The most common question about the Thomas Bouckley Collection is: Who was Thomas Bouckley? This exhibition offers a closer look at the man whose deep interest in his community’s history led him to assemble a collection of over 3500 photographs of historical Oshawa. The selection of images also pays tribute to the long history and presence of the Bouckley family in Oshawa.
Born in Blackpool, England, in 1904, Thomas Bouckley came to Oshawa with his family as an infant. As a boy, he attended St. Gregory’s School and Oshawa High School, now known as O’Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute. He earned pocket money polishing shoes in his father’s shop, Veteran Shoe Shine, which would later become Mike’s Place, a stable of downtown Oshawa for over ninety years. After graduating in ceramic engineering from the University of Toronto, Bouckley became co-manager of the Jubilee Pavilion in Lakeview Park. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted with the Special Forces and served for six years. After the war, he returned to Oshawa and joined his brother, Harold, in operating Mike’s Place.
Bouckley’s fascination with his father’s collection of historical photographs inspired his lifelong interest in documenting Oshawa’s past. Concerned with the condition of the photographs, he taught himself how to preserve and reproduce them so they could be shared with future generations. His collection grew in many ways, including through photographs and albums rescued from the garbage. Bouckley even offered bottles of whiskey to local garbage collectors who found historical photographs and albums among the discarded materials.
He would later take up photography himself, documenting Oshawa as it looked during his lifetime. A determined researcher, Bouckley carefully recorded notes and information about the photographs he collected. One of his most significant achievements was the publication of the three-volume book featuring his collection Pictorial Oshawa.
Thomas Bouckley’s legacy lives on through the collection of images he assembled and preserved. What began as one man’s passion became an important link to Oshawa’s past, offering generations of people an opportunity to see, explore, and better understand the city’s history.
- Thomas Bouckley, 1988
- Thomas Bouckley with the Jubilee Pavilion Staff, 1935