The 1850s was a period of significant growth in Toronto, fuelled by the arrival of the railways and the signing of a free trade agreement with the United States – the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. There was a large influx of immigrants too, particularly from Ireland, following the Great Famine.

One of those immigrants was William Armstrong, an artist and engineer, who arrived in the city in 1851. In 1855 he founded the civil engineering and photography firm, Armstrong, Beere and Hime, and took to capturing the bustling streets of the growing metropolis. Here we see a photo he took of King Street East, on the south side looking west, part of a portfolio created to promote Toronto as a potential capital of the Province of Canada, taken sometime around 1856.

These are the earliest ever photographs of Canada