intercolonial Railway. He made his first trip to the West for the CPR in 1885 and was eventually hired by the CPR in 1892 to set up a new photographic department, his duties including 4 months spent in the field each year. He retired in 1897.