Robinson served as purser on the Mackenzie River
Norman Robinson
Norman Robinson in uniform during World War I
Norman Robinson in uniform during World War I
Born(1890-07-18)July 18, 1890
County Wicklow, Ireland
Died1951 (aged 60–61)
Calgary
Other namesNorman Lubbock Robinson
Occupation(s)police officer, soldier, photographer, game warden, civil servant
Known fortook historic photos of Canada's north

Norman Lubbock Robinson (1890-1951) was a photographer, born in Ireland, known for taking historic photographs of Canada's north.[1] The Northwest Territories Archives contains 709 historic photographs he took.

Biography

Robinson served in the North-West Mounted Police (precursor to the RCMP) when he first moved to Canada.[1] During World War I he served with the 19th Alberta Dragoons, and then with the British Army, Royal Field Artillery.[2] Robinson was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, and, according to the London Gazette, he was mentioned in dispatches, twice.[3]

After he returned to Canada, following the war he served as an Inspector with the Soldiers Settlement Board.[1] In the early 1920s he travelled to the North-West Territories, spending five years working as a trapper, a guide, and later as purser on the steamship Mackenzie River. It was during this five-year period he took the bulk of his historic photos.

In 1925 he tried to rejoin the RCMP, but was turned down because he no longer measured up to the eyesight requirements.[1] He then operated a lumber business, in Kamloops, until the early 1930s. He married in 1928. Following his work in the timber industry he then became a game warden, a position he held until 1938, when he and his wife spent two years in Ireland.

When he died in 1951 he was working for the Unemployment Insurance Commission as an employment claims officer.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Norman Robinson fonds". Northwest Territories Archives. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  2. ↑ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 26 September, 1917" (PDF). London Gazette. 1917-09-26. p. 9979. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  3. ↑ "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 9 JANUARY, 1918" (PDF). London Gazette. 1918-01-09. p. 640. Retrieved 2020-12-20. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in charge of a cable-laying party. He displayed the greatest courage and determination in carrying out the task allotted to him in face of great difficulties and under heavy shell fire, personally laying the cable, and pushing on through heavy barrage when the situation was obscure in order to gain information which could not be obtained in any other way. His energy and disregard of danger cannot be too highly praised.
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