Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
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- Textual record
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the creator of the fonds.
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Class of material specific details area
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Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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[197-]-2023 (Creation)
- Creator
- Logan, Dawn Bell
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1794-2023 (Creation)
- Note
- Dates of originals - earlier records in the collection are modern reproductions.
Physical description area
Physical description
61 cm of textual records
51 photographs
4 negatives
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dawn Bell Logan is a retired librarian and author with an enduring interest in Canadian local history. She has published work in newspapers, and the Dictionary of Canadian Biography on Thomas Need. Logan has also authored By the sound of the mill whistle: sawmilling in Stickney, New Brunswick (Carleton County Historical Society, 1999) which was based off a newspaper series Logan wrote for the Hartland Observer called “Sketches of Stickney.” Logan has also written the books In those early years: the Petries, Whitts, and Schaffers, ancestors of Phyllis Adele Logan (Melvin Village, NH : Ian L. Whitmore, [2016]), and Thomas Need : a settler in the backwoods of Upper Canada (self-published, 2022).
Custodial history
Collection was in the custody of Dawn Bell Logan before being donated to the Trent University Archives in 2023.
Scope and content
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.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Collection donated by Dawn Bell Logan in 2023.
Arrangement
Arrangement of material into series roughly follows an initial list provided by the creator.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Original records located at Library and Archives Canada and Archives of Ontario.
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
None
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
71-006, Huston papers, some of the photocopied materials are from this fonds. Many of the photocopied historical materials are from Library and Archives Canada, and Archives of Ontario.
The following books were included in the donation and are a part of Special Collections
- Thomas Need: a settler in the backwoods of Upper Canada / Dawn Bell Logan (self published, 2022).
- Six years in the bush / Thomas Need, 1838, (Bobcaygeon Public Library Committee reprint, n.d.).
- The Otonabee school / Alex Lucas, (Mansfield Book Mart Ltd.,1977).
- Timber empire : the exploits of the entrepreneurial Boyds / Grace Barker, 1997 (Fenelon Falls, Ont.: Dawn Publishing, 1997).
The following publication was added to the Pamphlet Collection
- P1091 Centennial booklet: Christ Church Bobcaygeon Ontario 1871-1971, (Bobcaygeon (Ontario) Independent, [1971]).
Accruals
General note
Dates provided on files reflect the date of original records. In nearly all cases, files contain modern photocopies of these records, created in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Need, Thomas (Subject)