Evolution of Land Survey Technology

08. The Topley Company – a Canadian Supplier of Survey Instruments

Posted on by Ed Titanich

When one thinks of old survey instrument companies, names such as Cooke, Troughton & Simms, E.R. Watts, Gurley and K & E come to mind. One name that has all but disappeared over the years is a Canadian company: the Topley Company. However, undoubtedly it was well known by surveyors working in Western Canada at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Topley Company initially was a photography company. William James Topley started his photographic studio in Ottawa in 1875 and it soon became known for taking pictures of famous people. At the start, he employed his brothers, John and Horatio. While John remained at the studio, Horatio joined the federal government’s Department of the Interior as a photographer in 1887. One of Horatio’s jobs was to develop and enlarge photographs taken in the Canadian Rockies by J.J. McArthur and W.S. Drewry for the photo-topographical method of mapping.

Eventually more business came along for the Topley Company as many government departments, including the Geological Survey and the Department of the Interior, decided that their activities should be documented with photographs. Sometime around the turn of the century, the company started to sell cameras and other instruments such as survey transits, levels, altimeters, tapes and sidereal watches.

In 1907, William DeCourcy Topley (William James Topley’s son) took over the company. By 1926 the business was discontinued. Now, the Topley collection of photographs, purchased in 1936 by the Public Archives of Canada, is one of the most widely used sources of 19th- and early-20th-century photographs in Canada. No record was found as to when the company stopped selling survey instruments.

 The ALSA collection has several objects made for and distributed by the Topley Company.


Two pamphlets: “Instructions Covering Astronomical Field Tables for the use of Engineers and Surveyors” and “Astronomical Field Tables for the use of Engineers and Surveyors” were published by the Topley Company in 1911. Shown above are the first four pages of “Instructions Covering Astronomical Field Tables for the use of Engineers and Surveyors.” The images were obtained from the Smithson Institution Libraries.


This Topley Transit appears identical to the one shown in the 1911 pamphlet shown above. There is some evidence that it was made by Bausch & Lomb as some other instruments imported and sold by the Topley Company were made by Bausch & Lomb and Bausch & Lomb also manufactured and sold survey transits under its own name. This Topley transit was owned by A.J. Tremblay DLS, ALS#075. A story about by A.J. Tremblay and how the transit and its tripod were obtained by the ALSA is detailed in Article #24.
Purchased by the ALSA.
ALSA 2013.02.01
Tripod ALSA 2013.02.02.


This Waltham sidereal watch was purported to have been used by A.G. Stewart, ALS#078. Although it does not have the name “the Topley Company” on it, it is identical to a Waltham sideral watch shown in a 1911 Topley pamphlet: “Instructions Covering Astronomical Field Tables for the use of Engineers.”

Donated by C.H. Weir, ALS
ALSA 2007.27.02


This altimeter is marked “No. 8070, Compensated, The Topley Company, “D.L.S. special.” It comes with a leather case with R.H. Johnson written on it. Robert Henry Johnson received his DLS Commission #547 in 1913.  

Donated by C.H. Weir, ALS
ALSA 2007.27.08


DLS Standard Tape, distributed by the Topley Company, Ottawa. It is marked “ 100L  50F Patented Aug. 8, 1903” on one side and hand inscribed “W D U 26”on the other side. “W D U” are initials for W.D (Dave) Usher ALS#163. The tape is marked “APEN 375 D.L.S. Standard 371, The Topley Co. Ottawa. Made by the Lufkin Rule Co of (not legible) Windsor, Ontario.”
Donated by A.J. Edwards, ALS
ALSA 2006.27.01

Sources of Information:

Author: Gordon Olsson, ALS (Hon. Life) 
December 1, 2021
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