Arthur Williams McCurdy (April 13, 1856 – 1923) was a Canadian businessman, inventor and astronomer. He was born in

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Scottish Gaelic: ''Trùru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River (Nova Scotia), Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth ...

, the son of David McCurdy and Mary Archibald. He moved to Baddeck, where his father took over the store established by his son-in-law Angus Tupper, with his family at the age of nine and was educated there and at

Whitby, Ontario Whitby is a town in Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region in Ontario, Canada. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Ajax, Ontario, Ajax and west of Oshawa, on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is home to the headquarters of D ...

. He returned to Baddeck, where he entered business with his father and brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

. In 1881, he married Lucy O'Brien. The following year, he bought his father's share in the business. The business failed in 1887 and McCurdy became private secretary to

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

, who he had met in Baddeck. In 1889, he became an assistant in Bell's lab in Washington, D.C.. In 1899, he developed a portable tank for developing film, later selling the patent to

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

. He married Hattie Maria Mace in 1902 after the death of his first wife. After leaving Bell's employ to pursue his own inventions, McCurdy moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1903. A few years later, he moved to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. He was president of the British Columbia Natural History Society and contributed an article about Victoria to the ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

''. McCurdy helped establish the Victoria centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and served as its vice-president; McCurdy lobbied for the establishment of the Dominion

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill (Saanich), Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian Government, Canadian government. The Dominion architect responsible for the bui ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

, for a brief time the site of the largest telescope in the world. In 1916, he ran for the Esquimalt seat in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

; although he was at first declared elected, Robert Henry Pooley was declared elected after a recount. McCurdy died of heart failure in Washington, D.C. He was the father of the pioneering aviator

John Alexander Douglas McCurdy John Alexander Douglas McCurdy , (2 August 1886 – 25 June 1961) was a Canadian aviation pioneer and the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia from 1947 to 1952. Early years Son of inventor Arthur Williams McCurdy and born in Baddeck, ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCurdy, Arthur Williams 1856 births 1923 deaths 20th-century Canadian astronomers 19th-century Canadian inventors Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent People from Baddeck, Nova Scotia People from Truro, Nova Scotia 19th-century Canadian astronomers