Charles Horetzky

• Name — Charles Horetzky • Born — 20 July 1838 • Birthplace — Edinburgh, Scotland • Died — 30 April 1900 • Place of death — Toronto, Canada • Occupation — Canadian surveyor, photographer, author, and sanitary engineer • Known for — Canadian photographer • Spouse — Mary Julia Ryan (m. 1865) • Father — Felix Horetzky

Horetzky was born to Felix Horetzky and Sophia Roberton on July 20, 1838 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the only son and child of the Horetzky family. In 1853, after his incomplete education at Blair's College and another college in Belgium, he left Scotland for the Australian gold-fields.

In 1858, he traveled to the Canadas where he was engaged by the Hudson's Bay Company to settle as a clerk at Fort William on the Ottawa River. In 1864, his position was promoted to an accountant at Moose Factory, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's post. Shortly after, he was married to Mary Julia Ryan and went on to have two sons and a daughter. In August 1869, Horetzky was assigned the same position as an accountant at Upper Fort Garry, but was short lived due to the Red River Rebellion, so he was given permission to travel back. While in Ottawa, He faced many difficulties from the Hudson's Bay Company with his overdrawn account and with the company's officials for his uncompromising attitude that his engagement was terminated in April, 1870. He tried an appeal to the company to reverse their decision, but was ultimately rejected.

In March, 1873, Horetzky went on to publish many articles from his experiences in the northern route in the Ottawa Daily Citizen along with a short pamphlet, The north-west of Canada. In his later years, Horetzky became a sanitary engineer and supervised many projects from the 1880s to the 1890s. He made way for many sewage systems such as the one at the Ontario Agriculture College.

* *