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People, organizations, and families
Raper family
Family

The Raper family (fl. 1890-1898) lived in the Millbrook and Cavan, Ontario area.

Reid family
Family

The Reid family originated in Ireland and settled in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1822. Descendants have continued to live in the area for several decades, marrying into the Stewart, McNeill, and Godard families.

Strickland family
Family

The Strickland family originated in England at Light Hall, Colton-in-Furness as yeoman farmers and their ancestry can be traced back to the fourteenth century. They were tenants of the Abbey of Furness until the dissolution of the monasteries during the lifetime of Henry VIII. At this time they became landowners and later started to move out of the area to London and other environs. Samuel Strickland (1804-1867) was the first of the Stricklands to come to Canada in 1825. He first spent time in Newcastle District and then later cleared some property for a farm in Otonabee Township. He later sold his farm and purchased land in Douro and there he began clearing land at the present site of Lakefield. His sisters, Catharine Parr (Traill) and Susanna (Moodie) eventually followed him to Canada and settled near him.

Rubidge family
Family

Captain Charles Rubidge, land agent and author, was born 20 April 1787 in the Parish of St. George-in-the-East, London, England. He was the son of Robert and Margaret Rubidge. In October 1796, at the young age of nine, Rubidge entered the Navy as a midshipman on the Arrow, Sloop of War. He served under Lord Nelson and Lord Cochrane and was honourably discharged in 1815, at the end of the War of 1812. In June 1819, Rubidge emigrated to Canada with his wife and three children (they later had three more children) and in May, 1820, became the second person to settle in Otonabee Township. He assisted in the settling of the Peter Robinson immigrants in 1825 and other immigrants in 1831 and 1839. In 1831 Rubidge was appointed Immigrant Agent at Peterborough by Lord Seaton, Governor-General of Canada. He was also the author of two books. The first was A Plain Statement of the Advantages Attending Emigration to Upper Canada (London, 1838) and the second An Autobiographical Sketch (Peterborough, 1870). Captain Charles Rubidge died 5 February 1873.

Snarr-Webster family
Family

Thomas Willington Snarr from Rawdon Township, Hastings County and Annie Eliza Webster of East Whitby Township, Ontario County were married in July 1879. Witnesses were Samuel Robert Webster and Isabella Jane Snarr.

Stewart family
Family

Several generations of the Stewart family have lived in the Peterborough area. Thomas A. Stewart and his wife, Frances, were prominent and influential early citizens of Peterborough. Extensive biographical information on the Stewart family, plus friends, neighbours, and associates, may be found in 02-001.

Tinney family
Family

William Tinney, Sr. arrived in Cavanville (Cavan) in 1870 and set up a family business in blacksmithing. Cavanville was nicknamed Tinney Town after William and his sons John, Hector, Albert, William and Harry. William Sr. established a blacksmith shop and later a carriage shop, which carried out the business of buggy sales and trade-ins. The shop was located just east of the four corners. There were approximately twelve men employed and William Sr.'s sons worked at the various trades involved in blacksmithing. William Sr.'s daughter, Annie, cooked for everyone. The Tinney homestead was a large red brick house west of Cavan Store. In 1908 Albert and Harry assumed management of the business. Albert later had a General Motors Agency and his son, Donald, continued to operate the business until 1970. (Taken from: This Green and Pleasant Land: Chronicles of Cavan Township. The Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society, 1990.) John Tinney also operated the blacksmith shop at one point. Hector Tinney was involved in the World War I and based at Kinmel Park Camp, near Rhyl in North Wales, and later at Etaples in France.

Trotter family
Family

The Trotter family lived on a farm in Lindsay, Ontario at the turn of the century.

Tuer family
Family

The Tuer family originated in or around Liverpool, England. Part of the family emigrated to Canada, possibly around the 1840's, and settled into the Port Hope area. They maintained strong links with the family residing in Liverpool as can be seen by the wills and estate settlements in the fonds. One of the Tuer family members, a Peter Tuer (died December 22, 1849), the father, married Mary and they had Peter (who married Lucy and he died April 1, 1855) Charles, Robert, James, William Henry (died January 1, 1853), Clara Tuer (married Henry Gregory), Thomas, Eliza (married Richard Gregory) and Sarah (married Currie Busfield). William Henry, (died 1853) had four children: Fanny (married Robert Olden), Ann (married Lionel Smith) and Francis Hugh and Sarah who were infants at the time of his death. Another Tuer family member was Thomas Tuer (died November 15, 1881) who married Elizabeth Jane Kilshaw and they had Thomas, Henry, Mary, Henry Arthur, Margaret, Jessie and William Frederick Joseph. Thomas Tuer was a bookkeeper living in Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, England, Great Britain. There are a number of family members on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean who carry the same names and this makes it difficult to ascertain familial relationships. (The preceding information was found in the wills and estates records within the fonds.)

Atwood family
Family

The Atwood family is associated with nineteenth-century settlement in the Lakefield, Ontario region. James Parr Clinton Atwood (1836-1912) immigrated to Canada from Gloucestershire in 1855 and married Anne Traill Fotheringhame (Annie) Traill (1838-1931), daughter of Thomas Traill and Catharine Parr Traill, in 1858. Together they had seven children: Henry, Emily, Clinton, Katharine, George, Anne, and Florence. The Atwood family is related to the Upper Canada pioneer Traill, Moodie, and Strickland families.

Frost family
Family

The Honourable Leslie Miscampbell Frost, lawyer and Premier of Ontario, was born in Orillia, Ontario on September 20, 1895, the son of William Sword Frost and Margaret Jane Barker. He was educated at the Orillia Public School and the Orillia High School. He later attended the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. He served during World War I in France and Belgium, with the 20th Battalion, Queen's York Rangers, and was discharged with the rank of captain in 1918, after being severely wounded. Frost was called to the Bar in 1921. He was a member of the legal firm Frost, Inrig and Gorwill, among others, and was an honorary bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He married Gertrude Jane Carew (1894-1970), in 1926. They never had children. Leslie M. Frost had a long and successful political career. He was elected to the legislature of Ontario in 1937, and he was consistently re-elected at each election until his retirement in 1963. He was Treasurer of Ontario and Minister of Mines in both the George Drew and T.L. Kennedy administrations. In 1949, Frost was chosen leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and was sworn in as Premier and Provincial Treasurer on May 4, 1949. He remained Provincial Treasurer until 1955 and Premier until 1961. Besides his legal and political career, Frost took on many other obligations. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Toronto and the first Chancellor of Trent University. He also held several directorships, including: the Bank of Montreal, Air Canada, Corporate Investors Ltd., Lever Brothers Ltd., KVP Company Ltd., John Deyell Ltd., Canada Life Assurance Company, Victoria and Grey Trust Co., Massey-Ferguson Ltd., and radio station CKLY. Frost was also keenly interested in history, primarily military history and the histories of Victoria, Peterborough and Haliburton Counties. He was the author of several books: Fighting Men, Forgotten Pathways of the Trent, Pleasant Point Story: a History of Pleasant Point and The Records on Sam Hughes Set Straight. Leslie M. Frost died at Lindsay, Ontario 4 May 1973. Cecil Grey Frost, younger brother of the Honourable Leslie M. Frost, was born in Orillia, Ontario, on August 27, 1897. His father, William Sword Frost, operated a jewelry and watchmaking business in Orillia, and as Mayor, introduced the concept of daylight saving time to the municipality. Cecil Grey Frost served overseas with the Canadian Machine Gun Corps during the World War I. When he returned to Canada, he attended Osgoode Hall Law School and graduated in 1921. He and his brother Leslie then opened a legal firm in Lindsay, Ontario, and both soon became active in local Conservative Politics. This led to Cecil's election in 1936 as Mayor of Lindsay, and in 1937 to the Presidency of the Ontario Conservative Association, As well, he organized and managed Earl Rowe's campaign in the provincial election of 1937. Thought of as a potential party leader himself, Cecil Grey Frost remained politically active until his sudden death on 8 June 1947. Robert John “Jack” Beal (1919-1994) was Gertrude Jane Frost’s nephew. He was married to Eileen Beal; their son, Robert “Bob” Beal, is a journalist and historian.

Waddell family
Family

Robert Waddell and Hugh Waddell were brothers who were both businessmen in Durham County in the middle to late 1800's and the early 1900's. Robert Waddell resided in Balieboro and Hugh Waddell lived in Millbrook, Ontario.

Shearman Family
Family

Jean Shearman (1925-2005) and Elizabeth Shearman Hall (1920-2015) were the great-great-granddaughters of Frances Browne Stewart (1794-1872) and Thomas Alexander Stewart (1786-1847), who immigrated from Ireland to Douro Township in 1822. They were sisters of Rev. John Shearman. Their grandmother, Anna Maria Stewart Williams, was the granddaughter of Thomas Alexander Stewart and Frances Browne Stewart, and the daughter of William Stewart. Jean Shearman was born 28 August 1925 and lived in Toronto, Ontario; she died in 2005. Elizabeth Shearman Hall was born 7 March 1920; she died in 2015. The sisters dedicated much of their lives to transcribing the Frances Stewart letters and creating a biographic reference guide to them and all associated families.

Sherin family
Family

Henry Sherin and Elizabeth Moulds were married May 1, 1814 in Ireland and emigrated to Canada, in 1822, settling near Cobourg, Upper Canada. Their son, John C. Sherin, born in 1827, moved from the Cobourg region to Lakefield in 1854. He opened the first general store in the area in 1855, J.C. Sherin and Son. In 1861, John C. was made Justice of the Peace for Douro Township. He was married to Elizabeth Fee, and later to Mrs. Schofield. In 1881, John C. sold the family store to the firm of the Madill Brothers, but bought it back in 1885 and moved into the dry goods trade. John C. died May 24, 1901. J. Henry Sherin, son of John C. Sherin and Elizabeth Fee, was born in 1867 and educated at Pickering College. J. Henry (Harry) continued to operate the family store for 35 years after his father's death. He was also Lakefield's C.P.R. agent for 48 years. J. Henry Sherin was married to Mary Mabelle Rathbone in October, 1902. Together they had four sons, Playter, George, John, and Harry. J. Henry died in December 1952, at the age of 85. His son Harry attended the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph, Ontario, and when he returned to Lakefield in 1946, he opened the Sherindale Hatchery, which he operated until 1964. In 1963 he married Mrs. Gretchen Kraus of Lakewood, Ohio and they had one son, Timothy Sherin. Harry's brother Playter Sherin also had a son, Dr. John P. Sherin, who resided in Lakefield after attending the University of Toronto Medical School. His medical office was located on the site of his great grandfather's first store.

Wallis family
Family

(Biographical information copied from Trent University Archives newsletter "Archives News", Issue Number 48, January 2014: "The Wallis Family" by Janice Millard).

"The link between the two [Wallis family and Forbes family] is Louisa Forbes who became Mrs. James Wallis. Louisa was the mother of well-known Peterborough-born artist and sculptor Katherine Wallis and Louisa’s father was Capt. Robert Miller/Millar Forbes.

Capt. Robert Miller Forbes had a distinguished career in the British Navy. It was, however, marred by an incident in 1798. Robert caused his ship commander, Capt. Lord Henry Paulet, later Earl St. Vincent, to be court martialled. Paulet apparently struck the then Lieutenant Forbes while Forbes was on duty on their ship – the Thalia. Paulet lost the case - but soon after he was given clemency, re-instated, and in 1819 became a Vice-Admiral. Robert Miller did not fare as well. In a transcribed letter he says that “he became the object of the most cruel and vindictive persecution… that has proved a barrier to his professional progress thro’ the mis-representations of that distinguished officer.”

After the Napoleonic Wars Robert Forbes, along with a number of ex-British military personnel, took their families and settled in France. Robert’s first child, Louisa, was born in Avranches, France. There is a watercolour in our new donation of the Church where Louisa was christened. It is likely by Katherine Wallis. The Forbes family moved around in Europe and sons were born in St. Servan Sur Merin Brittany, France. Finally the family moved to Peterborough.

Robert Forbes had an even more well-known brother – Charles John Forbes. Charles was in both the British Navy and the British Army. While in the Navy, Charles was present at the Battle of the Nile (also called the Battle of Aboukir) where Nelson defeated the French Navy. Another person at Aboukir was Charles Rubidge. Perhaps Charles Forbes and Charles Rubidge reminisced together about old battles.

While in the British Army, Charles Forbes was present for the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Our donation contains a letter written 29 Jan. 1815 on board H.M.S. Alceste, off Cat Island (near New Orleans), and sent to James Cobb, Secretary, East India Company (a cousin). In the letter Charles says that the information given to the Admiral was “fallacious” and that unlike what they had been led to believe, no “settlers of Louisiana and the Floridas” flocked to join the British cause and hence they had insufficient troops for the encounter with the Americans. It’s interesting to note that even by the end of January, Charles did not know that a treaty to end the War had been signed.

Charles had two separate enlistment periods with the British Army. Like his brother, he retired when the Napoleonic Wars were over and lived in Europe, but a few years later he re-enlisted in the Army. In 1824 he worked for the Commissariat in Nova Scotia and in 1825 he went to Montreal and stayed for 8 years. He was then posted to Jamaica and, like many Europeans who lived in the tropics, became ill. He briefly to went to England and then finally retired at half pay back in Quebec.

While posted in Quebec he acted as Commissary General for the Army and ensured there were supplies for the engineers and workers who were building canals in the Montreal region. While he was there he purchased land in the village of Carillon, on the Ottawa River just south of Lachute, Quebec, in what is now the Argenteuil Region of Quebec.

There he built a wonderful house called “Bellevue”. In our newly acquired scrapbook of Louisa Forbes there is a sketch of that house. Charles was known far and wide for his hospitality and many important people would visit him – including the Governors General.

Another well-known owner of land in the area was Sidney Robert Bellingham - nephew of Thomas A. Stewart. Sidney was very interested in politics and played a role in the 1837 rebellion – as did the British veteran Charles John Forbes."

Way family
Family

Jacob Way (1804-1882) was born in Northport, Prince Edward County. He moved with his wife Alzina Moran (1823-1851) and their son Edward Hoag Way (1845-1922) to Tyendinega Township, Hastings County. After Alzina’s death, Jacob married Delilah (Scriver) Herns (b. 1823) and they had a son Gideon Shepard Way (1853-1937). The family moved to Murray Township in Northumberland County. With the exception of Alzina who is buried in Tyendinega, the others are buried in the Stockdale Cemetery in Hastings County, north of the area where, over time, all three had farmed and raised their families. Extended family names include Scriver, Ostrander, Herns, and Moran. (Information provided by Yvonne A. Green).

Willan family
Family

Robert Willan and Edward Willan seem to have been the owners of the two work books which comprise this fonds. Robert and Edward may have been brothers or even father and son. Their books are dated 1806 and 1832, respectively. An inscription on the last page of Edward's book reads "Thomas M. Willan, South Monaghan."

Williams family
Family

John Tucker Williams, former Commander in the British Royal Navy, arrived in Canada in 1812 and commanded a vessel on the Lake (Lake Ontario) during the War of 1812. He eventually settled in Port Hope and established a farm/estate. He later became the first Mayor of the town of Port Hope. During the Rebellion of 1837, he commanded the Durham Regiment. He then represented Durham East in the Legislative Assembly of United Canada from 1840 to 1848. He married Sarah Ward, daughter of Judge Ward of Durham. Their children include sons Arthur T.H., Henry J.B., and Charles H.A., and daughter Amelia. John Tucker Williams died in 1854. His eldest son, Arthur Trefusis Heneage, was born at Port Hope in 1837. Arthur was educated at Upper Canada College, Toronto, and Edinburgh University, Scotland. He returned to Canada after graduating and like his father became a gentleman farmer. Also like his father, Arthur was active in politics and the military. He represented East Durham in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1875, and in the House of Commons in Ottawa from 1878 to 1885. During the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 he was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 46th Battalion of volunteer militia, and took part in the Battle of Batoche. Shortly after the battle, Arthur became ill and died near Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan 4 July 1885.

Caldwell family
Family

Hugh Caldwell Sr. (1824-1903) emigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1843 to the Waterloo area with his father and siblings. He married Ann Nancy MacDonald (1832-1903) in 1855 and settled in Mornington Township, Perth County. In January 1867, he sold his farm and tenant farmed near Strathroy, Ontario for some months before purchasing Lots 16 and 17, Concession 13 in Chandos Township, Peterborough County where he settled in December of that year. In 1875, he was appointed to the position of property assessor for Chandos, Anstruther, and Burleigh townships and held this position at various times until 1890. He opened the first post office in the Clydesdale Settlement of Chandos Township in his house; His son, Hugh Caldwell Jr. [1861-1914] lived part of his adult life in the Emo, Ontario area. Hugh Caldwell Sr. was the great-great grandfather of Leonard Caldwell and his siblings. Hugh Caldwell Jr. was a great uncle.

Neads family
Family

Miss Neads was the organist at the Presbyterian Church in Bowmanville, Ontario, in 1876.

Pengelley family
Family

Harriet Catherine Brock was the daughter of Daniel de Lisle Brock (1762-1842), the chief magistrate of the Isle of Guernsey from 1821 to 1842. She was the niece of Sir Isaac Brock who was killed at Queenston Heights, Upper Canada, 1812. On September 16, 1834 Harriet married Captain Robert Lamport Pengelley. Robert Pengelley was born at Fowey, Cornwall in 1798, the son of Captain John Pengelley (killed at Palermo 1834) and Catherine Lamport. After being wounded at the Battle Lissa, Robert was rewarded by being appointed agent for the Brock estate in South Monaghan, Upper Canada, and given a piece of land on Rice Lake subsequently called "Brocklands". (Note: As of 2018, "Brocklands" was still held by Pengelley family descendants). On April 6, 1835 Robert and Harriet Pengelley sailed for Upper Canada, arriving in New York on May 7, 1835 they took a steamer for Albany and then traveled to Toronto, Upper Canada. After a trip to Guelph to look at land, they journeyed to South Monaghan, arriving in July 1835. Harriet died less than a year later, June 6, 1836, leaving no children. Robert secondly married in Monaghan Township in 1838 to Lydia Emily Roche/Roach; they had five children, only one of whom survived to adulthood, Theodore Robert Pengelley.

Note: For further information about the Brock family, see A Brock Family History: Isaac Brock and his Guernsey family, authored by Janice Shersby; commissioned by Caroline Brock, 2012 (located in Special Collections FC 443 .B8 S42 2012).

Note: For further information about the Pengelley, Brock, Roche and Scriven families, see Connections Between the Names Pengelley, Brock, Roche & Scriven in Monaghan Township, authored by Robert Bowley, 1993 (located in Special Collections [TC] CS 89 .B69 1993).

Logan and Fairley family
Family

The family history of David Logan (c 1890-1866) and Margaret Fairley (1799-1891) and their descendants is portrayed in A Logan Family - Eight Generations in Canada. Logan and Fairley were the great-grandparents of Marlow Banks, author and researcher of the above book. Born in Scotland, it is believed that Logan and Fairley married around 1830 and had two children before leaving for Canada around 1834 or 1835. They settled in Smith Township, about nine miles north of Peterborough, and later moved to Douro. They had four more children after arriving in Canada.