Over the years artifacts important to Fort York have come up for auction, usually in Canada or the United Kingdom. By and large, City of Toronto Museum Services has not been in a position to bid at auction since the mid-1990s when its acquisition budgets were cut to nil. Hence, the fort has little flexibility when objects are offered on the open market, and must depend instead on gifts. The Friends have attempted to step into the breach, but they too lack the ready means.
To illustrate, a recent opportunity to acquire an important oil portrait of Frances Battersby at a Toronto auction house was missed for want of funds (see Fife and Drum July 2007). During the War of 1812 Battersby was the lieutenant colonel of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles who fought under his command at York in April 1813. His horses are famously buried in Victoria Square, today part of Fort York National Historic Site.
Now, thanks to the foresight of a friend, the Fort York Acquisitions Fund, seeded with a generous initial gift of $10,000, has been permanently established within the Fort York Foundation. Chief Curator of City of Toronto Museum Services Wayne Reeves has expressed gratitude and delight, saying that this fund is vital for Fort York. Not only will it allow City of Toronto Museum Services staff to be nimble in bidding at auction for artifacts deemed important to the fort’s story, it will also support conservation of these items. We encourage additional donations to augment the Fort York Acquisitions Fund, and make us competitive in the market for pieces of our history to be exhibited in the new Visitor Centre and throughout Fort York National Historic Site.
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