A UNIQUE window into Ottawa's past is being provided with images captured by a Yeadon photographer more than a century ago.

E E Slater was on a visit to Canada's capital in around 1900 when he took a series of photographs which now provide a view of the city as it once was.

The glass slides and photograph negatives are part of a large collection donated to Aireborough Historical Society some time ago. The society, which has digitally archived all the images, is now giving 26 originals to delighted historians in Ottawa.

Archivist Carlo Harrison said: "When Aireborough Historical Society decided to digitally record its archives it was with the sole intention of recording these items in a new medium and importantly to be able to share our archives with anyone who was interested in seeing them.

"I have stated the global success of our facebook page and website many times, but when we have glass slides and photo negatives taken around 1900 which to us are little more than E E Slaters holiday snaps, and when a little bit of research produces this sort of response it is just pure magic.

"The historical people in Ottawa have been more than generous in their praise and thanks and it was very much our pleasure to donate to them the original negatives from E E Slaters holiday in their lovely country.

This has spurred me on to undertake similar ventures with towns and cities both in the UK and across the world."

Mr Harrison offered the originals to the Historical Society of Ottawa and they will be stored by the City of Ottawa Archives.

James Powell, from the Ottawa historical society, has written to Mr Harrison outlining where some of the pictures are and what they show.

He said: "Ottawa has changed a lot since the early 1900s through fire, efforts to beautify the city, and old buildings being torn down. We didn't have a law preserving heritage buildings until the 1970s. Consequently, we will need to do some research to locate some of Slater's pictures."

He added: "On the basis of what I have seen so far, I'm sure that they provide a unique window into Ottawa's past."

In another email he said: "We are currently trying to track down the connection between Ernest Ethelbert Slater and Ottawa. He was possibly in the city visiting family. James D Slater was Superintendent of the Rideau Canal during the 1860s. The 202 kilometre long Rideau Canal was built by the Royal Engineers and thousands of Irish and French labourers during the 1820s and 30s, linking Lake Ontario to the Ottawa River. Slater Street in downtown Ottawa is named for him."

Among the photographs is one of Queen Victoria's monument on Parliament Hill. The monument was unveiled by the future King George V and Queen Mary, then the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, in September 1901.

Another image shows the former Centre Block, containing the House of Commons and the Senate, which was destroyed by fire in 1916. There were claims that the fire had been caused by German sympathisers - but no evidence was found to support the allegations.

Contrasting images of Ottawa's most prestigious shopping street can be seen in the Slater photographs and a photograph taken recently. The street fell into decline in the 1950s and was pedestrianised in 1960.