{"id":33517,"date":"2026-02-17T01:03:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T05:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/?p=33517"},"modified":"2026-02-16T01:10:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:10:28","slug":"pottering-about-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/pottering-about-again\/","title":{"rendered":"pottering about … again"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Typical glass slides sold by Chas Potter – Robert Wilson collection<\/p><\/div>\n

Toronto<\/strong>. In issue 26-5 we learnt about the ‘Potter Lantern’ in Bill Belier’s column. In the same issue, the late Dr Wilson expanded on Charles Potter and his Toronto establishment in his article, “Charles Potter: Toronto Optician and Mathematical Instrument Maker”.<\/p>\n

Bob begins his article with this pr\u00e9cis: “For nearly 120 years, the firm of Charles Potter, Optician, provided optical and mathematical instruments for the citizens of Toronto, including such things as stereoscopes, camera lenses, lantern projectors and lantern slides among many other optical devices.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Bob then continues with his article proper, “Charles Potter was first listed in Toronto as a\u00a0partner in the firm of Hearn and Potter<\/i>. This company originated in 1853 when the partners bought\u00a0the watchmaking and jewellery business from\u00a0George Savage (who had been in Toronto since\u00a0before 1837).<\/p>\n

“Hearn and Potter <\/i>soon added optical\u00a0devices and mathematical instruments to the products offered, as well as continuing in the watch and\u00a0jewellery business. Among the many optical instruments that they sold were ‘Lenzes’ and\u00a0Stereoscopes.<\/p>\n

“The other partner in Hearn and\u00a0<\/i>Potter <\/i>was William Hearn. The firm of Hearn and\u00a0<\/i>Potter <\/i>lasted for four years, and was finally dissolved on 28 August 1857. William Hearn continued the business of this partnership. By June 1859,\u00a0William Hearn had been replaced by Charles\u00a0Hearn, likely his son, and by June 1861, Charles\u00a0Hearn had moved to Montreal.<\/p>\n

“The story of the\u00a0optical firms that evolved in Montreal from this\u00a0company was told in Photographic Canadiana<\/i>, Vol\u00a025, No 1, May\/June 1999, pages 18 and 19.<\/p>\n

“Charles Potter was born in\u00a0London, England about 1831 of\u00a0Charles and Mary Potter. He\u00a0served a regular apprenticeship in\u00a0England before coming to Canada.<\/p>\n

“After the breakup of Hearn and\u00a0<\/i>Potter<\/i>, Charles Potter was not listed in the Toronto directories for\u00a0several years. During this time he\u00a0met Elizabeth Carruthers of Pether\u00a0Hill, near Weston, and married her\u00a0on 10 May 1860. They settled in\u00a0Toronto in a three-storey brick\u00a0house at 115 Adelaide Street West.” …<\/p>\n

Members were able to read all of the article and enjoy the photos in the pdf file for issue 26-5 on the free members-only DVD\/thumb drive. See ‘membership’ at top and at right to join. Address any questions to member@phsc.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toronto. In issue 26-5 we learnt about the ‘Potter Lantern’ in Bill Belier’s column. In the same issue, the late Dr Wilson expanded on Charles Potter and his Toronto establishment in his article, “Charles Potter: Toronto Optician and Mathematical Instrument … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1944],"tags":[3236,1731,1041,1946],"class_list":["post-33517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","tag-lanterns","tag-optical","tag-projectors","tag-scientific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33517"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33521,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33517\/revisions\/33521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phsc.ca\/camera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}