Portrait of a Scandal (The Trial of Robert Notman)

In the winter of 1868, a name that Montreal society associated with art, good breeding, and culture became fodder for scandal mongers. The Notman name, synonymous with fine photography, was suddenly making headlines featuring the words “abortion” and “suicide.” A dozen years earlier, two brothers fled their native Scotland. They were attracted to Montreal by its reputation for making the fortunes of go-getting Scotsmen. One was destined for fame, the other for notoriety. William Notman, the older brother, eventually owned the largest photography business in North America. His subjects ranged from royalty, Governors General, and the Fathers of Confederation to Sitting Bull and Harriet Beecher Stowe. His studio immortalized the faces and baronial mansions of the merchant princes of Montreal’s legendary Golden Square Mile—the Molsons, Redpaths, Allans, and Van Hornes. By contrast, Robert, the younger brother, was drawn into a drama which shook up Montreal’s polite society. After he seduced the beautiful and ambitious Margaret Galbraith, a student at the McGill Normal School, he arranged an abortion for her with an up-and-coming young doctor who soon after committed suicide. The subsequent trial of Robert Notman became a cause-célèbre in the newly minted Dominion of Canada in 1868. Enhanced by 24 William Notman photographs, Portrait of a Scandal depicts a society that distanced itself from sexual misconduct, while it lapped up its every detail.