The Bulmer Family at the McCord Museum

The Notman photography collection at the McCord Museum of Montreal contains not only masses of Rutherford portraits, but also some portraits of the Bulmer family.  Specifically, they seem to belong to the family of Henry Bulmer, the older brother of our ancestor John Bulmer.  Henry Bulmer was born in 1822 to Thomas Bulmer and Mary (Bowling) Bulmer in Hatfield, Yorkshire, and moved to Canada with his parents and five siblings when he was ten years old.  John Bulmer, his younger brother and the husband of Elizabeth Ladd, was born in 1836 in Three Rivers, Quebec, when Henry was fourteen years old.  Henry married Jane Maxwell and had five sons:  Henry, Edward, William, John Archibald, and Frederick Thomas.

Again, I am hoping someone in the family can positively identify these portraits, since (who knows?)  there may have been more than one Henry Bulmer in Montreal during the mid-to-late 1800s.   The census records are on our side, however--they only show our family's Henry, and later on, his son Henry (Thomas and Mary Bulmer's grandson), living in Saint Antoine's Ward, Montreal. 

In 1865 Henry would have been 43 years old, and in 1866-7 he would have been 44-45, which looks right for these portraits. 

Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1865

Mrs. Bulmer, Monteal, QC, 1865

Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1866-67

Mr. Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1866-67

Mr. Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1866-67

Mrs. Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1866-67

Mrs. Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1866-67

Here's a little older Henry, around 58 years old.  Quite distinguished. 

Mr. Henry Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1880

Mrs. Bulmer, Montreal, QC, 1880

Now these couldn't possibly be the children of the Henry Bulmer born in 1822, as these kids are far too young--and also, Henry and Jane had no daughters.  I'd guess they're his grandchildren, the children of his son Henry Bulmer Jr.

Mrs. Bulmer's Children, Montreal, QC, 1881

Mrs. H. Bulmer's Group, Montreal, QC, 1880

And just to round things out, here's an engraved print of Henry Sr.:

M. Henry Bulmer, Ink on Newsprint, Wood Engraving, 1860-1880, John Henry Walker