Martin Bobowsky

Biography

Angela Bobowsky was born in North End Winnipeg in 1914. She was the fourth child of Ukrainian immigrants Martin Bobowsky and Anastazia Kondratiuk.

At the time of her birth Angela and her family lived at 932 Burrows Avenue. The family lived in rented houses moving every few years. By the time Angela was 15 her family had lived in eight rented houses in the North End Winnipeg neighbourhood, typically three or four room houses that accomodated the seven members of the family and usually a number of boarders.

Angela contracted pneumonia as a child and was seriously ill for many months. Her mother, who had already lost her first child named Angela, became convinced that the illness was connected to Angela’s name and began calling her Nellie. Many years later Angela explained it in her memoirs:

My mother’s sister, Aunt Polly, suggested my mother change my name or she would lose me as she had her first child, because “angels” belong in heaven. My mother believed it was possible, especially because I was such a sick child. Or perhaps she just didn’t want to take any chances. So, she started calling me Nellie. I disliked the name when I grew older, especially since I personally knew two cows named Nellie. But believing it was my birth name I didn’t think I had any choice but to accept it…In 1939 I accidentally discovered my name was Angela.

The Bobowsky family spoke Ukrainian in the home and the Ukrainian community was at the centre of young Angela’s life. The Ukrainian Labour Temple, a local community centre, provided educational, cultural and recreational programs, many of which Angela and her siblings and friends participated in. She attended Ukrainian school on Saturdays, took Ukrainian folk dancing, played in the mandolin orchestra, and participated in Ukrainian picnics, dances and other social events. She loved going to the local swimming pool and became a life-long swimmer. She had many friends and became lifetime friends with Olga Gory.

Because of her illness Angela did not start school until she was about seven years old. She attended the King Edward Community School and later Faraday School in Winnipeg. She left school at the age of 15, having completed Grade 8, to start work and help support her family. Her first job was in her uncle’s photo studio, Star Photos on Main Street, where she hoped to learn photography but was instead expected to scrub floors. She soon quit and worked for the rest of that summer at a photo booth.

Angela’s parents separated circa 1931 when Angela was 16. Her father moved out of the family home but continued to support his wife and children financially. Around this time Angela and her siblings changed their surname from Bobowsky to Bobbs in an effort to lessen the workplace discrimination against Ukrainian Canadians that family members were experiencing.

From 1933 and 1936, in the depths of the Great Depression, Angela, then in her early twenties, went wherever she could find work. In Chicago Angela stayed with her Aunt Ann and worked as an au paire. She moved to Kirkland Lake where she worked as a housekeeper at a boarding house owned by a friend’s mother. In the spring of 1935, she hitchhiked with her friend Olga Gory to the Niagara region where they found work in a canning factory, and then in a tourist motel where Olga worked as a waitress and Angela a laundress.

Circa 1936 Angela settled in Toronto. She stayed initially with her sister and brother-in-law, Olie and Oscar Magid at 350 Shaw Street in Little Italy. In 1938 Angela’s mother Anastazia and her younger sisters Millie and Alice moved from Winnipeg to Toronto to join the rest of their family. Angela moved in with them. They lived initially at 284 Crawford Street, then 195 Beatrice Street. Circa 1942 Angela moved with her mother and Alice to the Lyndale  Apartments. In 1945 she left Lyndale and moved to a boarding house at 33 Rainsford Road in The Beaches neighbourhood.

During that period Angela worked in photo studios, initially spotting and hand-colouring black-and-white photographs in the days when colour photography was not generally affordable. She also retouched negatives and developed prints. She worked at Paramount Studios at Yonge and Shuter in 1935 – 36; Unique Art Studio at Yonge and Wellington from 1936 to 39; Pasquale D’Angelo Studio from 1939 to 1945; and Danforth Studio in 1945. Thereafter Angela took freelance assignments colouring prints and retouching negatives working part-time from home.

While working at Unique Art Studio in 1939 Angela met her future husband, Doug Harrison at the Palais Royale Dance Hall at Sunnyside Amusement Park. The couple courted until 1942 when Doug was called up to serve in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He was stationed at several bases in Canada then sent to Europe in 1944, returning in 1946.

Doug and Angela were married at St Andrews United Church in Niagara Falls on February 16, 1946. They travelled from Niagara Falls to North Bay to have their wedding photograph taken by a photographer Angela had done freelance work for. Then they spent a two-week honeymoon at the Tally Ho Lodge in Huntsville. They returned to Toronto in March and took up residence in an apartment on Pape Avenuenorth of The Danforth.

For the next four years Doug studied chemical engineering at the University of Toronto. The couple had very little money, getting by on a small veteran’s pension, Angela’s freelance photography work, and Doug’s summer jobs. Their son was born in 1946 and daughter in 1948. Doug graduated in the spring of 1950 and found work as a research chemist with Ontario Hydro (now Ontario Power Generation) where he worked until his retirement.

For the next fifteen years Angela was a stay-at-home mom, taking care of the household and raising her children.  With Doug working full time the family finances gradually improved. They bought a car in the mid-50s. In 1956 they bought a small bungalow at 269 Ranee Avenue in North York. The children attended school. The family vacationed for two weeks every summer, initially at a cottage owned by Angela’s sister, Olga, on Paradise Beach, Lake Simcoe. Later they rented cabins on various lakes in the Nippissing area and spend their time sunbathing, reading and fishing. One summer in the late 1950s the family drove to Winnipeg to visit Olga Gory, by then Ollie Hillman, and her family.

After her children completed their education and left the family home Angela took up photography again with support and encouragement from Doug. Angela took summer courses in photography at the Banff School of Fine Arts during a number of summers in the 1970s. She received a scholarship from the school in 1973. Between 1977 and 1979 she served as President of the North York Camera Club. Between 1975 and 1980 she published her photographs through a distribution service. In 1980, at the age of 65, she earned a Bachelor of Technology degree in Photographic Arts from the Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (now renamed Toronto Metropolitan University).

Angela and Doug travelled extensively during the 1970s and 80s within Canada, to North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Angela photographed the trips producing collections, for example of the Canadian prairies, Egyptian temples and Moroccan street scenes. At home in Toronto Angela took occasional assignments to photograph weddings and portraits. She held exhibitions of her work at the University of Toronto, Toronto City Hall, the Yorkdale Shopping Centre and had permanent exhibits at other venues. Angela’s work included portraits of Norval Morrisseau and Luciano Pavaorotti.

Doug died in 1994. Angela continued to live alone in the family home. She had a wide network of family and friends. She continued to swim regularly at her community centre and pursue her interest in photography. She vacationed in Cuba and Barbados. In 2011 she decided to move into a retirement home and took up residence at Belmont House. Over the years her mobility deteriorated and she eventually moved into the Belmont House long term care wing. Angela died at Belmont House on March 3, 2015. Her ashes are interred with Doug at York Cemetery in North York.

A collection of Angela’s memoirs and photographs can be found at the Angela Harrison website.

Source Documents

• Marriage Certificate of Douglas Harrison (1919–1994) and Angela (Nellie) Bobowsky (1914–1915)
• Birth Certificate of Angela Harrison (1914 – 2015)

Details

• Residence: 743/747 Pape Avenue, Toronto, Ontario;
• Residence: 269 Ranee Avenue, Toronto, Ontario; Doug and Angela Harrison family home.
• Residence: 743/747 Pape Avenue, Toronto, Ontario;
• Residence: 33 Rainsford Road, Toronto;

  Per Might’s Toronto Directory, 1945, 1946

• Occupation: Toronto, Ontario; Employee, Meyers Studios.

  Per Might’s Toronto Directory, 1942, 1943. Meyers Studios w as owned by Charles Meyers was located at 94 Yonge Street a nd had an amateur film department (developing and printing ) at 100 Yonge. The latter address is probably where Angel a worked. Angela’s memoirs do not mention this job.

• Occupation: Toronto, ON; Photograph retouching, Pasquale d'Angelo.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Pasqual e d’Angelo”

• Occupation: Toronto, ON; Photograph developing, colouring and printing, Unique Art Studio.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Uniqu e Art Studio” and other sources

• Occupation: Toronto, ON; Photograph colouring, Paramount Studiios.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Paramou nt Studios”

• Occupation: Kirkland Lake, ON; Servant in a boarding house.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Kirklan d Lake”

• Occupation: City Park, Winnipeg, MB; Photo booth employee.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Star Ph oto Studio”

• Occupation: Winnipeg, MB; Employee, Star Photo Studio.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Star Ph oto Studio. Henderson’s Winnipeg Directory, 1932, also list s Aniela as an employee at Star Photo but with a time lag b etween collecting information and publishing

• Burial: York Cemetery, Toronto, ON;
• Residence: 864 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg, MB; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky's family home.

  Per Henderson’s Winnipeg Directories, 1926, 1927, 1928, 192 9, 1930

• Residence: 6-501 Markham St., Toronto; Anastazia (Nettie) Kondratiuk family home.

  Per Might’s Toronto Directory, 1942, 1943, 1944. Angela liv ed with her mother and sister Alice

• Residence: Niagara Falls, ON;

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Niagar a Falls”

• Residence: State Street, Chicago, IL; Nils and Ann Granberg family home.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Chicago”

• Residence: 576 Flora Ave, Winnipeg, MB; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Henderson’s Winnipeg Directories 1921, 22 and 23

• Residence: Flora Avenue, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) memoirs, “Flora A venue”

• Residence: 747 Burrows Ave, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Henderson’s Winnipeg Directories for 1924 and 1925

• Residence: 733 Boyd Ave, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Henderson’s Winnipeg Directories, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934
  Aniela lived with her parents intermittently during this pe riod until she settled in Toronto

• Residence: 284 Crawford Ave, Toronto, Ontario; Nettie Bobbs famikly home.

  Per MIght’s Toronto Directory for 1939 and 1940. Angela (Ne llie) Bobbs is also listed at this address. It is likely th at daughters Millie and Alice were also living here with th eir mother.

• Residence: Kirkland Lake, ON; Boarding House.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Kirklan d Lake”

• Address: 1914-10-01, Redwood Avenue (west of Arlington Street), Winnipeg;

  Per Aniela’s memoirs, “Birth”

• Residence: 1916-06-01, 866 Redwood Ave, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per 1916 census

• Residence: 1920-03-14, 568 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Amelia’s birth certificate

• Residence: 1920, 568 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Henderson’s Winnipeg Directory, 1920
  and Amelia’s birth certificate

• Residence: 1921-06-01, 576 Flora Ave, Winnipeg, MB; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per 1921 census

• Residence: 1924, Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Martin and Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Angela’s memoirs. (Can possibly verify from Alice’s bir th certificate).

• Education: 1924, Winnipeg, MB; Attended Faraday School, Arlington Street.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) memoirs, “Birth”

• Residence: 1924, Burrows Avenue; Martin & Anastazia Bobowsky family home.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) memoirs, “Birth”

• Occupation: 1926-06-12, Winnipeg, MB; Student.

  Per 1926 census. Angela was 11 years old

• Residence: 1926-06-12, 864 Pritchard Ave, Winnipeg, MB; Martin and Anastazia family home.

  Per 1926 census

• Occupation: 1935, Niagara Falls, ON; Housekeeper, Uncle Tom's Cabins.

  Per Aniela Bobowsky’s (Angela Harrison’s) Memoirs, “Niagar a Falls”

• Residence: 1937-05-05, 350 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON; Oscar & Olie Magid's family home.

  Per Paul & Rae Bobb’s marriage certificate. Angela was a wi tness.

• Residence: 1937-05-15, 350 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON; Oscar and Olie Magid family home.

  Per Paul & Rae’s marriage certificate. Angela, Paul and Osc ar all gave the same address

• Residence: 1939, Dupont and Markham Street, Toronto; Anastazia and Angela's home.

  Per Angela’s memoirs

• Residence: 1940, 195 Beatrice St, Toronto; Anastazia Kondratiuk family home.

  Per 1940 Voters List for Trinity riding. It is likely tha t Amelia and Alice Bobowsky were also living at this addres s in 1940

• Occupation: 1940, Toronto, ON; Photo work.

  Per 1940 Voters List for Trinity riding

• Occupation: 1945, Toronto, ON; Finisher.

  Per 1945 Voters List for Spadina riding. Finisher refers t o photographic finishing

• Residence: 2015-03-03, Belmont House, 55 Belmont St., Toronto; Long Term Care Home.

Footnotes

Angela’s parents neglected to register her birth. As a result her actual date of birth was never recorded. However her parents told her she was born in October and Angela “adopted” October 1, 1914 as her birthday.

Angela’s father, Martin Bobowsky, kept a family bible in which he recorded the birth, marriage and death dates of family members. He recorded Angela’s name as Aniela, Ukrainian for Angela. However young Angela soon became known as Nellie, a name she went by for some 50 years (and which she hated). In the 1960s she resolved to change her name to Angela and over a period of years managed to persuade her friends and family to stop calling her Nellie and start calling her Angela.

In 1970, when Angela needed a birth certificate to obtain a passport, she had a friend in Winnipeg register her birth using October 1, 1914 as her birth date.