Saturday, March 7, 2015

The Stern Looking Queen

The cabinet in yesterday's post is still in use. I was in the Ottawa Room yesterday, and spoke with one of the librarians for awhile. The cabinet stores index card information, mostly for genealogy records. I also spent time looking at fire insurance maps from the late 19th century and early 20th century, something related to tomorrow's post.

You might have noticed a bust on this cabinet. This is Queen Victoria as we often think of her- the grandmother in the late stages of her reign. It's a contrast to the statue of the Queen inside the Library of Parliament, a statue that shows her at a younger age.


41 comments:

  1. Your hobby is made familiar with this library for you?
    Have a great weekend, William.

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  2. If you start to tell stories, I like to know them, we already know the winterlude.
    Have a good one, William.

    Tomás

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  3. That is sweet of you to have spoken with the librarians about the cabinet and explain it to us. The bust I hadn't noticed but Queen Victoria will certainly keep a keen eye at all the books in the room.

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  4. I always find it interesting that Canadians think a lot of Queen Victoria and even celebrate her birthday with Victoria Day in May. She doesn't get the same recognition in Britain.

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  5. That sure is a stern looking bust. It looks as if Queen Victoria is guarding the cabinet :-)

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  6. Queen Vic is seldom smiling, isn't she?

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  7. I wonder if she was a stern as she often appears!

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  8. @Jen: quite lifelike.

    @Orvokki: yes, I'm in that branch on a regular basis.

    @Tomas: thanks!

    @Marianne: I figured it was a good idea to follow up.

    @Gill: I think it's because she was Queen at the time of Confederation. For the city, it's also because she chose Ottawa as the capital.

    @Tamago: it does!

    @Ciel: not in any of the likenesses I've seen, but then again, considering she lost her husband relatively early on, that's to be expected.

    @EG: it's possible she might have had some humour at some time in her life.

    @Tex: they do!

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  9. I don't believe there is a single statue of her with a smile on her face.

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  10. I like her older look and a few more lines.

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  11. Your archives have actually done something with the information. Our archives does a very good job of sharing and publicizing what's stored.

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  12. I'm told that until recent times, smiling in photos and busts was unheard of.

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  13. That Aimee.. She pinched my line again :)

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  14. This is how I have seen her more often...

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  15. Nice! I think I had a teacher in grade school that looked like that.

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  16. William You are the best. I like Your stories.

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  17. I agree with some commenteers... Spending some time with Queen V. would be anything but fun! :-)

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  18. @Aimee: it seems a rare thing to see royalty amused.

    @Sharon: smiles might have been frowned on during Victorian times. Really, how many smiles can we see in photos or paintings from the latter half of the 19th century anywhere?

    @Birdman: I was chatting with the librarian yesterday about how most of the images we have of Victoria are at this stage of her life, whereas in contrast, with Elizabeth, we've got a wealth of photographs from her younger years through to the present day, so we don't really associate her as the Grandmother in the way we do with Victoria.

    @Red: I can't help but notice as I enlarged the photo that there are volumes of Karsh on the shelves.

    @Norma: that doesn't surprise me.

    @Grace: daughters will do that.

    @VP: it's the standard look for her.

    @Judy: I had a teacher back in the day who could have taught cruelty lessons to the Nazis... and she was old enough to have done so!

    @Inna: thank you!

    @Jose: you'd have to watch your every step.

    @Jan: it takes a lot of energy to run an empire.

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  19. Tomorrows blog already sounds interesting. Waiting.......
    MB

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  20. I have seen many statues of Queen Victoria over the years. This one has that very familiar expression.

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  21. She had a very stern expression, but I must say that I love the clothing, etc. from the Victorian era. :)

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  22. She looks as if her skin was painted gold and that she will speak any moment.

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  23. I know they took liberties with the story but I appreciated how the movie "Young Victoria" brought her to life.

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  24. @MB: it certainly is different looking at those kind of maps.

    @Denise: she looks like quite the authority.

    @Linda: yes, very classical.

    @Shelly: she does!

    @Kay: I love that film. Admittedly, I can freely say that I do find Emily Blunt extremely attractive!

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  25. They could make a movie here. Nite in the Ottawa Room!

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  26. Quite a woman, interested in what tomorrow's post will bring..

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  27. She indeed framed a time and world. Also a medical cannabis user!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  28. @Jennifer: I think it was part of the job.

    @Janis: that's a different idea.

    @Geoff: I'm doing the write up for it now.

    @Cloudia: she certainly defined the era.

    @Mari: she does not!

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