In 1792, the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham were officially created in a proclamation made by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe. The proclamation divided Upper Canada in 19 Counties for representation purposes. The United Counties are bounded by Lake Ontario in the south, Hasting County in the east, Ontario County in the west and Peterborough and Victoria Counties in the north. The town line between Hope and Hamilton Townships divide the two counties. Durham County consists of the Townships of Cartwright, Manvers, Cavan, Darlington, Clarke and Hope. Northumberland County consists of South Monaghan, Hamilton, Haldimand, Alnwick, Percy, Cramahe, Seymour, Brighton and Murray Townships. (Taken from: Illustrated Historical Atlas of Northumberland and Durham Counties, Ontario. Belleville: Mika Silk Screening Limited, 1972.)
The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria were created in 1850 when a county system replaced the district system. In 1860 Victoria County separated from Peterborough County thus creating two separate counties.
The early 1940's saw the rapid development of Canadian-American relations brought about by the pressures of World War II. These new relations included military co-operation and economic co-operation exemplified by the Ogdensburg Declaration of August 1940 and the Hyde Park Declaration of April 1941. An area of concern for both Canada and the United States was the region known as the Canadian northwest (north of 60th parallel, west of the 110th meridian). After the Japanese attack on the military base of Pearl Harbour, December 7, 1941, the United States military became increasingly concerned over the safety of Alaska. American military leaders decided that the Canadian northwest was the ideal region on which to build secondary lines of communication to Alaska. This led to the development of the Alaska Highway and the Canol pipeline project to provide transportation into and out of Alaska and petroleum products for the military bases which were quickly cropping up in the area. Both of these projects were under the supervision of the Northwest Service Command of the United States Military and lasted from 1942 to 1945.
Hart House was opened in 1919 at the University of Toronto, Ontario. It was a gift to the University by the Massey Foundation. Built by two Canadian architects, Sproatt and Rolph, it had a dining-hall for undergraduates, a faculty club, club rooms for graduate members, a music room, a chapel, a library, a room for debates, a completely equipped little theatre, a sketch room and various offices plus a running track, rooms for boxing, fencing and wrestling, a swimming pool, a billiard room, photographic dark rooms, a rifle range, common-rooms and guest rooms. Hart House was essentially a club for men. (Taken from: Wallace, W. Stewart. A History of the University of Toronto. Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1927.)
The Province of Upper Canada, the predecessor of modern day Ontario, came into existence with the passing of the Constitutional Act by British Parliament in 1791. The passing of the Act divided the old Province of Quebec into Lower Canada in the east and Upper Canada in the west, along the present-day Quebec-Ontario border. The creation of Upper Canada was the result of several different factors. During the Seven Years' War, the French abandoned most of the region of the province of Quebec to the British and after the surrender of Montreal in 1760, the British took over the territory which was later to become Upper Canada. Also, in the 1780's, after the end of the American Revolution, thousands of Loyalist refugees flooded northward, across the border. The Constitutional Act was a direct response by London to the American Revolution and Upper Canada was to develop with tight British control. The first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada was Sir John Graves Simcoe. Simcoe's prime goal was to win the American Loyalist emigrants back into the British camp. Simcoe did not fully succeed in his goal when he retired in 1796, but the War of 1812 helped to further his cause and strengthen Britain's control over Upper Canada. Over time, the people of Upper Canada found the Constitutional Act of 1791 too rigid, and there was much pressure for change. A second wave of settlers came to the region between 1815 and 1820. These settlers were immigrants from the British Isles who came to the Canadas looking for a better life. By 1838 the population of Upper Canada had risen to more than 400 000 inhabitants. In 1838, the Governor General of Canada, the Earl of Durham, drafted his famous Durham report, calling for the re-unification of Upper and Lower Canada and creation of "responsible government". Britain approved the union of Upper and Lower Canada and on February 10, Upper Canada ceased to exist, and in union with Lower Canada, became the Province of Canada. (Taken from : The Canadian Encyclopedia, Volume three. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1985.)
Newcastle District was created in 1802, and had been previously part of the Home District. Newcastle District encompassed the present day counties of Durham, Northumberland, Peterborough, Victoria, and all land to the north. In 1838, the District was divided into the Newcastle and Colborne Districts. In 1849, the district system was abolished, and the Newcastle District became known as Northumberland and Durham Counties in 1850, and Colborne District became Peterborough County in 1850. From the land comprising Peterborough County, Victoria County was created in 1852, and Haliburton County was created in 1874. (Taken from: Hillman, Thomas A. "A Statutory Chronology of Ontario: Counties and Municipalities." Gananoque: Langdale Press, 1988.)
A. Douglas Vaisey worked for several years within the court system in Peterborough, Ontario and was an active member of Grace United Church. He was adult advisor of the Kala-Chi-Hi-Y Club of the Peterborough Young Men's Christian Association, a member of the Peterborough Humane Society, and executive member of The House of Four Seasons. He was an avid long-distance walker.
Margaret Van Every is the daughter of Janet and Alan Van Every. Her aunt, Molly Gibson, was a friend of Mary Northway's. Janet Van Every, Molly Gibson, and Mary Northway, were all campers at Glen Bernard Camp. Molly Gibson and Mary Northway were associated with the Brora Centre.
Henry Vansittart, Vice-Admiral with the British navy, was born at Bisham Abbey, Berkshire, England, in 1779. He entered the British navy as a midshipman in 1791, and served throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. In 1830 he was promoted Rear-Admiral, and in 1841 Vice-Admiral. In 1834 he bought an estate near Woodstock, Upper Canada, on which he settled; and he died there in 1844.
Frederick Arthur Verner was born 26 February 1836 in Hammondsville, Upper Canada and died 16 May 1928 in London, England. He was a painter who specialized in the Canadian West, often depicting Indigenous peoples and bison. He sought to convey an accuracy of his subjects as he portrayed the west as a veritable eden. He was an artist present at the signing of the North West Angle Treaty Lake of the Woods. (Taken from: The Canadian Encyclopedia. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1985.)
From 1966 to 1973, John Leishman was Controller and, from 1971, also Vice-President (Finance). The office was split in 1973 and there was a Vice-President (Finance) and a Controller (Peter Lewis). John Earnshaw became Vice-President (Administration and Finance) in 1981 as John Leishman moved to the position of Executive Vice-President (External Relations and Financial Affairs). John Earnshaw held the office until August 1991. Nancy Sullivan became Vice-President (Finance and Administration), 1991-1994. For further information about the office and its leadership over the years, see A.O.C. Cole, Trent: The Making of a University, pp. 126-129; D'Arcy Jenish, Trent University: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence, 2014; and the annual course calendars (available in the Archives Reading Room).
Victoria College was established by the Methodists as an Academy in Cobourg, Canada West. In 1829 at the Conference of Methodist's conference it was decided to establish a seminary for preparatory education for males and females. The cornerstone of the College, which was known as the Upper Canada Academy, was laid June 7, 1832. The official opening occurred four years later on June 18, 1836. On October 6, 1836 the Academy was granted its Royal Charter for its incorporation. The Academy provided co-educational, non-denominational preparatory education similar to the grammar schools of the time. In 1841 a Provincial Statute elevated the status of the Academy to College. Thus on October 21, 1842 Victoria College started its first semester as a degree-granting institution. The College granted degrees in Arts, Science, Law, Medicine and Divinity. When it acquired its elevated status as a College women were no longer allowed to attend until 1880. From 1876 to 1878 a new building, called Faraday Hall, was built on campus to house the Science Department. This was sponsored by Dr. Eugene Haanel. The College enlivened the community of Cobourg by encouraging intellectual pursuits. The College gave a Conversazione, the first of its kind in Cobourg, after convocation. This allowed the students to march around to music since dancing was not allowed at that time in the College. On November 20, 1892 a Act was passed by the Province that federated Victoria College with the University of Toronto. At this point the college professors and students moved to Toronto and the building which used to house the College became in turn a Provincial Asylum, a Military Hospital, an Ontario Hospital and a training centre for the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services. (Taken from: Cobourg Early Days and Modern Times. Cobourg: Haynes Printing Company, 1981.)
Victoria County, formally established in 1860, is comprised of the Townships of Bexley, Carden, Dalton, Eldon, Emily, Fenelon, Laxton, Digby, Longford, Manvers, Mariposa, Ops, Somerville, and Verulam. The town of Lindsay in Ops Township is the county seat. The County is bordered in the north by the Muskoka District, in the east by Haliburton and Peterborough Counties, in the south by Lake Scugog and the Regional Municipality of Durham, and in the west by Durham and Simcoe Counties. It is 2 169 km square in area. The land in Victoria County was first opened for settlement in 1821 and the first settlers were mainly Irish, both Protestant and Catholic, and Scottish Presbyterians. By 1880, lumbering was firmly established as the main industry in the county. Quickly the region was stripped of its forests, and it was not until the 1920's that an interest in reforestation developed. Today, Victoria County is a prime grain producing region. As well, chemical industries and tourism make up the present day economic picture of the county. (Taken from: Mika, Nick and Helma. Places in Ontario, Part III. Belleville: Mika Publishing Company, 1983.)
The Victoria Museum grew out of the Peterborough Historical Society's efforts to preserve the past. They received $200.00 from the City of Peterborough; $100.00 from the County of Peterborough and the Society raised $100.00. June 22, 1897 was the official dedication of the Victoria Museum. It was called the Victoria Museum to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. The Victoria Museum officially opened October 31, 1898. It was housed in the two front rooms, the large ground floor hall, the upstairs hall and two upstairs rooms at Inverlea House. The museum had a number of cases of birds and animals, Indigenous curios, old documents, antique firearms, an old canoe and displays of minerals. T.A.S. Hay became the first curator when the Victoria Museum moved from Inverlea Park to the top floor of the new library building on April 23, 1912. G.H. Clarke became the next curator as Hay died in 1917 and the Library Board took over stewardship of the museum. In the 1950's William Graff became the curator but by this point much of the museum's collection had been dispersed to other sources in the Peterborough area. The Historical Society re-established itself and the museum became renewed with display cases on the upper floor and in the basement of the library. Eventually the artifacts which were part of the Victoria Museum's collections and later under library stewardship came to be housed in the Peterborough Centennial Museum. The Centennial Museum originated from the need in the city for a new museum. At this point the Peterborough District Historical and Art Museum Foundation was established in 1961 to fund and establish a new museum and safeguard remnants of the Victoria Museum collection. On November 19, 1966 the Historical Society transferred ownership of the collection to the Foundation since the society was not incorporated. On October 28, 1967 the Peterborough Centennial Museum was officially opened on Armour Hill and the collections of the Victoria Museum became a part of the Centennial Museum's collections. (Taken from: Doherty, Ken. Preserving Peterborough's Past: 150 Years of Museums and History. Occasional Paper 16. Peterborough Historical Society, November 1995.)
The village of Ashburnham was situated in the north-west portion of Otonabee Township in Peterborough County. It is believed that Presbyterian minister, Reverend Samuel Armour, who arrived from Scotland in 1826, was its first settler. Prior to 1904, the village was a municipality of the County of Peterborough; in 1904, it was annexed by the City of Peterborough.
Peterborough is situated, for the most part, on the west bank of the Otonabee River which runs south into Rice Lake. Samuel de Champlain was the first European to cross the site of Peterborough. In 1819 Barnabus Bletcher, Thomas Edmison, John Farrelly, Charles Fothergill, Adam Scott and Thomas Ward entered the area looking for a suitable mill site. The mill eventually became a landmark to residents and travellers in the area until it burnt down in 1835. In 1825 Peter Robinson entered the area with Irish settlers. The area was originally known as Scott's Plains. In 1826 the settlement was named Peterborough in honour of Peter Robinson. The town had mills and churches to start with and eventually expanded with banking arriving in 1840 and water power in the 1850's. (Taken from: Illustrated Historical Atlas of Peterborough County, 1825-1875. Peterborough: The Peterborough Historical Atlas Foundation Inc., 1975.)
VOX was the student publication of United College, now the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Robert Waddell and Hugh Waddell were brothers who were both businessmen in Durham County in the middle to late 1800's and the early 1900's. Robert Waddell resided in Balieboro and Hugh Waddell lived in Millbrook, Ontario.
Professor John Wadland was born in 1943. He was educated at the University of Waterloo where he received his M.A. in history, and at York University where he received his Ph.D in the same subject in 1976. He joined the staff of the Canadian Studies Department of Trent University when it was created in the 1972-73 academic year.
Vernon B. Wadsworth was born in 1844 and at the age of sixteen became an articled pupil of John S. Dennis, Provincial Land Surveyor, upon passing his preliminary surveying examination in Toronto in April 1860. Wadswoth assisted Dennison in the surveying of several colonization roads in the Muskoka, Parry Sound and Nipissing Districts. Wadsworth passed his final examination and became a licensed surveyor in 1864 and he continued to do surveys in the previously mentioned Districts. When John S. Dennis retired from his surveying practice and entered the Government Service as Surveyor General of Canada, Wadsworth arranged a partnership with Dennis' former partner B.W. Gossage and established a surveying office on Adelaide Street in Toronto. This partnership only lasted a few years. In 1868, Gossage gave up the surveying business, due to lack of business. In the same year, Wadsworth approached Charles Unwin, a successful and politically connected Toronto land surveyor, and the two formed the partnership of Wadsworth and Unwin. At the same time, the surveying business in Toronto and the Province took a turn for the better and Wadsworth and Unwin were able to develop a large practice. They received commissions from the Dominion and Ontario Governments, Railway Corporations and the City of Toronto. They were also employed as City Surveyors by the Corporation of Toronto and in 1872, they published the Wadsworth and Unwin's map of the City of Toronto which proved to be an invaluable resource to lawyers and those engaged in the real estate business. In February of 1875 Wadsworth married Laura Ridout. On 1 December 1876, Wadsworth entered the service of the London and Canadian Loan Agency Company as Chief Inspector. He also retained his name in his surveying firm. In 1899 he was made the General Manager of the company. On 1 April 1921, after 44 years of service, V.B. Wadsworth retired from the service of the London and Canadian Loan and Agency Company. He died in 1942 at the age of 98.
Professor Keith Walden was born in Montreal, Quebec. From 1966 to 1970 he was an undergraduate student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He also received his Master's degree (1971) and Doctorate degree (1981) from Queen's University. Professor Walden joined the History Department of Trent University in 1977. His major historical research interest has been in the area of popular culture, particularly myth and symbolism. Professor Walden served for several years, until August 1990, as an editor of the journal Ontario History, and has published several articles and books. His books include Isaac Brock, man and myth: a study of the militia myth of the War of 1812 in Upper Canada, 1812-1912, 1971; The symbol and myth of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in some British, American and English Canadian popular literature, 1873-1973, 1980; Visions of order, 1982; Becoming modern in Toronto: the Industrial Exhibition and the shaping of a late Victorian culture, 1997; and The papers of Harry Cassidy and Beatrice Pearce: the courtship years, 1917-1925, 2009.
The Wallace Point Bridge and Road Company was created on October 31, 1866 for the express purpose of building a road and bridge from South Monaghan Township, County of Northumberland, across the Otonabee River, to Wallace Point, Otonabee Township, County of Peterborough. The total distance of the road, including the bridge, was to be 2 1/4 miles. It is unknown when the company ceased to exist.
R. Waller was either a carpenter or wagon maker who lived and worked in Campbellford, Ontario, at the turn of the twentieth century.