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Spencer Slide Collection

Energetic Eight Year Old

Percival Lawton Spencer arrived in Canada from Portsmouth, England, as an energetic eight-year-old on the 25th of September 1853 with his mother and brother. They had embarked on the ship "Prince Albert" bound for New York five weeks before. The voyage proved to be almost continuously rough. In the mid-Atlantic ocean, an outbreak of the dreaded disease cholera took forty-seven lives of the crew and passengers.✞

Stage Coach Journeys

Once landed in New York, the little family traveled by train through Rome and Albany in New York State to Rochester and then overland by stagecoach to Owen Sound in Ontario. As the years went by, Canon Spencer traveled across Canada and around the world and faithfully recorded his journeys on glass magic lantern slides. Later, he gave lectures using the same slide collection on such themes as "Ship and Shanty in the Early 50's," "Olden Days," and "Around the World in an Hour and a Half." The Spencer Collection of over 2,300 glass slides serve as an exceptional memorial to his abilities as an amateur photographer and his dedication to making a historical record of his journeys. It is an honor to present this collection for your interest and pleasure. Enjoy!✞

"Spencer Slide Collection"
by Ron Meacock © 2021

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