Stanley Williamson was born in Gananoque, Ontario, in the 1870s, when his hometown was a bustling port on the St. Lawrence. He became a stone carver and sign painter, but always found the time to carve and paint miniatures, often of the boats that worked the river. For over twenty years these were sold at the hardware store in Gananoque. The Speedboat is a faithful reproduction of a local excursion craft that plied the waters of the Thousand Islands.