This fonds consists of the original and collected papers of E.C. Guillet, relating to his works and research on the Trent Valley/Peterborough/Kawartha area. Included is correspondence, primarily with George M. Douglas and Helen Marryat; maps (photocopies); newspaper articles regarding above area; collected manuscripts of historical authors; photographs; and Guillet's own unpublished manuscript of Canadian Literary Pioneers.

This addition to the fonds consists of bird spotting forms for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas and Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas error forms. Also included in the fonds are numerous publications and newsletters from various naturalist clubs across Ontario.

The fonds consists of two documents: 1) R.B. Rogers' (superintending engineer) covering report on the proposed Trent Canal from Port Hope to Rice Lake, 8 pages, January 31, 1900. 2) The supporting, or investigated, document submitted by Robt. A. Maingy (mining and civil engineer) to Lt. Gov. Sir John Colborne on the same topic on March 6, 1833, 8 pages. Roger's report was submitted to Collingwood Scheiber, Chief Engineer of the Department of Railways and Canals.

Fonds consists of research materials and notes, modern correspondence, photocopies of historical documentation, and genealogical resources for the Need family as well as other people living in both England and Newcastle District. The historical documentation includes wills, gravesite information, lot and concession records, military records, correspondence. As well as the Need family, there is also biographical information on other families, including the Dunsfords, Langtons, Campbells, and Sawers.

These research materials were accumulated by Dawn Bell Logan and used to write books, articles, and biographical entries about Thomas Need, including Thomas Need : settler in the backwoods of Upper Canada (self published, 2022), and the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Thomas Need (V. 12). Photographs are of some sites in Lincolnshire, U.K, Peterborough, Canada, the Trent Severn Waterway, Thomas Need’s descendants, and gravestones of Need family members.

Fonds is organized into four series: Thomas Need journals and correspondence; Research materials and manuscripts; Dawn Logan correspondence; and Files on Dawn Logan’s publications.

Thomas Need Biography

Thomas Need (1808-1895) emigrated from Nottingham, England to Upper Canada in May 1832 and settled in Verulam Township in Victoria County in 1833 around Sturgeon Lake. He had graduated from University College, London, in 1830 and rejected the idea of becoming a member of the clergy. This contributed to his decision to leave England.

While in Upper Canada, Need was a member of the government commission that oversaw the construction of what became the first lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway, founded the Village of Bobcaygeon in 1834, and served as a magistrate for the Court of Requests from 1835 to 1837.

Need anonymously published his book Six years in the bush or extracts from the journal of a settler in Upper Canada (London, 1838) on his experiences in Upper Canada. The book was based on his journal entries he made in his personal journal which he called the “Woodhouse Journal.” Need returned to Nottingham, England permanently in 1847 and died in 1895. His authorship was confirmed with the publication of John Langton’s letters in 1926 and he was subsequently recognized as a contributor to early Canadian literature.

Source: Biography – NEED, THOMAS – Volume XII (1891-1900) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/need_thomas_12E.html. Accessed 11 Jan. 2024.

The fonds of the Choate family consist of day books, journals and accounts of the Choate family general merchandising business, 1850-1910, at Warsaw, Canada West and Ontario; records of the Warsaw Division of the Sons of Temperance Fraternal Society, 1849-1858; a general record of registered letters, Warsaw post office, 1884-1889; and a family day book, a scrapbook of clippings, and photographs.

This fonds consists of records encompasing three generations of the Boyd family of Bobcaygeon. The fonds has been divided into the following series: photographs and glass negatives; Reverend Henry C. Avant; Mossom Boyd; Mossom Martin Boyd (Mossie); Lillian de Grassi Boyd; the De Grassi papers which are records of Dr. Alex De Grassi, Lillian Boyd's father, a physician from Lindsay, Upper Canada; Gardiner Cust Boyd; Mildred Boyd; Winnett (Brownie) Boyd; Laurence Chadwick Boyd; Mossom de Grassi Boyd; A. Sheila Boyd; stamps; artifacts; business which deals with the Boyds interests in lumbering; agricultural papers which deal with the Boyd's farming interests in buffalo and cattle; and, estate papers. The strength of this fonds lies in its completeness. Nothing was thrown away and there are grocery lists, laundry lists, staff salary books, furniture receipts, party and wedding invitations, school report cards, ship and railway timetables, diaries and approximately 20,000 pieces of correspondence. This has resulted in a remarkable record of a large household from the 1880s to the 1980s and an invaluable source for social and business historians.

This item is a photocopy of a typescript of a letter from J.B. McWilliams to Dean B.E. Fernow at the University of Toronto giving a very detailed account of timber licences in the Trent Valley (first licences, abandoned or cancelled licences) and of the amount of lumber taken out in 1872-1873 as opposed to 1912. His concerns were conservation and failing that, reforestation of the area. He also describes the Trent system of forest conservation. The letter is dated December 16, 1912.

Fonds consists of Professor Alan Brunger's research material pertaining to the historical geography of Bon Echo Provincial Park and Algonquin Provincial Park. Included in the Algonquin materials are aerial photographs and photographs of the Dennison Farm property. Also included is historical geography research material and microfilm reels relating to the Peter Robinson Irish emigration to the Peterborough area.

The fonds consists of photocopies of records relating to boats on the Trent waterway including a typescript of a list of boats, a typescript of an article title the "Trent Canal System: Peterborough Hydraulic Lift Lock", a map of the Trent-Severn waterway, two photographs of the S.S. Water Lily (of the Calcutt line), one photograph of the fleet of the Stoney Lake Navigation Company of Young's Point, and a clipping which includes a photograph of the Peterborough hydraulic lift lock.