This fonds consists of 4 original documents pertaining to the land on which Victoria College, Cobourg, was situated. One document is the declaration of Rev. S.D. Rice verifying the signatures of the Attorney General (John A. Macdonald) and the Deputy Registrar (Thomas Mayor) on the other three documents.

This fonds consists of the bench books of Judge G.L. Murdoch from the court sittings of a circuit court covering Peterborough, Cobourg and Lindsay areas. The books note the defendant and prosecution names, the case number, exhibit numbers and short comments on the cases as the witnesses testify. The books comprise an "aide-memoire" for the judge as he listened to the various cases. Twenty-five of the books were the bench books of Judge Harry R. Deyman (1912-1975).

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.

Collection consists of several Cobourg, Ontario commemorative ribbons that celebrate or observe such events as "Hearts of Oak, L.T.B.", Cobourg Old Boys' reunions, the Cobourg Regatta, the Diamond Jubilee, the Civic Tournament, and the Veteran Firemen Semi-Centennial. Numerous other ribbons depict the 207th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, world flags, various sports, Canadian provinces, months of the year, Canadian educational institutions, names of countries, etc.

This collection consists of assorted documents relating to Cobourg and vicinity. It includes marriage certificates, correspondence, indentures, opera house programmes, choral and church programmes, an oil sketch by Alice M. Duncan, and photographs and postcards. It also includes a copy of the "Cobourg World", April 8, 1898 Volume 25, and No. 43.

This fonds consists of the records of the Cobourg foundry. It includes journals, ledgers, correspondence, accounts, pay lists, bills, receipts, contracts and specifications of jobs done as kept by James Davidson, founder and machine shop operator. There is also some correspondence from A. Munson of Oil Springs, Canada West relating to the oil industry, as well as correspondence from Henry Fowlds with regards to work done and payment of accounts.

This collection consists of an undated broadside of furniture and house furnishings of Disney Bros., Bowmanville, and an undated broadside of ladies' and children's clothing, Hardy's: The Hewson store in Cobourg, Ontario. It also contains a broadside detailing conditions of sale of the Innes Mill near Grafton dated 1876. With this broadside is an original bill of sale, signed by purchaser George Fowler and dated December 12, 1876.

This fonds consists of one ledger and one letter book of A. Jeffrey & Son of Cobourg, Canada West and Ontario. These are excellent records of who supplied goods to merchants in Canada West and how they were shipped.

The ledger dates from 1851 to 1869. Page 3 concerns accounts of foundry repairs totalling 461.3.3. Page 8 lists the account of A. Moscrip of Cobourg (see 88-014). Articles sold include various items of hardware: white lead, putty, varnish, glass, nails, rope, scythe and so forth. Customers listed include Thomas Short, Keene, Trustees of the Grammar School, Ontario Distillery, and Foulds Brothers. The cover is labelled "1868 A. Jeffrey & Son, Cobourg, Ontario."

The letter book is a record of orders placed by A. Jeffrey & Son, Cobourg.

• Entries such as the following appear on page 1: Order for Sundries to be furnished by Messrs. Henry Rogers Sons & Coy, Wolverhamton, England, on account of A. Jeffrey & Son Cobourg C.W. to be shipped by first steamer from Liverpool to Montreal fully insured this to Cobourg and marked: B AJ & SC
• The order which follows is 3 pages long and includes such items as 6 dozen padlocks, 3 gross pen holders, 1 dozen japanned coal scoops, 48 Fosters plow moulds. Order is dated Cobourg, 7th June 1862, A. Jeffrey & Son.
• A. Jeffrey regularly ordered Phoenix bar iron (round, square, flat and half-round) from Coatbridge, Scotland. Glass products such as lamps and lamp chimneys were ordered from the New England Glass Company in Boston to be shipped by Grand Trunk Railway via Portland. Locks, keys, door knobs, escutcheons etc. were ordered from New York and shipped by canal to Oswego and thence by lake to Cobourg.