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.

This addition to the fonds consists of photocopies of the original report, field notes, diary and index of the re-survey of free grants on the Bobcaygeon Road, south of Bell's Line. The field notes are in diagram form with remarks on soil and timber. The fonds also includes notes on side roads, Concession "A", Township of Sherbourne, Ridout, Franklin and the "Queen's Line", and the Township of Franklin. Also included is a typescript of a report dated July 15, 1862 to Hon. Wm. Macdougall, Commissioner of Crown Lands. The report, etc. were written by J. Stoughton Dennis.

This addition to the fonds consists of photocopies of the field notes, diary and report of the survey of the Bobcaygeon Road (Township of Bobcaygeon) from Somerville to Bell's Line, 1858 by land surveyor Michael Deane. Includes comments on timber and soil with diagrams and a typescript of a letter to the Commissioner of Crown Lands dated September 7, 1858.

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.

Collection consists of three pamphlets, "Our Own Cookbook" / by the East Victoria Women's Institute, 1905, "Pioneer Gleanings from Verulam, 1867-1967" / by T.H. Martin, and "Bury's Green Branch of the Women's Institute, 1953-1993". Also included are items which were removed from a scrapbook: seven photographs, brochures, and several newspaper clippings relating to Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, Lindsay, and Bury's Green, Ontario, 1961, 1984-1994. The photographs include Women's Institute members such as Nan McGhee, Phyllis Fell, Esther Humphries, Laura Flett, Mrs. Tiers, Clara Flett, and Grace Barker; also included are photos of Sherry L. Telford and Kim Chambers during the Olympic Torch Run, 1988. This collection also consists of a scrapbook entitled "Tweedsmuir History: Bury's Green Branch Women's Institute". Enclosed in it are approximately 70 photographs, a history of Bury's Green branch of the Women's Institute, maps, brochures, correspondence, historical accounts, and memorabilia, n.d. This collection also consists of research material for the Tweedsmuir History; Hand Books for the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario, 1949, 1971, 1983, and 1987; notebooks containing reports on the Tweedsmuir History, on Historical Research and Cultural Events, and on Education and Cultural Activities, 1953-1987; programs dated 1953-54 through 1993-94; 100th anniversary materials; and correspondence and brochures relating to an award given to a student at Fenelon Falls Secondary School, 1996.

Series consists of five microfilm reels of the decennial nominal census, of 1881, of Peterborough, Victoria, Hastings, Durham and Northumberland Counties. This collection includes the census of the towns, villages, and townships of Hastings County (north) and are listed as follows: Marmora Lake, Wollaston, Monteagle, Hershel, Wicklow, McClure, Bangor, Mayo, Carlo, Grimsthorpe, Elzevir, Dungannon, Faraday, Cashel, Limerick, Tudor, Sabine, Airey, Lyell, Murchison and Robinson; also Northumberland County (east), including Cramahe, Colborne (village), Brighton, Brighton (village), Murray, Percy, Seymour, Campbellford (village) and Hastings (village). Included also is Northumberland County (west) encompassing Alnwick, Haldimand, Hamilton, and Cobourg (town); and Peterborough County (east), which includes Ashburnham (village), Norwood (village), Burleigh, Anstruther, Chandos, Harvey, Galway, Cavendish, Belmont, Methuen, Hastings (village), Asphodel, Stanhope, Sherborne, McClintock, Dudley, Dysart, Harcourt, Snowden, Glamorgan, Monmouth, Cardiff, Minden, Douro, Otonabee, and Dummer. Also included is Peterborough County (west), encompassing Peterborough (town), Smith, Monaghan (north), Monaghan (south), and Ennismore; also Durham County (east), which includes Hope, Port Hope (town), Cavan, Manvers, Millbrook (village); also Durham County (west), which includes Darlington, Newcastle (village), Clarke, Cartwright, and Bowmanville (town); also Victoria County (south), which includes Ops, Lindsay (town), Mariposa, Emily, Verulam, Omemee (village), and Bobcaygeon (village); also Victoria County (north), which includes Eldon, Fenelon, Fenelon Falls (village), Carden, Dalton, Bexley, Somerville, Digby, Laxton, Longford, Lutterworth, Hindon, and Anson; also Muskoka, which includes Morrison, Gravenhurst (village), Muskoka, Wood, Medora, Monk, Cardwell, Watt, Conger, Humphrey, Oakley, Ryde, Draper, Bracebridge (village), Macauly, Brunel, Stephenson, Ridout, McLean, Sinclair, Franklin, Proudfoot, Chaffey, Bethune, Perry, McDougall, Cowper, and Foley.

This fonds consists of correspondence, reports, notes and other records relating to the provincial election of 1937, federal election of 1940, Progressive Conservative party conventions of 1938 and 1942, Port Hope conference of 1942, meetings of the Dominion Conservative party in 1944 and 1946. It also includes material regarding the murder trial of John Schell, 1923-25 (C.G. Frost most important early case) and to municipal and school board affairs, Lindsay, 1936-47.

The fonds consists of photocopies of records of Christ Church, Bobcaygeon, Ontario, including minute books, parish registers (baptisms, marriages, burials and confirmations), and a vestry book including both accounts and minutes. The photocopied records cover approximately a hundred-year span from 1865 to 1960.

This addition to the fonds consists of photocopies of the records of Christ Church, Bobcaygeon, giving an outline history of the beginnings of the congregation and church construction, treasurer's accounts (Building Committee), Font Account (Reverend C.W. Paterson), Bazaar Account, and Liabilities Account (Building Committee). The records photocopied range from 1869 to 1881.

This fonds consists of correspondence, research notes and original documents which were collected by Professor David Macmillan during his research. Items such as voters' lists for Victoria County, Ontario and a series of broadsides advertising land in Victoria County; documents from the Hudson's Bay Company, East Indies; minutes from the Barbados Board of Legislative Council, a Sydney Australia Company, and the Sydney Australian Committee of the New Steam Company; and a number of reproduction engravings and prints are included in the fonds. Also included in the fonds is a copy of Macmillan's 1964 Ph.D. thesis: "The Scottish Australian Connection..." and assorted pamphlets relating to New South Wales.

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.

Fonds consists of an original unpublished manuscript written by Dennis Dickens Sweeting about his life. There is reference throughout to his involvement with theatre. Also included are two letters (1999) addressed to Jean Murray Cole from Beth Clarke-Gilman (niece of Dennis Sweeting) and Dennis Sweeting. These letters concern the reading of Sweeting's manuscript.