Charles Jones Way was born at Dartmouth, Devon, England in 1835. He studied at the South Kensington School or Art before coming to Canada in 1858 and settling in Montreal. He exhibited in Montreal in 1864 and perhaps earlier. In 1870 he was President of the Society of Canadian Artists, a society which was formed in Montreal in 1867. He was awarded a silver medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 for oil and watercolor paintings. In 1880 he was a charter member of the Royal Canadian Academy. In 1890 he left Canada and went to Switzerland to live and resided at Lausanne until his death in 1919. He was also a member of the Society of Painters and Sculptors in Switzerland. He must have traveled in both Italy and Switzerland before coming to Canada.

A “C. J. Way” exhibited four paintings at the National Academy of Design in 1863.

He also exhibited:

Scene in the White Mountains at the Art Association exhibition, Mechanic’s Hall, Montreal in 1865.

Androscoggin, The White Mountains at the Society of Canadian Artists, 2nd exhibition, Montreal, February 7, 1870

References
Information submitted by Mrs. Mary Thow, Trenton, Ontario from the files of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts