This fonds consists of 18 audio cassette recordings on local history topics made primarily by Enid Mallory. Ms. Mallory interviewed people throughout Peterborough County, many of them descendants of pioneer settlers. The topics include pioneer settlement, Riel Rebellion, Cavan Blazers, Warsaw, early stores (Choate, Lakehurst, Buckhorn), farming, cheese factories, Young's Point, Keene, the lumber industry, and the Chemong Bridge.

Item is an indenture stating that Elias Rendell of Shaldon, County of Devon, England agrees to become an accountant apprentice of [M-] Crawfords & Company, merchants, in St. Johns, Newfoundland. The item lays out the terms of the agreement.

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newspaper articles regarding above area; collected manuscripts of historical authors; photographs; and Guillet's own unpublished manuscript of Canadian Literary Pioneers.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 8-page, typewritten manuscript is entitled "Folk Songs of Peterborough" and consists of a brief overview of the folk song tradition of the Peterborough area. Fowke indicates that the Peterborough region is one of the richest in Ontario and credits this in large part to the significant Irish representation in the County. She mentions by name individuals who can sing old songs brought from the old country, or songs learned in the lumbering shanty and carried down from generation to generation. She quotes songs that give specific reference to places such as Kinmount, Omemee, Gannon's Narrows, Tory Hill, etc. Farming traditions, love ballads, and jail terms all find their places in the canon.

This item is a magazine in tabloid newsprint format dealing with articles on Canadian history. This item is Vol.2, from November 10, 1978.

Item is a rolled family tree with the title "Pedigree of the family of Dunsford." It was compiled in 1886 by George Lichigaray Dunsford of Exeter. The earliest information is dated 1631 and the latest 1884.

This fonds consists of records relating to the professional and personal lives of Dr. Henry Turner (Sr.) and Dr. Henry A. Turner (Jr.), both medical doctors of the Millbrook area. The medical publications, prescription day books, office records, customer account books, transaction day books, stock books, business and domestic records and invoices, glass x-rays, and correspondence depict the lives of each man respectively, spanning the years 1872 to 1936. Also included are personal and business-related records of Alice Turner, nurse, daughter of H.A. Turner (Sr.). A Farmers and Business Directory for Peterborough and the United Counties has been catalogued and removed to the Trent Collection.

The fonds consists of the papers and correspondence of the Doane Family, which settled in York County, in King Township. The papers deal with family matters, and are particularly valuable for those interested in the Society of Friends. Some of the correspondence originated in the U.S.A.

This item is a deed of the sale of land, 1861, to John Wilson, a yeoman of the Township of Manvers, in the County of Durham.

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.

This item is a spiral bound, privately printed genealogy of the McIntyre family of Otonabee.

Fonds consists of sheet music, some of which is hand-copied. The items originated with Captain Charles Rubidge and penciled annotations suggest that he collected or hand-copied a number of them in the early 1800s for his wife-to-be, Margaret Clarke, before coming to Canada. "Mrs. Rubidge" is written in hand on some pieces. Provenance is indicated on some documents in layered notes made by family descendants across generations. Also included is information compiled by Laurie Lambe Wallace about the sheet music and its history within the Rubidge family.

In 2017, 29 additional pieces of sheet music dating to the early 1800s were added. This music belonged to Mary Catharine Dunsford, wife of Reverend Hartley. Some of the music includes handwritten notations with family names and dates. While the publications of some pieces may date to the early 1800s, the handwritten penciled dates cover a period generally between the 1830s and 1860s. The notations point to connections between the Rubidge, Dunsford, McEwen, and Boyd families of the Peterborough area. Included in this addition is genealogical information compiled by the donor.

This addition to the fonds consists of legal documents and newspaper clippings pertaining to Captain Charles Rubidge and his family. Also included in the fonds is one photograph of Rubidge, three issues of early Peterborough newspapers and a sketch (copy) of the Village of Peterborough from 1828 by Basil Hall, produced by the camera lucida.

This fonds consists of two copy photographs of Captain Rubidge, one in old age and one in youth wearing Royal Navy uniform; two photographs of a portrait of Captain Rubidge; and four typescript sheets of biographical information.

Fonds consists of journals and photographs dated 1860-1908 pertaining to Hugh Caldwell Sr. of Chandos Township, Peterborough County, and his son Hugh Caldwell Jr. The journals were received in original format and as digital scans. Also included are a small number of family records dating to 1987.

This fonds consists of photographs, two charcoal portraits, land documents, family bible and biographical sketches of Lakefield, Ontario. It also includes information on the Joseph Walton family of Smith Township. The bible contains genealogical information and is a "Cottage" Bible stamped with name of Joseph and S.J. Walton.

This fonds consists of research material, manuscripts, published articles and correspondence of Blodwen Davies with the Saskatchewan Arts Board and the National Museum.

Fonds is comprised of 22 diaries authored by Richard Everett Birdsall (1837-1877), son of surveyor Richard Birdsall (1799-1852); Charlotte (“Lot”) Birdsall (1837-1933), [wife of Richard Everett Birdsall]; Francis (Frank) Birdsall (1838-1914), son of surveyor Richard Birdsall (1799-1852); and Richard (“Dick”) Everett Birdsall II ([1860]-1945), [only son of Frank Birdsall]. Also included is family correspondence (photocopies, originals, and transcriptions) dated 1819-1856; these items include original correspondence and militia lists related to the 1837-1838 Rebellion. The fonds also includes loose items from the diaries and two copies of attestation forms for the Seventh Provisional Battalion of Militia of Upper Canada.

Fonds consists of photographs, memorabilia, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings related to Aureen Richardson and her family, and to her genealogical research and historical research on events and people in the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham and Hastings County.

Fonds consists of photographs, correspondence, and miscellaneous documents pertaining to the Atwood family of Lakefield, Ontario. Also included are materials pertaining to Anne Atwood's family, the Traills; a sketch identified through an accompanying note as Ernest Shackleton; and correspondence between Edwin Guillet and explorer George M. Douglas.

This index consists of computer output microfiches of land records held in Archives of Ontario. The microfiches provide an index to Crown Land Papers, Canada Company Papers, and the Peter Robinson Papers from 1819 to 1830.

This fonds includes the letters of Anna Leveridge, written to her mother and family friends in England, describing their boat trip to Canada and pioneer life in the backwoods of Hastings County, Ontario, near Coe Hill, Marmora, and Millbridge. The fonds also includes family genealogy and photographs.

This item is a letter written by Andrew Mather of Beadnell, 9th Concession, Otonabee Township to his son-in-law Jonathan MacDougall after the death of Mather's daughter. The letter outlines the opportunities open to MacDougall if he were to choose to settle in Otonabee Township. The letter also gives news of neighbours and friends. Included is a transcript and comments regarding MacDougall by Margaret Dunham Vanderploeg, great granddaughter of MacDougall.

Fonds is comprised of approximately 105 historical photographs, family genealogy documents, various company shares, wills, and land documents pertaining to the family of Andrew Finnie II (1820-1908), resident of South Monaghan Township and farmer from the 1850s onwards. The photographs pertain largely to descendants, some of whom moved to Manitoba and sent photographs of themselves to the home farm in South Monaghan; many fine examples of photographs taken by Peterborough photographers in the 19th century are included. This fonds also includes detailed genealogical information compiled by the donor about the people represented in the photographs; also included are the donor’s detailed descriptions of the textual documents.

Fonds includes 16 envelopes containing approximately 105 photographs, especially of people, with attached genealogical information. Family names include the following: Finnie, Porter, Wood, Chambers, Cochrane, McAllister, Hall, Fisher, Dawson, Stewart, Truscott, Pacey, Scott, Moncrief, Vincent, Renton, Nairn, Richmond. Also included are photographs pertaining to the Centreville Presbyterian Church (South Monaghan), and the Finnie family homestead in South Monaghan Township. An envelope titled “Sophia Finnie” includes a typed document written by the donor titled “Our Canadian Roots”; it explains the family lineage stemming from the eighteenth-century fur trader William Renton of the Hudson Bay Company.

Fonds also includes 11 envelopes of various company shares, wills, and land documents pertaining to Andrew Finnie II and family descendants; attached to each envelope are typed notes describing the contents.

This item is a typescript of an autobiography written by Captain Charles Rubidge and published in 1870.