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Born in Minnesota, USA around 1855 to John and Laura Bingham of New Hampshire, Frederick V. Bingham married Mary E. Armington in April 1878. He worked as a photographer in Northfield, Minnesota, either alone or in partnership with Ira E. Sumner, taking stereoview images from the town in the series “Stereographs of Minnesota Scenery”. He also took stereoviews in nearby Cannon Falls, Minnesota and in neighboring states, such as the series “Beauties of Clermont” featuring scenes and buildings in Clermont, Iowa. A 1879-1880 city directory of St. Paul, Minnesota shows Bingham as operating a music store there.
By May 1881, Bingham was in Winnipeg, probably attracted - along with thousands of others - by entrepreneurial opportunities provided by the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the city that year. In the Canadian census conducted in June, he reported himself as “married” but there is no evidence that Mary Armington Bingham moved to Winnipeg with him, as he was living in a boarding house with several other men. Establishing himself as a portrait and landscape photographer, Bingham was well positioned to photograph the rapid expansion of the railway line across the prairies, as well as the growing towns and cities in Manitoba. He took numerous shots of Winnipeg durings its boom years in 1881 and 1882, including the series “Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba.”
His 1882 series “Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity” featuring streets and natural scenes around West Lynne, Manitoba, now a ghost town near the Canada-US border, extolled its virtues:
In 1879, it consisted of merely of the Hudson’s Bay Co’s trading post and a population of only four persons. In August 1881, with a population of 700 ... it showed what two years cultivation of the wonderfully fertile country tributary to it and the enterprise of its business men have accomplished ... The position that West Lynne occupies, as the depot of supplies for a vast agricultural country, together with the energy and harmony with which its business men work for its advance, will make it at no distant day one of the leading cities of the Province. [1]
Bingham’s relationship with the Canadian Pacific Railway remains unclear. Although many of his photographs state that he was an “Official Photographer to the CPR”, there are no records in the company’s archives that they employed Bingham formally, nor was there a formal endorsement of his work implied by his “official” status. [2] However, the railway did purchase copies of his photos on several occasions, often with many duplicates of the same image, for use in promoting its facilities in general, and western travel in particular. In late 1882, Bingham was sent west by Walter Reginald Baker, Assistant General Manager of the CPR at Winnipeg, to take photographs of the line and scenic views but he returned without much success, claiming to have been hindered by “smoke and other obstacles.” [3] A second attempt later in the year was likewise unsuccessful, according to Baker. However, Bingham was apparently more satisfied with his results, and in May 1883, he asked William Van Horne to provide him with free transportation into the western mountains for himself and two assistants, letters that he could provide to CPR employees along the way to solicit their help where needed, and supplies from railway stations in the mountains. [4] Van Horne granted the request but refused access to supplies that he said belonged to railway contractors. But he agreed to intercede on Bingham’s behalf to obtain supplies from the contractors at cost.
In March 1883, a bound album of Bingham's photographs taken around Winnipeg was presented by architects Charles Arnold Barber and Earle William Barber to Montreal banker John H. R. Molson. The album is held by the Canadian Centre for Architecture at Montreal.
Bingham formed a brief partnership with another itinerant photographer, Alexander Barton Thom, around May 1883 and they travelled along the CPR line, advertising a catalogue of images taken from “Port Arthur to the Rockies.” In April 1884, the partners were taking photos of the docks, grain elevators, and buildings at the town of Port Arthur [now Thunder Bay], as well as along the scenic north shore of Lake Superior using a steam yacht. [5] But the partnership had dissolved by 1886, and the two partners went their separate ways. Bingham continued to travel, often taking photos for sale to the railway. He clearly felt that his services, whether compensated directly or not, were beneficial to the company, as he argued in an 1886 letter to Van Horne, requesting a railway pass and help in promoting an exhibition of his images:
In the course of the time I have been on this line I have published over 10,000 views which have been and are now wherever they may be an advertisement for the country and the C.P.R. Your Co. has been very kind to me in the matter of passes and I do not wish to get any for nothing, still I really consider that this exhibition will be of great benefit to the road and feel that it is only fair that the Co. would give me a little “boost” in starting it. [6]
Through early 1886, Bingham appeared to have made northwestern Ontario his home base, travelling from Port Arthur to take photographs along the CPR line at such stops as Chapleau, Schreiber, and White River. He proposed a trip to Vancouver in mid-1886 but his request to Van Horne for a railway pass was refused:
As regards your response to take a series of pictures along the line to Vancouver and request a pass for yourself and assistant. I should be glad to oblige you but we have been so overrun with similar applications that we have found it necessary to decline without discrimination every one of them; I could not therefore consistently make an exception in your particular case. [7]
The railway was likewise unsympathetic to Bingham’s request in September 1886 for the use of a caboose as a portable photographic studio. [8] Undaunted, Bingham later surfaced in Calgary [9] where he entertained the locals with a selection of his photographs taken around the city, and at nearby Banff:
Mr. F. V. Bingham’s entertainment at the Boynton Hall to-night promises to be a considerable treat. The excellence of his photographic views is well known, and when these are projected on a canvas 20 feet square they will give a wonderful idea of the scenery along the great national highways. Mr. Bingham has secured some excellent views of Calgary, which will be shown at to-night’s entertainment. We recommend all hands to take the show in. [10]
The next day, Bingham left on a west-bound train, expecting to take around 150 photographs along the line between Calgary and the west coast over a three-week period. By this time, he was working with the Vancouver photographic studio of C. S. Bailey [11]. By 1890, however, Bingham was back in the USA, being a landscape photographer in Superior, Wisconsin [12] then, three years later, at a studio in Omaha, Nebraska [13].
By 1895, the 40-year-old Bingham was in San Francisco, California, where he married 31-year-old Alice M. Garcelon [14]. In 1898, he was the general manager of the West Coast Photo Manufacturing Company, based at 271 South Main Street in Los Angeles, supplying photographic paper to photographers. [15] He spent the remainder of his life in California, living at Pomona City in 1910, and Los Angeles in 1920. He died there on 9 September 1929 at the age of 74 years.
Bingham was itinerant for the majority of his time in Manitoba, apparently having a storefront studio only in 1881. One of his photographs taken circa 1886 gave his address as “Room 3, Catherine Block, corner King and Alexander Streets” - a boarding house in Winnipeg.
Year(s)
Address
1881
360½ Main Street, Winnipeg
c1886
Room 3, Catherine Block, corner King and Alexander Streets, Winnipeg
The following catalogue of photographs taken by F. V. Bingham, while in Manitoba between 1881 and 1886, is incomplete but gives some indication of the scope of his work:
Photo No.
Format
Photo Caption
1
Stereoview
City from Hudson’s Bay Co.’s Mill [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
2
Stereoview
City from Stauffer’s Mill [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
3
Stereoview
City from Residence of W. N. Fairbanks [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
4
Stereoview
City from Residence of W. N. Fairbanks [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
5
Stereoview
City from Residence of W. N. Fairbanks [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
6
Stereoview
Dominion St. - Reception of Marquis of Lorne [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
7
Stereoview
North Side of Dominion St. [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
8
Stereoview
Dominion St., from West Side of the River [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
9
Stereoview
South Side of Dominion St. [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
10
Stereoview
East Side Main St. [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
11
Stereoview
West Side Main St. [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
12
Stereoview
Free Traffic Bridge, Reception Marquis of Lorne [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
13
Stereoview
Free Traffic Bridge, from up River [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
14
Stereoview
Free Traffic Bridge, Str. Cheyenne, making the Draw [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
15
Stereoview
Baptist Church [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
16
Stereoview
Church of England [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
17
Stereoview
Canada Methodist Tabernacle [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
18
Stereoview
Presbyterian Church [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
19
Stereoview
Roman Catholic Church [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
20
Stereoview
Methodist Episcopal Church [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
21
Stereoview
Emerson Fire Apparatus [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
22
Stereoview
McKay Block [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
23
Stereoview
Str. Cheyenne at Levee [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
24
Stereoview
Rafting Crew on Red River [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
25
Stereoview
Picnic Grounds on Rev. John Scott’s Place [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
26
Stereoview
School House [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
27
Stereoview
Dominion Street in 1876 [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
28
Stereoview
Main Street in 1876 [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
29
Stereoview
49th Parallel - Boundary between U.S. and Canada [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
30
Stereoview
Lake Louise [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
31
Stereoview
River and Bridge from Residence of Capt. Nash [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
32
Stereoview
Emerson Depot and C.P.R. Train [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
33
Stereoview
Interior of Rinskopf & Carney’s Opera House [Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
34
Stereoview
City from East Side of River [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
35
Stereoview
City from the North [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
36
Stereoview
Brydges Avenue, Looking East [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
37
Stereoview
North Side Brydges Avenue [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
38
Stereoview
South Side Brydges Avenue [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
39
Stereoview
Hudson’s Bay Co’s Mill [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
40
Stereoview
School House [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
41
Stereoview
Looking East From Mill [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
42
Stereoview
Coulee Bridge [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
43
Stereoview
Picnic Grounds on Rev. John Scott’s Place [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
44
Stereoview
Lake Louise [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
45
Stereoview
City in 1879 [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
46
Stereoview
49th Parallel - Boundary Between U.S. and Canada [Stereoscopic Views of West Lynne and Vicinity]
47
Stereoview
Looking West from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
48
Stereoview
Looking South-West from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
49
Stereoview
Looking South from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
50
Stereoview
Looking South-East from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
51
Stereoview
Looking East from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
52
Stereoview
West Lynne from Carney’s Hotel [Stereoscopic Views of Emerson and Vicinity]
89
Stereoview
St. Boniface College [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Cathedrale de St. Boniface [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
93
Stereoview
St. Mary’s Church [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
94
Stereoview
St. Mary’s Academy [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
96
Stereoview
Wesley Hall [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
97
Stereoview
Hudson’s Bay Co., Main Street [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
98
Stereoview
Bank of Montreal [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
100
Stereoview
Potter, House. Carter Smith & Co. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
104
Stereoview
Regina, N.W.T. from east
105?
Stereoview
Donaldson Block [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
108
Stereoview
Louise Bridge [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Manitoba College [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
111
Stereoview
Bank of Ontario [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
112
Stereoview
Bishop’s Court [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
121
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
123
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
Stereoview
Part of Main St. [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
132
Stereoview
Assiniboine Bridge [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
137
Stereoview
Part of City from Ogilvie Mill [Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg]
185
Stereoview
On Echo Lake, Qu’Appelle Lake
197
Stereoview
Glen at St. John’s College - Winter
198
Stereoview
St. John’s College - Winter
204
Cabinet
Main St. Winnipeg From City Hall, North
The Barber and Barber album of Bingham photographs (1883), along with several drawings, in Winnipeg contains the following:
Photo No.
Photo Caption
1
Wright's Block [drawing]
2
St. John's College [drawing]
3
Manitoba College [drawing]
4
5
St. John's Ladies' School
6
Bird Estate Block [drawing]
7
Bathgate Block [drawing]
8
9
Dundee Block, 398 Main Street [drawing]
10
Gerrie and Company Block
11
Robertson's Block
12
Hargrave Block [drawing]
13
Barber Block [drawing]
14
Winks' Terrace
15
O'Brien's Terrace
16
Arnett's Terrace
17
Hutchinson's Terrace
18
McKenzie Villa
19
Pile of Bones Villa
20
Bank wickets
Stereographs of Minnesota Scenery [Northfield, MN]
No.
Caption
146
Mouth of Heath Creek
147
Bridge and Mills looking up river
148
Looking north from College
149
Bridge and Mills looking down river
150
Town from the residence of Jas. Kennedy
151
Public School House
152
Bridge and Mills from up river
153
City from College
154
R. R. Bridge, Heath Creek
155
City from residence of J. T. Ames
156
City from College
157
City from College
158
Carleton College
159
Bridge and Square
160
East side, Division Street
161
West side, Division Street
162
Castle Rock
163
West side City from College
163
Dundas from Bluff east of Town
164
Mills and Dam - Dundas
165
Dundas from Bluff, east of Town
166
Dundas Mills
167
Episcopal Church, Dundas
168
Archibald Monument, Dundas
169
Episcopal Church, interior, Dundas
170
Bridge and Mills, Dundas
171
Grotto below Falls. Big Falls on the river cannon, Dundas
172
Bluffs, east side of the river cannon, Dundas
173
Path to the Falls on the river cannon, Dundas
174
Bluff at Falls, east side
175
Path to Falls
176
Path to Falls
177
West end of Falls
178
Falls from West
179
Bluff below Falls, east side
180
At the Falls
Beauties of Clermont, Iowa
No.
Caption
100
102
Milldam and bridge from ford
103
Calvins Garden
104
Gorge near Clermont
105
Gorge near Clermont
107
Gorge near Clermont
108
Gorge near Clermont
109
Residence of Wm. Larrabee
110
Mouth of Creek below town
111
On the creek near R. R. bridge and cut
112
On the creek above R. R. bridge
113
M. E. Church, Clermont
Stereographs of Waseca & Vicinity [Waseca, MN]
No.
Caption
248
W. & St. P. Round House
Stereographs of Owatonna & Vicinity [Owatonna, MN]
No.
Caption
216
City from School House Tower
217
City from School House Tower
218
City from School House Tower
223
Public Park
224
City from M. & St. P. Elevator
225
City from South
227
Public School Building
229
Baptist Church
231
Centre Block
232
South Side Bridge St.
233
East Side Cedar St.
234
Court House
Stereoview:
“Beauties of Clermont. [Iowa, late 1870s]
100. Clermont from residence of Wm. Larrabee” (front)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2006-0008
Stereoview:
“Beauties of Clermont. [Iowa, late 1870s]
100. Clermont from residence of Wm. Larrabee” (back)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2006-0008Stereoview:
Tellers at the Merchants Bank of Emerson, 8 June 1882 (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Emerson - Buildings - Merchants Bank - 2.
Stereoview:
Tellers at the Merchants Bank of Emerson, 8 June 1882 (back)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Emerson - Buildings - Merchants Bank - 2.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
90. Cathedrale de St. Boniface” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, St. Boniface - Cathedral (1863) - 13.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
120. Part of Main St.” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Streets - Main 1882 - 6-1.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
119. Part of Main St.” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Streets - Main 1882 - 4.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
130. Part of Main St.” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Streets - Main 1882 - 3.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
118. Part of Main St.” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Winnipeg - Streets - Main 1882 - 2.Stereoview:
“Stereoscopic Views of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [1882]
110. Manitoba College” (front)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba College 5-1.
Stereoview
“Stereoscopic Views along the Canadian Pacific Railway
449. Source of Kicking Horse River” (front) by Bingham & Thom
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2005-0086.
1. Archives of Manitoba, Bingham stereoview of Merchants Bank, Emerson - Buildings - Merchants Bank - 2.
2. Only a few letters were exchanged between F. V. Bingham and William C. Van Horne and other officials of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Bingham’s letters mostly dealt with sale of photographs to the railway or requests for free passes on their line. None suggested that any formal relationship existed between Bingham and the railway, contrary to the impression given by the phrase “Official Photographer to the CPR” that appears on many of Bingham’s photographs from this period. I thank Bob Kennell and Jo-Anne Colby of the Canadian Pacific Railway Archives in Montreal for providing access to their files, and their interest in the project.
3. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, RG1A, File 97, letter dated 13 February 1883 from W. R. Baker to W. C. Van Horne.
4. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, RG1A, File 97, letter dated 25 May 1883 from F. V. Bingham at Winnipeg to W. C. Van Horne.
5. Manitoba Daily Free Press, 16 April 1884, page 4.
6. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, RG1A, File 11827, letter dated 9 February 1886 from F. V. Bingham at Port Arthur to W. C. Van Horne.
7. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, RG1A, File 12833, letter dated 30 April 1886 from W. C. Van Horne to F. V. Bingham at Schreiber, Ontario.
8. Canadian Pacific Railway Archives, RG1A, Van Horne letters, volume 17, letter dated 6 September 1886 from W. C. Van Horne to F. V. Bingham at Rat Portage [now Kenora], Ontario.
9. Calgary Weekly Herald, 30 October 1886.
10. Calgary Weekly Herald, 1 November 1886.
11. David Mattison, Camera Workers: The British Columbia, Alaska & Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950. http://members.shaw.ca/bchistorian/cw1858-1950.html.
12. Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin Photographers 1890-1892. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~amerikin/wi/suph1890.html.
13. Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers: A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West, Carl Mautz Publishing.
14. San Francisco Call Vital Records for 1869-1895, http://feefhs.org/fdb2/6995/6995-48.html.
15. Advertisement for West Coast Photo Manufacturing Company, The Land of Sunshine: The Magazine of California and the West, December 1898. [Internet Archive, www.archive.org/download/outwestland10archrich/outwestland10archrich.pdf]
We thank Ron Lerner and Keith Brady for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 March 2024
Manitoba Photographers: 1858 to Present
A list of professional photographers who have worked in Manitoba, from 1858 to the present, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.
© 2006-2023
Gordon Goldsborough & Manitoba Historical Society. All rights reserved.
