Henri Bourassa, journalist and politician, was born at Montreal, Quebec, on September 1, 1868, the son of Napoleon Bourassa and Azalie Papineau, and the grandson of Louis Joseph Papineau. He was educated by tutors, and became a journalist. He was a contributor to Le Nationaliste, a journal published in Montreal; and in 1896 he was elected to represent Labelle as an independent Liberal in the House of Commons. He became a pronounced "Nationalist" and in 1910 he founded Le Devoir, a Nationalist newspaper in Montreal, of which he became the editor-in-chief, and he continued as editor until he broke with many of the Nationalists, and resigned from the paper in 1932. Bourassa has been described as a man of erratic impulses. This is exemplified in his resignation from the House of Commons in 1907 so he could sit in the Quebec Legislative Assembly. He remained in the Assembly from 1908 to 1912. He sat once again in the House of Commons from 1925 to 1935, when he was defeated in his old constituency, Labelle. Bourassa was an outstanding political figure, and a first-rate orator. He also published many pamphlets on political questions, in both French and English. Henri Bourassa died at Outremont, Quebec, on August 30, 1952.
Annie Sheila Boyd was the daughter of Mossom Martin Boyd and Ida Lillian de Grassi, and the granddaughter of Mossom Boyd. She never married.
Ted Brock was Chair of the Camp Tonakela Association.
Edward Templeton Brown, grandson to Frances and Thomas Stewart, was born at Goodwood, the family farm in Douro Township, Canada West, on December 24, 1852 to Edward Wilson Brown and Elizabeth Lydia Stewart. In 1879 he went to the Northwest Territory to help survey Riding Mountain National Park. After the survey was completed he worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1880 he joined a party, led by Major Boulton, heading for the Shell River area of western Manitoba to settle on land. He joined Boulton's Scouts and during the Battle of Batoche was killed in action on May 12, 1885. The community in Peterborough decided to raise a memorial stone to Edward Brown to commemorate his death in the Riel Uprising.
David Brown was a teacher and collector of historical documents and books who resided in Hamilton, Ontario.
Jane W. Deyman (nee Curran) was born November 7, 1914 to James W. Curran (see 74-006) and Edith Pratt. She married Harry R. Deyman (1912-1975) and they had three children: Mary, Susan and Peter. Her husband was a supreme court judge for Cobourg and then Peterborough. Jane was the chair of the Board of Directors at the Peterborough Centennial Museum and Archives as well as chair for the Peterborough Historical Atlas Foundation. She was a long time member of the Peterborough Historical Society and volunteered at Hutchinson House. She was an active participant in heritage and humane fields and volunteered her time to numerous heritage activities. Jane Deyman died January 27, 1993.
Tommy Douglas was born in Scotland in 1904 and immigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1919 with his family. Born of working-class and religious parents, he was ordained into the Baptist church in 1930. He later became interested in alleviating the suffering he witnessed during the Great Depression, and in the federal election of 1935 was successfully elected the leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). In 1944 Douglas resigned his federal seat to become Premier of Saskatchewan for the next 17 years. In 1961 Douglas resigned as premier and in the following by-election became the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) until 1971. Douglas is recognized as the father of socialized medicine, having first advocated Medicare in Canada. He is also credited with having fought for a Canada-wide pension plan and bargaining rights for civil servants. In 1946 Douglas undertook to sponsor a union of the various aboriginal tribes in Saskatchewan, as a way to assist the tribes in having a more effective voice in promoting their own welfare. (Taken from "The Canadian Encyclopedia", Vol.1, Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton, 1985, p.507-508.)
Wayland Drew was born in 1932 in Oshawa, Ontario. He graduated with a B.A. Honours in 1957 from Victoria College at the University of Toronto. He majored in English Language and Literature. He married Gwendolyn Parrott in October of 1957. They had four children, Scott, Marda, Paula and Cindy. Drew raised his family in Port Perry, Ontario and Bracebridge, Ontario. Drew began to write short stories and poetry in high school and university. Drew's first published novel, "The Wabeno Feast," was released in 1973 by Anansi. Drew's interest in Canadian history, Native culture and social ecology comes through in this novel and his other works. "The Wabeno Feast" was republished in 1985 by General Publishing. Since "The Wabeno Feast," Drew has written eleven other books of fiction and non-fiction. These include the non-fiction books, "Superior: The Haunted Shore" (1975), "A Sea Within: the Gulf of St. Lawrence" (1984), both with photography by his friend, Bruce Litteljohn, and "Brown's Weir" (1983) with photography by his wife, Gwen. In the late 1970s, Drew was approached by a friend, Matthew Robbins, to write a novelization of the film script, "Corvette Summer." The novelization was released in conjuction with the film in 1978. Drew proceeded to write the novelizations of three other film scripts: "Dragonslayer" (1981), "Batteries Not Included" (1987), and "Willow" (1989). Drew produced a science-fiction trilogy, "The Erthring Cycle," in the mid-eighties. The titles include "The Memoirs of Alcheringia" (1984), "The Gaian Expedient" (1985), and "The Master of Norriya" (1986). His final novel, "The Halfway Man," was published in 1989 by Oberon. Drew wrote and published works of short fiction and non-fiction. Some of his early stories were published in "The Tamarack Review" and "Acta Victoriana." Later short fiction was published in collections such as "New Canadian Short Stories," "Anthology," "Islands of Hope," and "Once Upon a Time." Drew also wrote scripts for CBC radio and for a Ministry of Natural Resources film called "Places Out of Time" (1994). He also wrote short non-fiction for a variety of publications such as "Ontario Naturalist," "Alternatives," "The Illustrated Natural History of Canada," and "Green Teacher." Drew began teaching high school in Port Perry, Ontario, in 1961. He earned a teaching certificate by taking summer courses at the Ontario College of Education while teaching during the school year. As a teacher, he also worked at the Ministry of Education and Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School. Drew took leaves from teaching in order to write full time, though he also wrote part-time while teaching. He retired from teaching in 1994. In addition to writing and teaching, Drew was active in the community. He was president of the Historical Society of Bracebridge, and chair of the "Signs of Hope" environmental conference in 1991. Drew also gave numerous guest lectures and facilitated workshops. Drew's acomplishments were recognized formally twice in 1991. In October of that year, Drew was honoured with the Lieutenant-Governor's Award from the Conservation Council of Ontario. Later that month, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Trent University. Wayland Drew died on December 3, 1998.
J. Brown was a farmer in Peterborough, Canada West, during the mid 1800's.
Kenneth Brown was born 21 January 1949 in Toronto and moved to Peterborough in 1974. He is married to Kathleen Brownscombe and has three children. Brown attended the Haliburton Scout Reserve for boy scouts in 1965-1967 and became a leader there. He was founding president of Kawartha Jazz Society (founded in 1989) and a partner at Stow Brown and McLeod where he worked until 2011 in public accounting. Interested in local history, Brown has extensively researched his wife's family, the Brownscombes, and is author of: The Invention of the Board Canoe, 2001; The Peterborough Potteries, 2003; and The Canadian Canoe Company, 2011. He also published a poster entitled "View of Ashburnham from the Tower of St. John's Church c. 1874."
William Brownscombe was a potter by trade in Peterborough.
Professor Alan Brunger was educated in England (B.Sc. Hons. Southampton 1963) and came to Canada in 1964 for graduate work, first in Alberta (M.Sc. Calgary 1966) and later in Ontario (Ph.D. Western Ontario 1973). He joined the faculty in Geography at Trent University in 1969 and has lectured and undertaken research mainly in historical geography within Canada, Australia and South Africa. His main research interest is in the pattern and process of nineteenth century immigration and settlement. Professor Brunger retired from the Geography Department at Trent University in 2008.
John William Burbidge was born in 1936 in Hoiryung, Korea, the son of missionary parents. He married Barbara Annette Perkins in 1958 and they have three children, James, Elizabeth, and Bruce. Professor Burbidge received an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and History at the University of Toronto in 1957 and a M.A. degree in Philosophy at Yale University in 1958. He then entered Emmanuel College, proceeding to ordination in the United Church of Canada and a Bachelor of Divinity in 1962. After studying theology at the University of Heidelberg the following year, Professor Burbidge became the minister responsible for Lakeview United Church in Mississauga. In 1971 he received a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. Professor Burbidge began teaching at Trent University in the Philosophy department in 1970 and taught there until his retirement in 1999. While at Trent, he served in several roles including Master of Champlain College, Chair of the Philosophy Department, Acting Registrar, and Associate Vice President for Student Services. He was also a long-time member of the Friends of the Bata Library. In the 1980s, Professor Burbidge served as Vice-President and President of the Hegel Society of America and in 1998 was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Amongst his publications, to name a few, are such titles as: On Hegel's Logic; Hegel on Logic and Religion; Real Process: How Logic and Chemistry Combine in Hegel's Philosophy of Nature; and Hegel's Systematic Contingency. Professor Burbidge has developed an interest in bookbinding and repair and is working towards certification by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild.
Verna Burgess was the daughter of Dr. John Burgess and Emma Burgess and was the second oldest of four daughters. Her father operated a drug store and had a medical practice in Lakefield and the girls received their early schooling there, coming to Peterborough to finish high school, and in Verna's case, to attend the Peterborough Normal School. Burgess taught for the Peterborough Board of Education at King Edward and Queen Alexandra Public Schools, and was also associated with the Normal School as a practice and critic teacher. A tobogganing accident confined her to bed for a considerable time, during which she began extramural studies through Queen's University, eventually going to Kingston to complete an Honours B.A. in English and History. Subsequently she finished her M.A. She joined the staff of the Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School where she taught history until her retirement. She was an excellent and inspiring teacher and a public-spirited citizen. She was a member of the original committee set up to study the feasibility of the establishment of Trent University. (Taken from a typewritten note by Fern A. Rahmel, which accompanied the fonds, and from information supplied by Gordon Young. The Rahmel note is located in the Rahmel donor file, Trent University Archives).
Zaccheus Burnham was born February 20, 1777 in Dunbarton, New Hampshire, son of Asa Burnham and Elizabeth Cutler. He was raised in New Hampshire and came to central Upper Canada in 1797, eventually settling in Hamilton Township, Newcastle District. Several of his brothers also settled in the same area.
On February 1, 1801, he married Elizabeth Choate, also of New Hampshire. Together they had six children, five daughters and one son. As soon as Burnham arrived in Upper Canada, he became interested in acquiring land and was eventually to become one of the largest land holders in the Newcastle District (he owned the land on which the village of Ashburnham is situated). He also carried out land surveys with his future son-in-law, land surveyor Richard Birdsall, which allowed Burnham to determine the best plots of land to acquire. As well, payment for land surveys was often in the form of land. By 1831, Burnham had a 1000 acre farm, plus thousands of acres of land scattered throughout the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham, and Peterborough County.
Burnham was also involved in the military. He joined the militia as a private in 1801. In the War of 1812 he was a captain. He remained active in the military as a member of the First Regiment of the Northumberland Militia, and as Colonel, led a large force to Toronto in response to the Rebellion of 1837. Burnham was also involved in many other activities and was a leading member in the community. He became a road commissioner for the Newcastle District in 1811. In 1813, he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace. He was also the Treasurer of the Newcastle District from 1815 to 1851, and he represented the riding of Northumberland and Durham in the House of Assembly from 1817 to 1820. In 1831 he was appointed to the Legislative Council by Lieutenant Governor Sir John Colbourne, and served there until 1841. In July 1839, he was made a Judge for the District court of Newcastle.
Zaccheus Burnham died February 25, 1857, at Cobourg, Upper Canada.
Gertrude Duncan was a school teacher who taught in Coboconk, Ontario from 1924 to 1925.
Peter McLaren Duncan (born ca. 1835] was the son of James Duncan, a blacksmith of Carrying Place, Canada West, and Catharine McLaren of Brighton, Canada West. Peter McLaren Duncan married Leonora Singleton of Brighton, Ontario. Peter was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Colbourne. Of their children, it is known that there was a son, P.W. Duncan, who immigrated to the United States in 1895, and a daughter, Alice Duncan, who was an artist of some renown, and who married John MacDonald. Alice and John had no children. Peter McLaren Duncan died in approximately 1912 and his wife died between 1925 and 1930.
George Mellis Douglas was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1875. He moved with his family in 1883 to Northcote Farm on the shore of Katchiwano Lake north of Lakefield, Ontario. In 1900 George went to work for his cousin, James Douglas, who was president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In 1911, at the suggestion of his cousin James, an expedition to the Coppermine River and Arctic Sea was planned, and George Douglas along with his brother Lionel and Dr. August Sandberg made the trip. The purpose of the expedition was to search for minerals in the watershed of the Coppermine above the Arctic Circle. What George and his associates discovered were huge copper deposits. Although it was known that the deposits existed since the 18th century, they were much larger than was suspected. George was also one of the first Barren Land explorers to extensively photograph the North-West Territories and the Inuit who lived in the region. Over the following thirty years, Douglas led copper explorations to the shores of the Arctic Sea and around the edges of the Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes. George also wrote about his explorations in the Arctic. He published articles in several professional journals and in 1914 he wrote "Lands Forlorn", an account of the 1911-12 expedition. George Mellis Douglas died at his home near Lakefield, Ontario in 1963.
Mr. and Mrs. T.M. Fletcher lived in Thornton, Ontario (Simcoe County). Mrs. Fletcher's [1st] husband was Frank Sanford. Sanford owned and operated a furniture factory in Fenelon Falls until the time it burned down (date unknown). It was never rebuilt. The Fletchers donated land for the Ivy Anglican Church in 1918 and at the 60th anniversary of the church, Mr. Fletcher wrote a history of the Fletchers, which was published in the Barrie Examiner in 1963.
The Honourable Eugene A. Forsey was a major figure in Canadian labour history, Eugene Forsey was author, professor, constitutional analyst and political commentator
Forsey was born in 1904 in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. He attended McGill University, and Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. In the 1930s, Forsey drafted the Regina Manifesto, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)'s founding declaration of policy, and ran for public office four times for the CCF. He served as a lecturer in economics and political science from 1929-1941 at McGill, and held the post of director of research for the Canadian Congress of Labour (known as the Canadian Labour Congress from 1956-1966) from 1942 to 1966. Forsey directed a special centennial project, 'a history of Canadian unions, 1812-1902', from 1966-1969, and served on a committee which founded Labour/Le Travail. Forsey was regarded as one of the foremost experts on the Canadian constitution and taught Canadian Government and Canadian labour history at Carleton University and the University of Waterloo. He was a member of Senate from 1970-1979, and was named to the Privy Council in 1985. Forsey received numerous honorary degrees, including one from Trent University in 1978, and was chancellor of Trent University from 1973-1977.
His books include How Canadians Govern Themselves (now in its sixth edition) and Trade Unions in Canada, 1812-1902. A complete list of Forsey's publications can be found here.
Forsey died on February 20, 1991.
Edith Fulton Fowke was born on April 30, 1913 in Lumsden, Saskatchewan of Irish parents. She studied at the University of Saskatchewan, taking her B.A. in 1933 and her M.A. in 1938. In 1938 she married Frank Fowke. She was editor of Western Teacher from 1937-1944, and associate editor of Magazine Digest from 1945-1949. In 1957 she began collecting songs and producing recordings for Folkway Records of New York, as well as writing and editing books of folksongs and folktales. She joined the English Department at York University in 1971. She was awarded her LL.D. at Brock University in 1974, and her D. Litt at Trent in 1974, was made a Fellow of the American Folklore Society in 1975, and became a member of the Order of Canada in 1977.
George Barker Hall was born in Brooklyn, New York and later immigrated to Upper Canada. He was a lawyer, MPP, and a judge in Peterborough, Upper Canada and Canada West. He also owned a flour mill in the town of Peterborough in the late 1840's and 1850's.
Jean Harstone, born 1900, was raised in Peterborough, Ontario. During the early 1920's she attended an architectural/interior design school in New York City and later went on to work in promotion and advertising for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Radio Network and later for the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Radio Network. Jean Harstone died in 1980.