Trent Valley and Canal

Elements area

Taxonomy

Code

Scope note(s)

  • In 1835, a proposal to build a navigable water route from Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay was submitted to Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant Governor, by civil engineer Nicol Hughe Baird. It was believed that if a link could be established between the many scattered settlements, the population would increase, and new markets would be created. With numerous arguments for and against the building of the Trent Canal, the project was begun, and was to take many separate projects over a period of almost one hundred years to complete. It was not until 1920 that the final link of the canal was completed, and water travel was made possible all the way from Trenton to Port Severn, a distance of 386 km. Although the original purpose of the building of the Canal had been to bring supplies to people living along its waterways, and to provide an outlet for timber, by the time the Canal was completed so many years later, the automobile and better roads and railways had been introduced and the original function of the Canal had changed. It has since become a famous route for recreational travel for thousands of people.

Source note(s)

    Display note(s)

      Hierarchical terms

      Trent Valley and Canal

        Equivalent terms

        Trent Valley and Canal

          Associated terms

          Trent Valley and Canal

            17 Archival description results for Trent Valley and Canal

            17 results directly related Exclude narrower terms
            Bernhard E. Fernow letter
            77-1008 · Item · Photocopied [ca. 1977]

            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.

            Fernow, Bernhard E.
            Boyd family fonds
            88-011 · Fonds · 1857-1982

            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.

            Boyd family
            Choate family fonds
            77-026 · Fonds · 1849-1910

            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.

            Choate family
            Edwin C. Guillet fonds
            74-003 · Fonds · 1632-1970

            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.

            Guillet, Edwin C.
            72-001 · Fonds · 1838-1935

            The fonds consists of family and related papers of Henry Fowlds and his family including James S. Fowlds and H.M. Fowlds. It also includes business correspondence, invoices, some journals and cashbooks, mortgages as well as deeds regarding the business of Henry Fowlds, Jas. S. Fowlds and Bros. and H.M. Fowlds. In December 2001, Trent University Archives launched an online exhibit which depicts Helen Fowld's experiences in World War I. All her letters and diaries are transcribed and are found at the following site: [Nursing Sister Helen L. Fowlds: A Canadian Nurse in World War I.]: http://digitalcollections.trentu.ca/exhibits/fowlds/

            Fowlds family and business
            George Cobb tapes
            82-006 · Fonds · 1962-1968

            This fonds consists of oral history tapes made by George Cobb. Topics covered on the tapes include: Trent Canal, lumbering, early medicine and dentistry in Peterborough County, Indigenous history and culture, mills and so forth. Fonds also includes tapes made by Cobb of other broadcasts and recordings (located at the end of the list). Browse file list for more information.

            Cobb, George
            Helen Marryat fonds
            69-001 · Fonds · 1912-1964

            The fonds consists mostly of Helen Marryat's (nee Helen Fowlds) personal experiences as a nurse in World War I, and her activities as a local historian. There are clippings of her articles in local newspapers, historical maps (drawn by Gerald Marryat) and other materials relating to settlement of Hastings and district such as education and nursing. Also included are the correspondence and photograph collections of her brothers, Donald and Eric (mostly from World War I), and material on Frederick Marryat (1792-1848), navy captain and novelist. In December 2001, Trent University Archives launched an online exhibit which depicts Helen Fowld's experiences in World War I. All her letters and diaries are transcribed and are found at the following site: http://digitalcollections.trentu.ca/exhibits/fowlds/ffowldswelcome.htm

            Marryat, Helen
            Howard T. Pammett collection
            77-010 · Fonds · 1819-1908; 1950-1975

            The collection consists of photocopies, originals and typescripts, brought together by Howard Pammett, of newspaper articles and unpublished articles on a variety of subjects such as Mossom Boyd, lumbering in the Kawarthas, Katherine Wallis, Peterborough Canoe Company, Trent Valley Navigation Company, and steamboats on the Trent-Severn system. The newspaper articles are from the "Progress of Peterborough" series by Pammett (Peterborough Examiner, 1950-51). The unpublished articles are "A Survey of Kawartha Lumbering 1815-1965" by Pammett and "The Peterborough Canoe" by Donald Cameron. There is also correspondence of Katherine Wallis, Mossom Boyd, and the Trent Valley Navigation Company.

            Pammett, Howard T.
            12-004 · Fonds · 2003-2017

            Collection consists primarily of photocopies and emails with information pertaining to various aspects of Peterborough's history, from both the city and the county. Brief history of the town of Lakefield is also included.

            Lakefield Heritage Research
            91-1025 · Collection · 1884-1979 ; (predominant 1884-1910)

            This collection consists of a number of photographs which include John Butcher, sexton of St. John's Church in Peterborough. There is one photograph of his family outside their home as well as one photograph of John at age 34. There are also a number of photographs of the Hastings Lock, Healey's Falls and steam logging and boat with log boom. There is also one photograph of William Dawson's house in South Monaghan from 1910; a photograph of "Strathormond" in Peterborough and the Champion soccer team of Fairview School from around the 1970's.

            80-017 · Collection · 1980

            This fonds consists of photocopies of 43 interview transcripts of residents of the Trent Valley area. The interviews were conducted by Daniel Francis under contract, in 1979, to Parks Canada and focus on such themes as transportation, commerce, settlement, tourism, and resource development. They relate to the section of the Trent-Severn waterway stretching from the mouth of the Otonabee River to Bobcaygeon.

            Parks Canada
            73-003 · Fonds · 1973

            The fonds consists of a photocopy of the Charter, 1889; a photocopy of the name change Order-in-Council, April 1922; original minute books from 1893 to 1918, plus excerpted items; and the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce bulletin on the Lift Lock post-1922.

            Peterborough Board of Trade
            88-025 · Collection · 1846-1860

            This fonds is comprised of typescripts of newspaper articles from the Peterborough Weekly Despatch, the Peterborough Review and the Peterborough Examiner. The articles have been arranged chronologically under a number of subject headings by the donor.

            75-1035 · Fonds · Photocopied [before 1975]

            This fonds consists of photocopies of: a) a minute book including the letters patent incorporating the company (19 October 1883) and minutes of a Director's meeting, 5 February 1900; b) by-laws of the company passed in Lindsay 26 January 1884; c) document headed "by-laws" repealing previous by-laws and a list of shareholders, 31 December 1884; and d) document with signatures of shareholders, 8 October 1883, minutes of a meeting 19 January 1884, and advertisements. The addition on 1 April 1977 consists of a photocopy of a brochure titled "Kawartha Lakes: The Bright Waters and Happy Land" with timetables for 1907. The fonds also includes some records pertaining to the Trent Valley Navigation Company.

            Trent Valley Navigation Company (Limited)
            81-015 · Fonds · 1906-1910

            This fonds consists of a 263 page scrapbook of invoices and accounts relating to the Trent Valley Woollen Manufacturing Company Limited. It also includes correspondence of the Company from 1906 to 1910.

            Trent Valley Woollen Manufacturing Company Limited
            89-1029 · Collection · 1889-1920

            This fonds consists of five time books for men and material for boat and scow repairing at Lakefield, Ontario, and various places on the Trent Canal from 1889 to 1920.

            W.T.C. Boyd fonds
            01-019 · Fonds · 1878-1917

            Fonds consists of 27 diaries of William Thornton Cust Boyd dated 1878 through 1917. Five of the diaries, 1884-1888, include financial records. The diaries recount the private and public life of Boyd, and include references to his wife, Meta, and their children, and social activities with family and friends including boating excursions and picnics. He refers throughout to Richard Birdsall Rogers (1857-1927), superintending engineer of the Peterborough Lift Lock, in social and business terms, and the two often conduct business relating to the Trent Valley Canal. Activities which Boyd participated in regularly include yachting and boating (on the "Calumet", "Ogemah", and "Ajax"), curling, hunting, gardening, tree planting, playing cards, skating, canoeing, and attending the theatre. He recounts details of the illnesses, deaths and funerals of acquaintances and family members, including his step-brother, Mossom (Mossie) Martin Boyd. Boyd recounts in detail the building of his house by John E. Belcher ([184-]-1915), architect, civil engineer, and surveyor. This house is now operated as Case Manor Nursing Home. The diaries speak of local and federal politics, World War I, and the activities of the church. They also detail the activities of the Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and Pontypool Railway Company, the Trent Valley Navigation Steamship Company, and the day-to-day operation of the family lumbering and cattle/buffalo enterprises.

            Boyd, W.T.C.