Item is a diary (1910-1921) that belonged to Edwin Zimmerman Yerex of Little Britain, Ontario. The diary is a rich source of information on the people and events of Little Britain and the surrounding area. Place names such as Oakwood, Lindsay, Uxbridge, Port Perry, Sunderland, Omemee, Fingerboard, Valencia, Peniel, Peterborough, etc. are mentioned. People with surnames such as Archer, Ashton, Chapman, Trick, Yeo, Snelgrove, Hall, Drews, and many others, are referred to throughout, and death dates of family members and acquaintances, and circumstances surrounding the deaths are often recorded.
Yerex has entered his daily activities, such as excursions to "the lake", fishing trips, and trips to the Canadian National Exhibition, and often mentions the church, gardening, hockey, politics, i.e. Sam Hughes' political meetings, the weather, and musical performances and fairs in the area. He has also recorded world events such as the sinking of the Titanic (April 1912); a cyclone in Regina (July 1, 1912); war between Turkey and Montenegro, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria (October, 1912).
Also mentions the Halifax explosion (December 1917); the Easter Uprising in Ireland (April 1916); the defeat of the Hearst government in 1919 and the win by the United Farmers of Ontario, the influenza and small pox epidemics, and news relating to WWI. By 1919, it seems that part of the Yerex home was being used as a hospital, nursing home and local surgery. Dr. Hall of Little Britain attended patients there and a staff including Ettie tended to them. Several pages at the end of the diary are comprised of jokes, puzzles, and poems.
