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 Charles William Jefferys is perhaps best known for
his historical illustrations in school textbooks, magazines and
newspapers. However, he was also an accomplished landscape painter,
achieving particular renown for his prairie canvases. Born in
England in 1869, Jefferys’ family came to Canada via Philadelphia
in 1881. While ill health prevented Jefferys from going overseas
as an official war artist, both he and Dorothy Stevens received
commissions to document war preparations on the home front. Jefferys’
work focused on training camp activities in Petawawa, Niagara
and Toronto. Although the artist had shown little interest in
printmaking, his early experience as an apprentice at the Toronto
Lithographic Company would prove useful in the execution of the
transfer lithographs he made for the Canadian War Memorials Fund
in 1919. Today, the life and work of this prolific artist is commemorated
by an historic plaque located on the site of Jefferys’ house
and studio in North York, Ontario.
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