Connon Collection

Collection of photographs, glass slides, negatives, papers, and correspondence of Thomas and John R. Connon, Elora, Ontario.

Thomas Connon was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1832, and came to Canada in 1853. He opened his own general store in 1859 and offering photographs for sale. He married Jean Keith in 1854 and had three children; Elizabeth, John Robert, and Thomas G. He and his son John, who was also a local historian, documented the people and scenery of Elora for seven decades.

Among the devices that the Connons developed for camera work was the first film roll holder and the “panoramic” or “full-circle camera”, which allowed the photographer to take a succession of exposures as the camera revolved horizontally on a turntable.