Bowden Pioneer Museum in BOWDEN Alberta, Canada

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The "Gerald Robin O'Brien Hoare" Display

Gerald Robin O'Brien ‘Bob' Hoare's Studio and Home has been replicated within our museum to present an authentic exhibit of Camera's, Photographs, and Personal Items.
The Bob Hoare exhibit constitutes one of the Museum's central attractions. The exhibit consists of several hundred black and white photos, several cameras, photographic instruction manuals, and developing equipment, developed within a home/studio environment.
Gerald Robin O'Brien Hoare's life story is almost as interesting as his photos. He was born in Essex, England in 1878 to a large and prosperous family of several older sisters and an older brother. Both he and his older brother Walter, suffered from cleft palates and found the social life in upper class England difficult, so they emigrated to Canada in 1900 at the age of 22 years, arriving in Innisfail, April 17, 1900 buying a farm east of Bowden that same year. Walter passed away in 1904 and Bob opened his Studio on May 24, 1904 living in Bowden for several years, later Bob lived alone on the farm until moving to Innisfail's newly constructed Autumn Glen Lodge in 1964. He passed away a short time later at the University Hospital in Edmonton, at the age of 87.
Mr. Hoare's photos are one of the Museum's truly unique features. Bob, who arrived in Bowden in1900, was one of Alberta's earliest photographers. He did most of his work in the Bowden area and our collection– some of which are among the earliest photo's taken in this province– represent an important and complete picture of Alberta village and farm life at the ‘turn of the century'. Hoare's photos are also on display at the provincial archives in Edmonton and have been displayed at the National Public Archives in Ottawa–this is a testament to his importance as a photographer and our good fortune to have his work on display here.
There are many stories about Bob Hoare's eccentricities. He was a huge fan of gardening and horticulture and would often tell stories about the success of his garden, riding his bicycle (another eccentricity) all over the district to exchange seeds.
Hoare did all his own developing using a glass plate method. All of his photographic equipment and negative collection was left to the Town after his death. The Historical Society was formed to house his photographic collection. Most of the glass negatives are now housed in Edmonton, but we still have the large collection of photos developed from them. The originals stand up very well despite their age and the conditions they were developed under. Bowden is particularly fortunate to have this unique record of its early history, and most Museum visitors are fascinated by Bob Hoare's photos and the stories they tell. Most of Hoare's photos are of the Bowden area, and nearly all are significant in one way or another.