George E.O. Lilley Fonds

George Lilley was a photographer born in Kingston in 1918. George served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II and was later employed at the National Film Board of Canada where he produced films for foreign distribution. After joining the militia he was, at the same time, actively involved in the public relations role of the Canadian Armed Forces. He served as Public Information Officer from 1955-1974. He retired from the Armed Forces in 1974. Mr. Lilley joined Transport Canada as Public Affairs Officer and was stationed with the Canadian Coast Guard in Toronto.

Mr. Lilley had been interested in photography from an early age. For many years he was a freelance photographer in Kingston. His photographic work involved news photography, documentaries, advertising and promotional work. As far as the news side of photographic gathering is concerned, Mr. Lilley was under contract to provide news photographs for the Kingston Whig-Standard, the Toronto Telegram, the Globe and Mail, the Ottawa Journal, the Montreal Star, Montreal Gazette, the Associated Press, the United Press, Time-Life Fortune, and some European newspapers. He passed away on 22 November 2003.

His fonds consists of approximately 20,000 negatives documenting events and people in Kingston and district during the period from the late 1940's to the early 1960's. The fonds has very large sections devoted to Queen's University, Canadian Industries Limited, Fort Henry, and military establishments in Kingston. Many significant national and international new events are also covered in his photographs.

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