Sketches of Ottawa, the Rideau Canal, Upper Canada and St Helena

Reproductions of original artwork by Frome

Edward Charles Frome was born on 7 January 1802 in Gibraltar, where his father, the Rev. J.T. Frome, was a military chaplain. After being educated at Bexley and Blackheath, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1817. In 1827 as a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, Frome was posted to Canada and spent nearly six years on the staff of Colonel John By, who was engaged in the construction of the Rideau Canal connecting the Ottawa River with Lake Ontario. The settlement founded by By to support the canal's construction, known as Bytown, was incorporated in 1850, but became the city of Ottawa in 1855, and the capital of Canada in 1857.

During a distinguished career, Frome later served as Surveyor-General of South Australia and of Mauritius; Commanding Royal Engineer in Scotland, Ireland and Gibraltar; Inspector-General of Fortifications; and Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey. Frome's hobby was drawing and painting, and from the time of his earliest travels he recorded the places he visited by pen and pencil sketches and water colours, some of them mere impressions of a scene, but for the most part meticulously detailed records recalling the accurate eye and thorough professional skill of the engineer and surveyor.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

The original drawings were presented by General Frome's daughter, Mrs Frank Wynne, in 1929, and by Sir Harry Wilson in 1930.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

good condition

For more details of Frome's career see 'Library Notes', no. 2, Apr. 1957, pp.1-2.

The item level description was entered by MJC.

DateText: the dates are approximate..

Frome, Edward Charles, 1802-1890, General