The root of the modern day Progressive Conservative Party of Canada is found in the 1854 Liberal Conservative Coalition Government of the Province of Canada which was headed by Sir John A. Macdonald. Between 1873 and 1878, the Liberal Conservative Party dropped the Liberal label in favour of the title Conservative Party which was in keeping with the flavour of Macdonald's National Policy and pro-British election platform. From 1917 to 1920 the party was known as the Union Party. The name changed again to the National Liberal and Conservative Party from 1920 to 1922. It then reverted back to the original name of Liberal Conservative Party until 1938 when it became the National Conservative Party. The name of the party changed once again in 1942 with the election of former Progressive Party member and Manitoba Premier, John Bracken, to the Conservative Party leadership. The name became the Progressive Conservative Party, as it is known today. The ideologies of the Conservative Party have remained fundamentally the same since the inception of the party with some variations over the years. The party is tied, albeit loosely, to the British Conservative Party, and in turn, to the ideals of toryism (collectivism and privilege as the salient features of social and political life), but the Canadian Conservatives have also supported business liberalism. Business liberalism (ie. free enterprise) in combination with toryism are two sets of ideas which are not readily reconciled, therefore, the Conservative Party, regardless of title, has constantly been shifting, since its inception, to keep these ideals in balance with public and party opinion, and has not always been successful. Since 1935, the success of the federal Liberal Party has heavily outweighed the success of the Progressive Conservative Party. Some of the more notable Conservative Party leaders include Sir John A. Macdonald, R.B. Bennett, John Diefenbaker, and Brian Mulroney. (information taken from: "The Canadian Encyclopedia", second edition, 1988, and "Politcal Parties and Ideologies in Canada" by W. Christian and C. Campbell, 1983).
The original Pugets Sound Agricultural Company came into being in 1839 as a subsidiary branch of the Hudson'sBay Company in response to the intended private Oregon Beef andTallow Company. It functioned primarily in the Cow lits Valley and the Puget Sound area to the north of the Columbia River. Its purpose was partly to victual the fur trade establishments and also the nascent and burgeoning communities of the region. Its initial deed of settlement was dated December 23, 1840 and was first printed in 1912.
Shirley Quan worked for the Department of Native Affairs as a student volunteer during the summer of 1962. She was sent to Baker Lake in the Northwest Territories. She completed an arctic wild flower project while she was there.
The Quebec Camping Association Inc. was formed in 1937 and is a chartered unit of the Canadian Camping Association.The Quebec Camping Association is made up of individuals, representatives of agencies and institutions interested in the development of organized camping in the Province of Quebec. The membership includes camping directors, camp staff, institutional and agency directors, and others who are interested in or associated with camping. All types of camps (private, church, school, organizational and institutional, long and short term and day camps) are represented by the Association.The Quebec Camping Association's objectives are furthering the welfare and interests of children and adults through camping as an educative and recreative experience; raising the standard of camping practices and to be the voice of camp leaders by interpreting camping to parents, educators, the legislature and the public.(Taken from: The Quebec Camping Association)
The Queen’s-Trent Concurrent Teacher Education program is co-sponsored by Trent University and the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. In 1974, Trent and Queen’s agreed to undertake a joint program in Teacher Training Education combined with an undergraduate Arts and Science education. The program is designed for students wishing to teach at either the elementary or secondary school level.
Born in 1870 in Quebec, A.G. Racey attended McGill University where he developed an interest in caricature. His cartoons were first published in the Montreal Witness, and later, in the Montreal Star where he worked as cartoonist from 1899 to 1941. Racey is also recognized for his oil and water colour paintings, many of which hang in private collections throughout Canada. Racey died in Montreal on December 21, 1941.
Fern Alma Rahmel was born in Peterborough in 1914. She attended Peterborough Normal School in 1932-1933 and was editor of the 1932-1933 year book. She taught in elementary and later secondary schools. In 1970 she had been a Peterborough teacher for 20 years with the English Department of the Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS). She was Department Head before she retired. She was also assistant to Gwyn Kinsey, editor of Saturday Night. She was an active participant in theatre and writing. Fern aided Robertson Davies in research while he was editor of the Peterborough Examiner. She wrote children's educational radio plays for CBC. In the 1970 Spring Convocation, Trent University awarded her a honorary Doctor of Laws degree. She was a sustaining member of the Friends of the Bata Library and had been since its inception. She gave talks to the Peterborough Historical Society and published an occasional paper on F.M. de la Fosse, Peterborough's first librarian. Fern Rahmel died 28 November 2009.
The Raper family (fl. 1890-1898) lived in the Millbrook and Cavan, Ontario area.
The Realistic Travels Company was a large stereographic publishing company based in London, England. It existed from approximately 1908 to 1916 and was run by H.D. Girdwood. Realistic Travels had branch offices in Toronto, New York, Bombay and Cape Town. (Taken from: Darrah, William C. The World of Stereographs. Gettysburg: W.C. Darrah Publisher, 1977.)
During World War II, atomic bombs were used to attack Japan by the United States of America. Hiroshima was bombed on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. These were the first atomic bombs to be used in warfare. Two hundred and forty thousand Japanese civilians died.
Elizabeth Ruth Redelmeier is a resident of Port Hope, Ontario.
The Registrar General registers are registers in which all instruments including proclamations, commissions, letters patent, and other documents issued under the Great Seal and the Privy Seal of Canada, are entered. Prior to Confederation, the registration function was the responsibility of the Provincial Secretary for each province. In 1867, this responsibility was assumed by the Secretary of State. It continued in that Department until 1966 when the Register General became a separate Department. In 1967, the new Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs took over all the duties and functions of the Registrar General.
The Reid family originated in Ireland and settled in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1822. Descendants have continued to live in the area for several decades, marrying into the Stewart, McNeill, and Godard families.
Harold Reid, the creator of this collection is the great-great-grandson of Robert Reid, pioneer settler in Peterborough, Ontario, grandson of Robert Henry Reid and son of Frederick Henry Adolphus Reid.
John Reid (d. 1882), the son of Maria Stewart (sister of Thomas Alexander Stewart) and Robert Reid, was born in Ireland and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1822 with his parents and siblings. He married Frances Hilton (1812-1878) and together they had 6 children. He settled in Douro Township and became a land surveyor in Peterborough County. Reid Street in the City of Peterborough was named after John Reid.
Elias Rendell, son of John Rendell and brother of John Rendell, was born in ca. 1797 and lived in Shaldon, County of Devon, England. Rendell was 15 years old at the time that the apprenticeship agreement was signed.
In 1852, William Lyon Mackenzie introduced to the Legislative Assembly a resolution asking for a survey of the Huron-Ottawa Territory. His intent was to increase settlement within the uninhabited region of Canada West, to encourage immigration from Europe, and discourage emigration from the province. This resolution, along with similar recommendations, led to the Colonization Roads policy, and ultimately to the passing of the Public Land Act in 1853 by the Legislature. This Act allowed the government "to appropriate as free grants any public land in the province to actual settlers, upon or in the vicinity of any public roads in any new settlements which shall or may be opened through the Lands of the Crown." The policy and the Act led to surveys for many new roads in the northern portion of Canada West, including the Burleigh Road in 1860-1861 by James W. Fitzgerald. The original survey indicated that the road was to extend north from Burleigh rapids through the Townships of Burleigh, Anstruther, Chandos, Cardiff, Monmouth, and Dudley and end where it intersected the Peterson Road. By 1862, 23 miles of the proposed road had been constructed, running north from Burleigh Bridge. With the survey and proposed construction of the Monck Road, it was decided not to extend the Burleigh Road as far north as the Peterson Road, but only to the Monck Road, which resulted in a total distance of 43 miles for the Burleigh Road. Due to the poor quality of the Burleigh Road, settlement of the surrounding townships was extremely slow and it never achieved the importance of some of the other Colonization Roads. The Burleigh Road no longer exists today. (Taken from: Murray, Florence B. "Muskoka and Haliburton 1915-1875: a collection of documents." Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1963. Spragge, George W. "Colonization Roads in Canada West, 1850-1867." Ontario History. Vol. XLIX, no. 1, 1957.)
Aureen Richardson was born 15 August 1931 and lived in Warkworth, Ontario. She married Raymond Richardson and had two sons, Raymond and Richard. She was a school teacher for 36 years, and, for 50 years, beginning in 1949, was a volunteer newspaper reporter for local newspapers on a variety of topics, including coverage of the community, churches, the disabled, local history, seniors' events, and travel. She was responsible for creating local and government interest in the erection of plaques dedicated to J.D. Kelly, St. James Anglican Church (Roseneath, Ontario), Alderville First Nation Reserve, John Weir Foote, Warkworth Cheese Country, and the Richardson archaeological site. Richardson also wrote three books, Weaving on the family loom: an anthology of Northumberland County families, Historic visions of J.D. Kelly, and Warkworth Cheese Country. From 1980 to 1986, she presented a regular four-minute "News of Northumberland" radio segment on CJBQ in Belleville, Ontario. Richardson inherited a rare neurological disease, familial spastic paraplegia, and was an advocate for the disabled throughout her life. She was a leader in Campbellford's "More Able Than Disabled" Club, was a member of the Quinte Writers' Guild and the Ontario Historical Society, and was a regular Elderhostel participant. Aureen Richardson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Trent University in 1974. She died 6 February 2015.
Louis Riel, leader of the North West rebellions of 1870 and 1885, was born at St. Boniface, Manitoba, on October 22, 1844, the son of Louis Riel and Julie Lagimoniere, and the grandson of Jean Baptiste Riel, a native of Berthier, Lower Canada. Louis Riel was educated at the seminary in Montreal, and then returned to the West. In 1869 he became secretary of the Comite national des Metis, an organization formed to resist the establishment of Canadian authority in the North West. Later in the same year he was elected president of the provisional government set up by the rebels. He escaped from the country in August, 1870, on the arrival of the expeditionary force under Colonel Wolseley; but in 1873, and again in 1874, Riel was elected to represent Provencher in the Canadian House of Commons. In 1874, on taking the oath, he was expelled from the House; and in 1875 a warrant of outlawry was issued against him. He took refuge in Montana, and there he remained until, in the summer of 1884, he was invited to return to Canada to organize the half-breeds of the North West Territories so as to obtain redress of their grievances. The outcome of his visit to Canada was the second North West rebellion. On the defeat of the rebels at Batoche, on May 12, 1885, by General Middleton, Riel was captured. He was tried at Regina, in July, on the charge of high treason, was found guilty, and on November 16, 1885, was hanged at the Mounted Police barracks at Regina. (Taken from: The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, fourth edition. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974.)
Harry M. Robbins was born in 1887, and spent his early years on a farm in Oxford County. He became a career civil servant, and held the post of inspector of prisons and public charities in the Conservative regime of G. Howard Ferguson. He later became Deputy Provincial Secretary and Deputy Hospitals Minister. His civil service career ended abruptly in 1934, with the election of the Hepburn Liberals. Robbins was one of many civil servants who were fired in a general purge of the bureaucracy. Between the years of 1934 and 1939, little is known about his life, but it is generally believed that he was a bank manager in Northern Ontario. In 1939, he went to work for the Ontario Conservative party as its public relations officer, a post which he held with varying degrees of effectiveness until 1961, when he retired. He maintained an active interest in politics until his death in 1970, and he came out of retirement more than once to help local candidates in their bids for election to various offices.
Robert Romaine, along with two brother-in-laws, established the Peterborough Review in 1853 in Peterborough, Ontario. Romaine was editor and publisher at the "Review" until 1864. In 1853 he also wrote a paper on the subject of ploughing and pulverizing by steam power, and in 1868 became the first librarian of the Peterborough Mechanics Institute, the forerunner to the Peterborough Public Library. In 1870, he headed, along with others, a gas company which introduced the first gas street lights to the city. In 1877 he was a member of a committee which was appointed to look at possibilities for a waterworks system for the city of Peterborough.
John Beverley Robinson was the second son of John Beverley Robinson, baronet and chief justice of Upper Canada, and Emma Walker. He was married to Mary Jane Hagerman on June 30, 1847 and together they had three sons and two daughters.
After attending Upper Canada College between 1830 and 1836, Robinson became an aide-de-camp to Sir Francis Bond Head during the rebellion. During the years that followed the rebellion he articled with Christopher Alexander Hagerman, whose daughter he married, and later with the firm of James McGill Strachan and John Hillyard Cameron until he was called to the bar in 1844.
In 1851, 1853-54, and 1856-57, Robinson was an alderman for St. Patrick's Ward, and in 1856 Mayor of Toronto. By 1860, as solicitor for the Canada Agency Association, he had successfully negotiated the sale of 439,000 acres in Haliburton County, almost three times the total sales for all other crown land sales for 1860 combined. In 1862 he became president of the Executive Council in the Conservative government of the Cartier-Macdonald administration, but only for a short few months. He was returned to Parliament for Algoma in 1872 until the dissolution. In 1878 he was elected by a large majority to represent West Toronto, a position he held until he was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1880. During the period from 1864-1880 Robinson also served as city solicitor for Toronto.
Robinson served as lieutenant-governor for Ontario from 1880-1887. He retired in 1887 to his Toronto home, Sleepy Hollow. On June 19, 1896 Robinson was invited to speak to a hostile group of Liberals at Massey Music Hall, where he suffered a sudden stroke and died.
Mark Robinson was Superintendent and Ranger in Algonquin Park between 1908 and 1941. He served as an Army officer with the Canadian Militia during the First World War. He resided in Barrie and Elmvale, Ontario with his wife and Children but spent many months each year in Algonquin Park.