Thomas Bamford

Born in Liverpool, England Bamford studied architecture and design and settled in Victoria in 1882. He worked as a draughtsman with the Lands and Works Department. While he had early training as part of his architecture studies he also had further encouragement from the French artist Rene Quentin who spent a few years in Victoria in the 1880s. Bamford took up art as a hobby and had a studio in his home across the street from Emily Carr's house and did not sell his work during his lifetime but rather gave works away as gifts. In the 1890s he also did magazine illustration and organized the art exhibition that opened the new Parliament Buildings. James Bay scenes including Beacon Hill Park became his favourite subjects. He represents the kind of artist of the Victorian age that favoured, according to Maria Tippett, the tamer subjects around Victoria rather than the rugged landscape of the rest of B.C.