Cecil Grey Frost, younger brother of the Honourable Leslie M. Frost, was born in Orillia, Ontario, on August 27, 1897. His father, William Sword Frost, operated a jewellery and watchmaking business in Orillia, and as Mayor, introduced the concept of daylight saving time to the municipality. Cecil Grey Frost served overseas with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps during the World War I. When he returned to Canada, he attended Osgoode Hall Law School and graduated in 1921. He and his brother Leslie then opened a legal firm in Lindsay, Ontario, and both soon became active in local Conservative Politics. This led to Cecil's election in 1936 as Mayor of Lindsay, and in 1937 to the Presidency of the Ontario Conservative Association, As well, he organized and managed Earl Rowe's campaign in the provincial election of 1937. Thought of as a potential party leader himself, Cecil Grey Frost remained politically active until his sudden death 8 June 1947.
The Honourable Leslie Miscampbell Frost, lawyer and Premier of Ontario, was born in Orillia, Ontario on September 20, 1895, the son of William Sword Frost and Margaret Jane Barker. He was educated at the Orillia Public School and the Orillia High School. He later attended the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. He served in the World War I in France and Belgium, with the 20th Battalion, Queen's York Rangers, and was discharged with the rank of Captain in 1918, after being severely wounded. Frost was called to the Bar in 1921. He was a member of the legal firm Frost, Inrig and Gorwill, among others, and was an honorary bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He married Gertrude Jane Carew in 1926. They never had children. Leslie M. Frost had a long and successful political career. He was first elected to the legislature of Ontario in 1937, and he was consistently re-elected at each election until his retirement in 1959. He was Treasurer of Ontario and Minister of Mines in both the George Drew and T.L. Kennedy Administrations. In 1949, Frost was chosen leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and was sworn in as Premier and Provincial Treasurer on May 4, 1949. He remained Provincial Treasurer until 1955 and Premier until 1961. Besides his legal and political career, Frost took on many other obligations. He was a member of the of the Board of Governors of the University of Toronto and the first Chancellor of Trent University. He also held several directorships, including: the Bank of Montreal, Air Canada, Corporate Investors Ltd., Lever Brothers Ltd., KVP Company Ltd., John Deyell Ltd., Canada Life Assurance Company, Victoria and Grey Trust Co., Massey-Ferguson Ltd., and radio station CKLY. Frost was also keenly interested in history, primarily military history and the histories of Victoria, Peterborough and Haliburton Counties. He was the author of several books: "Fighting Men", "Forgotten Pathways of the Trent", "Pleasant Point Story: a History of Pleasant Point" and "The Records on Sam Hughes Set Straight." Leslie M. Frost died at Lindsay, Ontario 4 May 1973.
Robert Frost was born and raised in San Francisco, U.S.A. He married in 1895 and moved to New England. While he lived in New England he attended Harvard for two years. Unfortunately two of his children died and after their deaths he moved his family to England. In England he had published a volume of verse called "A Boy's Will" and continued to write poetry. Robert was friends with Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas. He returned to the U.S.A. and moved to New Hampshire where he continued to write. Robert won the Pulitzer Prize for Collected Poems (1923), A Further Range (1936) and A Witness Tree (1942). He continued to write until the time of his death in 1963. (Taken from: The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge University Press, 1983.)
S. R. Gage was educated at McGill University and the University of Glasgow. He is the author of several books including A Few Rustic Huts, which provides a history of ranger's cabins in Algonquin Park. His interest in the Canol project undertaken in the World War II era grew out of a canoe trip on the Natla and Keele rivers in 1981. He was also interested in the management of Ontario's provincial parks. Gage was also on the Rouge Valley Park Advisory Committee (Ontario).
J. Gainey was an international organizer for the Barbers' Union at the turn of the century and held the position for many years. He was born in approximately 1875 and lived until 1937. He resided in Peterborough, Ontario.
The goal and court house building committee of Amherst, Hamilton Township, Newcastle District, was established on April 10, 1828. Its purpose was to make arrangements for procuring material and the construction of a new gaol and court house. Members of the committee included Walter Boswell, Zaccheus Burnham, Robert Henry, David Smart, James G. Bethune, Thomas Ward, and Elias Jones. The chosen site for the gaol and court house was Amherst, located near Cobourg, also in Hamilton Township. The end result was a large stone building which cost approximately 6000 pounds. In 1837, Cobourg became a police village, and the village of Amherst was amalgamated and became part of Cobourg. (Taken from: Spilsbury, John R. "Cobourg: early days and modern times." Cobourg: The Cobourg Book Company, 1981.)
The Honourable Robert Hamilton (1826-1891) was a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who was stationed at Fort Edmonton. He married Ann (Annie) Seaborn (Seabourne) Miles (born in 1838 at Rupert's House d. 1863). Annie's mother was Elizabeth (Betsy) Sinclair (b. ca. 1805 and d. 1878) and her father was Robert Seaborn Miles Sr. (1795-1870). Like Robert Hamilton, Robert Miles Sr. was a Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. One of Robert and Annie's sons, Robert Miles Hamilton (1864-1939), married Alice May Barker and resided at "Auburn" in Peterborough, Ontario. Alice's father was the Honourable Samuel Barker, a Conservative Member of Parliament and a barrister. Alice and Robert Hamilton's children were Miles Beresford Hamilton, Robert Barker Hamilton, Alice Seabourne Hamilton, and S.R. Hamilton (male). Both Beresford and Robert Barker Hamilton served overseas during World War I. Alice Seabourne Hamilton married Charles Norman Geale.
Edward Armour Peck, whose papers are also included in this fonds, was the natural father of Arthur Henry Peck and the adoptive father of Charles Norman Geale. Edward Armour Peck was married to Kitty Revel.
Richard Birdsall Rogers was born at Ashburnham in 1857. He was the son of Robert David Rogers and Elizabeth Birdsall and a grandson of Richard Birdsall. He lived in Ashburnham until 1916 and then moved to "Beechwood Farm" in Douro Township. He was a land surveyor and was appointed Superintending Engineer of the Trent Valley Canal in about 1884. During his time in this office, he built the Peterborough-Lakefield Division and the Simcoe-Balsam Lake Division of the Trent Canal including the Hydraulic Lift Locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield, besides many dams and other works on this canal. Richard married Clara Mina Calcutt of Peterborough in 1881. They had seven children. Their daughter, Leah, married Herbert Geale, the brother of Charles Norman. Two of Richard and Mina's sons, Heber and Harry, served overseas in World War I.
G.A. Gibson was a farmer in the Lindsay, Ontario who at one time ran a general store on Kent St., Lindsay. His wife was Alice K. Gibson, daughter of James Kerr, and they had at least one son, A.E.M. Gibson.
Gordon Mackay & Company was a retail/wholesale dry goods business operating throughout Canada. It was established in 1853, by two Scotsmen, John Gordon and John Mackay, who formed a partnership for the wholesale distribution of dry-goods in the City of Hamilton, Canada West. The company was called Gordon & Mackay. In 1859, the Company moved to Toronto, first locating at Wellington Street East, and then at the corner of Bay and Front Streets. In 1899, the Company was incorporated as Gordon Mackay Co. Limited. The great fire of 1904 in Toronto destroyed the Gordon Mackay warehouse. The first retail store was acquired in 1911, and over the next 50 years other stores were added. The more notable retail stores developed include Smith's of Windsor and the Walker Stores chain of department stores. By the early 1960's Gordon Mckay & Company had converted all of its wholesale business to retail.
Elaine Goselin (1941- ) was born in Trenton Ontario. She moved to Peterborough in 1959 and trained as a nurse at Peterborough Civic Hospital. Graduating in 1962, she worked in Obstetrics in the newborn nursery until 1992. She has been active in volunteer work and, as a founding member of Arbor Theatre, served as Archivist. Ms. Goselin is a member of the Peterborough Historical Society, the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, Peterborough Theatre Guild, Canadian Canoe Museum, Probus, Women's Art Association, Art Gallery of Peterborough and MUSE film series.
The Grafton Woman's Missionary Society was a group established at the Methodist Church in Grafton. The Auxiliary members belonged to Grafton's Church of England in Brighton, Ontario, which is in the Bay of Quinte Conference.
Duncan Graham was born October 5, 1845 in the Township of Mara, Ontario County, Canada West, to Archibald Graham and Ann McQuaig. He was the grandson of one of the early settlers, John or James Graham, natives of Scotland. He was a farmer and unmarried. He was also a Councillor, Deputy-Reeve and Reeve of Mara Township and Warden of the County of Ontario in 1896. He was elected to the House of Commons at the by-election of February 4, 1897. He was a Liberal-Independent. (Taken from: "The Parliamentary Guide, 1898-9." Winnipeg: Manitoba Free Press, 1898.)
The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) was built to provide a main trunk line throughout the entire length of the Province of Canada. Under the sponsorship of Sir Francis Hincks, the Grand Trunk Railway was formally incorporated in 1852 to build a railway line from Toronto to Montreal. The Grand Trunk Railway of Canada East was also incorporated to build a line from Quebec City to Trois Pistoles, Quebec. The GTR also purchased the newly completed St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad in 1853. Much of the financing for the Railway was to come from investors in England, and as a result, much of the construction of the new lines was done by English construction firms. The "Trunk-Line" from Montreal to Toronto opened in 1856. The railway expanded quickly, existing small railway companies were purchased, and new lines were added, some of which were destined for the United States. By 1867, the GTR was the largest railway system in the world with 2 055 km of track. By the 1880's the company had over 700 locomotives, 578 cars, 60 post-office cars, 131 baggage cars, 18 000 freight cars and 49 snow plows. The high cost of construction, absentee management (Head Office in England), and failure to generate anticipated levels of traffic left the GTR debt ridden and unable to upgrade its equipment. In October 1919, the federal government took over the GTR after a disasterous attempt to create a transcontinental railway with the creation of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The GTR and the GTPR were placed under the management of the Canadian National Railways on January 30, 1923. ( Taken from: "The Canadian Encyclopedia." Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers Ltd., 1985.)
Susan Burnham Greeley was the daughter of Aaron Greeley, a surveyor and cousin of Zacheous Burnham, and Margaret Rogers. She was born in Haldimand Township, about two miles from Grafton, Ontario. Greeley was a school teacher, and operated a Sunday School from her home for over eighty years. She was a member of the Colborne Presbyterian church. Greeley died in 1904 and is buried at Grafton Presbyterian cemetery.
Cyril Greenland, Ph.D., is employed at the Museum of Mental Health Services (Toronto), Inc. He had previously been with the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, and the Department of Health, Parliament Buildings, Toronto. He and his family were personal friends of Blodwen Davies.
John Carleton Grover of "Balsam Farm," Norwood, Ontario married Rachel Elmhurst in 1942. He was a civil servant employed as pay and allowance ledger keeper with the Royal Canadian Air Force Recruiting Centre in Ottawa. In World War II, Grover became a member of 432 Squadron and served as a pilot officer overseas. For his service, he received the following R.C.A.F. decorations: 1939-1943 Star; R.C.A.F. Operational Wings; and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp. Grover was the great grandson of the Rev. Michael Andrews Farrar of Hastings, Ontario.
Dr. Edwin C. Guillet, historian, was born at Cobourg, Ontario, September 29, 1898, and educated at the University of Toronto (B.A. 1922) and at McMaster University (B.A. 1926; M.A. 1927). He joined the staff of Lindsay Collegiate in 1923 and the Central Technical School in Toronto in 1926, remaining until 1934. From 1958 to 1962 he served as research historian with the Ontario Department of Public Records and Archives. In 1963 he was appointed consultant on Canadiana to the Library of Trent University. Dr. Guillet also wrote many books including "Early Life in Upper Canada" (1933), "The Great Migration" (1937), "Life Insurance without Exploitation" (1946), and "Pioneer Inns and Taverns" (1954-56). (taken from "The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, fourth edition." 1978.)
The Gummed Address Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States was a mail order company for a number of different objects such as Magic Lanterns, Magic Kits as well as games, tricks and home amusements, rubber stamps and ink, song books, gummed address labels, watches and cameras. The Gummed Address Company resided at 126 South Eighth Street in Pennsylvania and George R. Allen was the manager in 1892.
Peter Gzowski was born July 13, 1934 in Toronto but grew up in Galt, Ontario. His great-grandfather was engineer Sir Casimir Gzowski. He was educated at Ridley College in St. Catharines and the University of Toronto. During his time at the University of Toronto he edited the University's newspaper "The Varsity". He has worked for town newspapers in Timmins, Moose Jaw and Chatham. He became managing editor of Maclean's Magazine in 1962. In 1971 he worked for CBC's "This Country in the Morning" for three years. After this he hosted a radio show called "Gzowski on FM". Peter entered national late night television by hosting a show called "90 Minutes Live" from 1976 to 1978. In 1982 he started hosting CBC's "Morningside" radio show. He has written three books: "Spring Tonic" in 1979, "The Sacrament" in 1980 and "The Game of Our Lives" in 1981. He is the father of five children. (Taken from: "The Canadian Encyclopedia" Vol. 2. 1988 and "CBC Biographies".) In 1974, 1983 and 1985 Peter won ACTRA awards for best host-interviewer on radio. He has also won three National Magazine Awards one of which was in 1981 for his profile on Wayne Gretzky. In 1986 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Companion in 1999. Trent honoured him with an honorary doctor of laws degree October 31, 1988. He had an honorary doctor of letters from the University of New Brunswick. (Taken from: "Trent Fortnightly." Vol. 18, No. 3, 1987.) Gzowski served as Trent's eighth Chancellor from 1999 until his death in 2002 from chronic pulmonary obstructive disease.
The Haileybury Cemetery is located north of Mills Creek, Ontario, approximately .40 km south of Centennial Park and approximately .40 km east of Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The Haileybury Cemetery was run by a private company and was in operation until 1922. The cemetery is believed to be one of the first organized cemeteries in that part of northern Ontario.
The Township of Haldimand is bounded on the north by the Township of Alnwick, on the east by the Township of Cramahe, on the west by the Township of Hamilton and on the south by Lake Ontario. Haldimand Township was partially surveyed in 1797 and again in 1822. By 1817 it had 6258 acres under cultivation. There were three grist mills and four saw mills. By 1850 the population of the Township was 4177 and by 1861 it was 6164. The villages are Grafton, Eddystone, Centreton, Vernonville, Fenella, Bowmanton, Burnley, Colbourne and Wicklow. The population consisted mostly of settlers from Ireland, Scotland, England and some from the United States. One of the first settlers in the area was Benjamin Ewing, in 1798, from Vermont. The harbour for the Township was located at Grafton and built around 1836. (Taken from: The H.H. Beldon Illustrated Historical Atlas of Northumberland and Durham Counties, 1878. Belleville: Mika Silk Screening Limited, 1972.)