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"The link between the two [Wallis family and Forbes family] is Louisa Forbes who became Mrs. James Wallis. Louisa was the mother of well-known Peterborough-born artist and sculptor Katherine Wallis and Louisa’s father was Capt. Robert Miller/Millar Forbes.

Capt. Robert Miller Forbes had a distinguished career in the British Navy. It was, however, marred by an incident in 1798. Robert caused his ship commander, Capt. Lord Henry Paulet, later Earl St. Vincent, to be court martialled. Paulet apparently struck the then Lieutenant Forbes while Forbes was on duty on their ship – the Thalia. Paulet lost the case - but soon after he was given clemency, re-instated, and in 1819 became a Vice-Admiral. Robert Miller did not fare as well. In a transcribed letter he says that “he became the object of the most cruel and vindictive persecution… that has proved a barrier to his professional progress thro’ the mis-representations of that distinguished officer.”

After the Napoleonic Wars Robert Forbes, along with a number of ex-British military personnel, took their families and settled in France. Robert’s first child, Louisa, was born in Avranches, France. There is a watercolour in our new donation of the Church where Louisa was christened. It is likely by Katherine Wallis. The Forbes family moved around in Europe and sons were born in St. Servan Sur Merin Brittany, France. Finally the family moved to Peterborough.

Robert Forbes had an even more well-known brother – Charles John Forbes. Charles was in both the British Navy and the British Army. While in the Navy, Charles was present at the Battle of the Nile (also called the Battle of Aboukir) where Nelson defeated the French Navy. Another person at Aboukir was Charles Rubidge. Perhaps Charles Forbes and Charles Rubidge reminisced together about old battles.

While in the British Army, Charles Forbes was present for the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Our donation contains a letter written 29 Jan. 1815 on board H.M.S. Alceste, off Cat Island (near New Orleans), and sent to James Cobb, Secretary, East India Company (a cousin). In the letter Charles says that the information given to the Admiral was “fallacious” and that unlike what they had been led to believe, no “settlers of Louisiana and the Floridas” flocked to join the British cause and hence they had insufficient troops for the encounter with the Americans. It’s interesting to note that even by the end of January, Charles did not know that a treaty to end the War had been signed.

Charles had two separate enlistment periods with the British Army. Like his brother, he retired when the Napoleonic Wars were over and lived in Europe, but a few years later he re-enlisted in the Army. In 1824 he worked for the Commissariat in Nova Scotia and in 1825 he went to Montreal and stayed for 8 years. He was then posted to Jamaica and, like many Europeans who lived in the tropics, became ill. He briefly to went to England and then finally retired at half pay back in Quebec.

While posted in Quebec he acted as Commissary General for the Army and ensured there were supplies for the engineers and workers who were building canals in the Montreal region. While he was there he purchased land in the village of Carillon, on the Ottawa River just south of Lachute, Quebec, in what is now the Argenteuil Region of Quebec.

There he built a wonderful house called “Bellevue”. In our newly acquired scrapbook of Louisa Forbes there is a sketch of that house. Charles was known far and wide for his hospitality and many important people would visit him – including the Governors General.

Another well-known owner of land in the area was Sidney Robert Bellingham - nephew of Thomas A. Stewart. Sidney was very interested in politics and played a role in the 1837 rebellion – as did the British veteran Charles John Forbes."

Katherine E. Wallis was born in 1860 in Peterborough, Ontario. She studied art as a copyist at the National Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland and later at the Royal College of Art in London, England. In London she discovered sculpting as her medium of expression and won the College's bronze medal and the Modellers' Free Scholarship for her work. After two years of study in London, she went to Paris to study under noted sculptor Oscar Waldmann and was soon invited to exhibit at the Exposition Universelle where she won honourable mention. In subsequent years, she exhibited frequently in the Spring Salon of the Artists Francais and later in the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, as well as at numerous exhibits in London and elsewhere in the British Isles. Katherine E. Wallis' career was interrupted by World War I while she served as a nurse in the Canadian Hospital in Paris, France. For her services she was decorated by the French and British governments. At the end of the war, Miss Wallis spent several years in Canada exhibiting her work and visiting her sister in Peterborough, Ontario. Later she returned to Paris, and in 1929, she received her highest recognition as an artist when she was the first Canadian to be elected Societaire of the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts for her sculpture titled "La Lutte pour la Vie." She was forced to flee from France at the beginning of World War II and took up residence in Santa Cruz, California, where she lived until her death, 14 December 1957. Examples of the photographs are reproduced here.

The family of Walter Nichol Davidson resided in Brighton, Ontario. Walter Davidson (?-1936) was a merchant-tailor. He married Isabella Massie D. McDonald (?-1946). They had two daughters: Annie Helen (1878-?) and Jessie Isabella. Annie wasa school teacher and she studied through correspondence courses from the University of Toronto Extension Branch. She married dentist by the last name of Harnden. This Davidson family maybe related to the Davidson family [(77-003)]: https://www.trentu.ca/library/archives/77-003 of Cobourg, Ontario. One letter in the 86-015 fonds is addressed to a W.N. Davidson and speaks of a "Lizzie", perhaps Elizabeth, and a "Jim", perhaps James. Both collections are similar in that they contain large number of deeds and mortgages.

Thomas Watson was a school teacher in 1858 for the Grammar School at Port Hope, Canada West, which was established in 1853. (Taken from: Hope and its Port. East Durham Historical Society, 1992.)

Jacob Way (1804-1882) was born in Northport, Prince Edward County. He moved with his wife Alzina Moran (1823-1851) and their son Edward Hoag Way (1845-1922) to Tyendinega Township, Hastings County. After Alzina’s death, Jacob married Delilah (Scriver) Herns (b. 1823) and they had a son Gideon Shepard Way (1853-1937). The family moved to Murray Township in Northumberland County. With the exception of Alzina who is buried in Tyendinega, the others are buried in the Stockdale Cemetery in Hastings County, north of the area where, over time, all three had farmed and raised their families. Extended family names include Scriver, Ostrander, Herns, and Moran. (Information provided by Yvonne A. Green).

Allan Percival Way (fl. 1921-1945), was a farmer who owned property in Murray Township, County of Northumberland. He also lived in Trenton, Ontario and was married to Florence Mildred Way.

Joseph Wearing is Professor Emeritus at Trent University, having been a member of the Department of Political Studies for three decades and, for a time, serving as Chair of the Department. He is a graduate of the universities of Western Ontario, Toronto and Oxford (D.Phil.) and is the author of books and articles on Canadian political parties. His books include The L-Shaped Party: The Liberal Party of Canada, 1958-1980; Strained Relations: Canadian Parties and Voters; and The Ballot and its Message: Voting in Canada (edited collection of articles on Canadian voting behaviour). He also wrote a book about his father, Lumberjack in the Court House: The Remarkable Career of Judge Joseph Wearing and helped to produce “:30 Second Democracy: A Documentary on Political Television Advertising.” A more recent research interest is the role of party discipline in the Canadian House of Commons. Apart from his academic activities, Professor Wearing has also contributed to the musical life of Trent University and the City of Peterborough. He was the musical director of six Gilbert & Sullivan productions between 1969 and 1975 and performed in a seventh production. He conducted the Coventry Singers of Peterborough, 1967-1975, and was chair of Town & Gown Concerts that presented concerts by local performers as well as by prominent Canadian musicians including Lois Marshall, soprano, and Anton Kuerti, piano. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra and held the position of president. As a pianist and member of the Master Class Players, Wearing performs regularly at community events in Toronto.

Judge Joseph Wearing was born 20 August 1879 in Liverpool, England. He practised law in Peterborough from 1913 until 1930 when he was appointed Senior County Court Judge in London, Ontario. In addition to the practise of law, he wrote and gave addresses on many topics, mostly in the area of international relations, law, and imperialism. Judge Wearing died in London, Ontario, 29 March 1947.

The Wendaban Stewardship Authority (WSA) was created through a Memorandum of Understanding of April, 1990 and an Addendum of May 23, 1991 in which the Ontario and Teme-Augama Anishnabai governments agreed to form a “Stewardship Council” with co-management jurisdiction over four geographic townships in the Sudbury/Nipissing district of northern Ontario: Acadia; Shelburne; Canton; and Delhi. The total land area is approximately 400 square kilometres. The area is located northwest of Lake Temagami and includes the shores of Lakes Wakimika, Diamond, and the northern part of Obabika. (Taken from promotional materials issued by the WSA).

We-Can: World Emergency Centre for Non-Violence was the local Peterborough Group of Alliance for Non-Violent Action. The Alliance for Non-Violent Action was a geographically dispersed collective of groups and individuals who gathered together to plan, organize and participate in education and events for non-violent direct action. They sought to remove oppression from the world through building a non-oppressive and non-exploitative world by removing the economic and political institutions and practices which supported injustice. They did this through supportive local groups such as We-Can. The strategy behind the Alliance organizations was through organizing public, non-violent actions and the development of educational materials, resources and projects. We-Can in Peterborough took on protests at the Litton Systems Plant in Rexdale, Ontario; a study on dismantling bombs and the cruise missile amongst other projects.

Henry White was a Barrister who lived in Port Hope, Ontario, at the turn of the century. He acted as an agent, collecting rents, for various estates in the area.

Phyllis Hope (Fox) White was born near Swift Current, Saskatchewan in 1917. She taught Normal School in Saskatchewan and served in the Canadian Women's Army Corp during WWII. After receiving a BA in Social Work from University of Toronto and an MA in Education from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Phyllis moved to Peterborough in 1969 with husband Rodney F. White (1922-1995), a professor at Trent University. The couple had three daughters, Pat, Kathy, and Debbie. In Peterborough, Phyllis worked for the Kawartha-Haliburton Children's Aid Society and was a member of the Unitarian Church and the Peterborough Historical Society. She conducted historical research and and was interested in the Port Hope area, writing in particular about her paternal forefather, Elias Smith, who was a loyalist and who fought on the side of the British during the Revolution. Phyllis died in Peterborough in 2010. (Biography augmented with information extracted from the Peterborough Examiner, 24 April 2010).

Bruce Whiteman is a modernist poet, librarian, and scholar, of Peterborough, Ontario. A founder of the Hamilton Poetry Centre, he is known especially for his poem The Invisible World is in Decline which comprises nine books, the latest of which was published in 2022.

Don Whiteside (Sin-a-paw) was born in New York in 1931, the son of Thereon Harvey and Dorothy (Reid) Whiteside. He married Alvina Helen Adams in 1956 and had five children. A native author, Whiteside served with the United States military in Korea. He received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1967 and within a few years began working with the Canadian government in various departments: the Department of Regional Economic Expansion; the Department of Secretary of State; and the Department of Health and Welfare. He also taught at Manitou Community College and was director of the Ontario Genealogical Society. He died in 1993.

Robert Willan and Edward Willan seem to have been the owners of the two work books which comprise this fonds. Robert and Edward may have been brothers or even father and son. Their books are dated 1806 and 1832, respectively. An inscription on the last page of Edward's book reads "Thomas M. Willan, South Monaghan."

It is believed that in 1880 John E. Belcher built the house for William Hamilton, the developer of a machine shop which became one of Peterborough's largest and most important industries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house is solid brick, cream in colour, and has a two storey projecting bay with portico and entrance. The William Hamilton house is presently owned by the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Diocese of Peterborough. A request for designation in accordance with the provisions of the Ontario Heritage Act, 1974, was filed 31 October 1985 by the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee.

John Tucker Williams, former Commander in the British Royal Navy, arrived in Canada in 1812 and commanded a vessel on the Lake (Lake Ontario) during the War of 1812. He eventually settled in Port Hope and established a farm/estate. He later became the first Mayor of the town of Port Hope. During the Rebellion of 1837, he commanded the Durham Regiment. He then represented Durham East in the Legislative Assembly of United Canada from 1840 to 1848. He married Sarah Ward, daughter of Judge Ward of Durham. Their children include sons Arthur T.H., Henry J.B., and Charles H.A., and daughter Amelia. John Tucker Williams died in 1854. His eldest son, Arthur Trefusis Heneage, was born at Port Hope in 1837. Arthur was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and Edinburgh University, Scotland. He returned to Canada after graduating and like his father became a gentleman farmer. Also like his father, Arthur was active in politics and the military. He represented East Durham in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1875, and in the House of Commons in Ottawa from 1878 to 1885. During the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 he was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 46th Battalion of volunteer militia, and took part in the Battle of Batoche. Shortly after the battle, Arthur became ill and died near Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan 4 July 1885.

Professor Mary F. Williamson was born in Toronto in 1933 and earned her M.A. at University of Toronto. Her area of research is early literature of Canadian art, early printmaking in Canada, and art librarianship, teaching the latter at graduate schools in North America. Williamson has written articles for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and The Canadian Encyclopaedia, has published articles relating to art librarianship, and is co-author of Art and Architecture in Canada and The Art and Pictorial Press.

Paul S.B. Wilson was born in England in 1939. He held the position of Director of Athletics at Trent University from 1966 until his retirement in 2002, and served as Town Ward for the City of Peterborough from 1985 to 1997. He is a strong and vocal supporter of Trent and the City of Peterborough, and is an athlete and sports leader, widely known for his involvement in rugby and squash. Wilson served on the Board of Governors at Trent University and on several athletic associations at various levels throughout Canada, and is the recipient of Trent's Symons Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Board of Governors Eminent Service Award. He is also an inductee of the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame.

Windy Pine Point is a property located on Kushog Lake, near Minden, near Haliburton County, Ontario. The property was owned by Flora Morrison and Dr. Mary L. Northway from 1940 to 1982. As well as the main cottage, there were cabins which were available to friends and acquaintances. The owners planned and led girls' canoe trips from Windy Pine in the 1940's. It was deeded to Trent University.

Bernice Loft Winslow's Mohawk name was "Dawendine". She was raised as an Anglican and was also familiar with the Longhouse religious traditions of her Mohawk ancestors. Her schooling was on the Six Nations Reserve and the high school in neighbouring Caledonia. After high school, she taught school for a number of years and began to speak to groups interested in native culture.

Leslie Woolcott is a feminist activist living in Peterborough, Ontario.

William Lloyd (Moon) Wootton was a charter inductee in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in Westminster, B.C. and a member of the Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame and the Owen Sound Sports Hall of Fame. He became legendary in Peterborough in the 1940s and 1950s where he played goalie, breaking records and contributing to the winning of the prestigious Mann Cup for five consecutive years. Dozens of newspaper clippings published in Peterborough, Owen Sound and Westminster attest to the fame and popularity that Wootton achieved. The fonds reflects a grassroots Canadian story and is a significant historical record of mid-20th century lacrosse in Peterborough where the sport has gained widespread recognition that continues to the present day.

Founded in 1931, Beta Sigma Phi is an international women's organization that focuses on stimulating personal growth and development of its members through cultural and social programs and through service to others. Members volunteer for such activities as blood donor clinics, daffodil day, and meals on wheels. The organization supports various charities. Beta Sigma Phi was established in Peterborough in 1944. The Xi-Iota Chapter folded in 1998 or 1999.