Artist included in the 1967 book
A History of Peel County: To Mark Its Centennary*

It is said that of all the pioneer painters, F. A. Verner best succeeded in capturing the spirit of the frontier landscape, and his Indians [Aboriginals] and animals gave his potrayals a compelling unity.

Verner was born at Sheridan, near Clarkson in 1836, the son of a principal and superintendent of grammar schools. He went to England in 1856 and studied art briefly at Heatherley's and the South Kensington Schools of Art. Later he served with the 3rd Yorkshire Regiment for three years then joined a volunteer regiment in 1860 in order to fight with Garibaldi's patriots in Italy.

He established his first studio in Toronto, when he returned to Canada in 1862 and began to make frequent pursuit of subjects that had fascinated Paul Kane, an artist Verner greatly admired.

In 1872 he took a leading part in the formation of the Ontario Society of Artists and was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1893. He was awarded a medal and diploma at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1901 and received the Diploma of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1910. That same year Verner was honoured with awards by the International Exhibition at Buenos Aires and the Centennial Exhibition at Santiago, Chile. He died in London in 1928.

A special centennial exhibition of Verner's work was held at the Laing Galleries in Toronto early in 1967.

NOTE: Any words in square brackets [like these] are editors notes, to update old information.

* This article was used with permission from "A History of Peel County: To Mark Its Centennary", published in 1967, by what is now the Region of Peel. The segment in the book entitled "Renowned for Artists and Art" was written by Paddy Thomas. Thanks to the Peel Archives at the Peel Heritage Complex for the reprinting permission. All information was factually correct as of publication 1967, but may be inaccurate presently.