Noah Shakespeare
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Shakespeare, Noah, General Agent, Victoria, British
Columbia, M.P., for Victoria, was born at Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, England,
on the 26th of January 1839. His parents were Noah and Hannah Shakespeare. The
father was a distant relation of William Shakespeare, the bard of Avon. Mr.
Shakespeare received his education in the public schools of his native place. He
left school at an early age, and being of an independent turn of mind, and
anxious to get on in the world, he worked as hard and as long hours, as any lad
in England. Having heard of British Columbia as a field in which a young man
might get on, he determined to try his fortune in that far-off land, and
accordingly left England, and landed in Victoria, on the 10th of January, 1863,
and has since that time been a resident of the province. Arriving like many
another poor lad in Canada, without scarcely a penny in his pocket, he availed
himself of the first job that offered, namely, that of a place in the Vancouver
collieries. Here he faithfully performed the duties assigned to him for some
years, until he saw n opportunity of bettering his condition. He then moved to
Victoria city, and began to climb the path which has since led to distinction.
His first public position was that of councillor, and being a workingman
himself, his efforts during the four years he was in the council, were always
directed in the favour of the workingman. in 1882, he was elected mayor of the
city, by a large majority of the ratepayers, and never, it may be said, had
Victoria a better chief magistrate, and its affairs better managed than under
his administration. This same year he was elected president of the Mechanics'
Institute; and at the general election of 1882, he was sent to Ottawa, to
represent Victoria in the House of Commons; and again re-elected to the same
position at the general election in the spring of 1887. In 1885, Mr. Shakespeare
was elected to the presidency of the British Columbia Agricultural Association;
and in 1886, he was also made president of the British Columbia Mutual Fire
Insurance Company, of which he was the principal organizer in Victoria. He is a
friend of all movements adopted for the good of his race. He was president of
the Anti-Chinese Association of Victoria, in 1879; was elected grandworthy chief
of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars of Washington Territory and British
Columbia, in 1877; again elected to the same position in 1878; and in 1886, he
filled the honourable office of president of the Young Men's Christian
Association of Victoria. In 1884 he introduced and succeeded in getting carried
a resolution in favor of restricting Chinese immigration into the Dominion of
Canada. He is a justice of peace for the Province of British Columbia. In
politics, he is a Liberal-Conservative; and in religion, an adherent of the
Methodist Church. On December 26th, 1869, he was married to Eliza Jane Pearson.
SOURCE: Rose, G.M. A Cyclopaedia of Canadian Biography, 1888.
Emigrated to Victoria 1863 on the "Robert Lowe" NAME: Shakespeare, Noah.
LIFE DATES: 1839 01 26-1921 05 13.
BIRTHPLACE: Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, England, UK.
PLACE OF DEATH: Victoria. WHERE ACTIVE: Victoria.
BUSINESS ADDRESS/YEAR: Langley St., corner of Yates/1865-1866 ; Government St.,
next door to Theatre Photographic Gallery 1866-1875 ; Government St., W. side
near View/1867 ; 1875-1878.
HOME ADDRESS/YEAR: Fort St./1877.
WORK INTERVAL: 1865-1878. STATUS: Commercial.
BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: He arrived in Victoria January 1863 on the Robert Lowe and
began his photographic career, so far as is known, with G.R. Fardon in July
1865. He managed Fardon's studio for a year and then went on to manage Gentile's
gallery. He is believed to have leased this gallery to Uren & Hoyt in May 1874
and to have cancelled the lease in October of that year. In 1867 he was also
employed by George Robinson in the Victoria Theatre Photographic Gallery, the
operation of which he took over in 1875 from S.A. Spencer. He is presumed to
have sold the business to J.B. Uren in June 1878. He was married in 1859 to
Elizabeth Pearson, a native of New York State and a daughter of Thomas Pearson.
Shakespeare is today known outside of photographic circles because of his
philosophy and political career as an anti-Asiatic, Member of Parliament, and as
Victoria's postmaster and mayor. COLLECTIONS: BVIPA. IDENTIFYING MARKS: "N.
Shakespeare, Artist" in ink on front of carte-de-visite (may not be contemporary
with photo). "N. Shakespeare Photographer Government St., Victoria, B.C." on
verso of carte-de-visite. REFERENCES: BVIPA GR-1304, file 182/1921 (probate);
MAL68; MAL69; MAL71; MAL74; HIB77; BVIPA Reference Room VF and Visual Records
Photographer File; Kerr (1890); Mattison (1980 Winter):9-13.
Source:BC Historical Society
http://members.shaw.ca/bchistorian/cw1-s-names.html
1880 Census:
Noah SHAKESPEARE M Male English 40 England Comon Agent Weslyan Methodist
Eliza Jane SHAKESPEARE M Female English 39 New York, <USA> Fancy Store Weslyan
Methodist
Fredh N. E SHAKESPEARE Male English 18 England Printer Weslyan Methodist
Hannah Maria SHAKESPEARE Female English 13 British Columbia Weslyan Methodist
Harry Pearson SHAKESPEARE Male English 11 British Columbia Weslyan Methodist
Willm Brierley SHAKESPEARE Male English 4 British Columbia Weslyan Methodist
Mary KIER Female Scottish 28 O <Ontario> Dressmaker Presbyterian
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Source Information:
Census Place James Bay Ward, Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Family History Library Film 1375921
NA Film Number C-13285
District 190
Sub-district C
Page Number 49
Household Number 302
