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Robert Romaine, along with two brother-in-laws, established the Peterborough Review in 1853 in Peterborough, Ontario. Romaine was editor and publisher at the "Review" until 1864. In 1853 he also wrote a paper on the subject of ploughing and pulverizing by steam power, and in 1868 became the first librarian of the Peterborough Mechanics Institute, the forerunner to the Peterborough Public Library. In 1870, he headed, along with others, a gas company which introduced the first gas street lights to the city. In 1877 he was a member of a committee which was appointed to look at possibilities for a waterworks system for the city of Peterborough.

In 1852, William Lyon Mackenzie introduced to the Legislative Assembly a resolution asking for a survey of the Huron-Ottawa Territory. His intent was to increase settlement within the uninhabited region of Canada West, to encourage immigration from Europe, and discourage emigration from the province. This resolution, along with similar recommendations, led to the Colonization Roads policy, and ultimately to the passing of the Public Land Act in 1853 by the Legislature. This Act allowed the government "to appropriate as free grants any public land in the province to actual settlers, upon or in the vicinity of any public roads in any new settlements which shall or may be opened through the Lands of the Crown." The policy and the Act led to surveys for many new roads in the northern portion of Canada West, including the Burleigh Road in 1860-1861 by James W. Fitzgerald. The original survey indicated that the road was to extend north from Burleigh rapids through the Townships of Burleigh, Anstruther, Chandos, Cardiff, Monmouth, and Dudley and end where it intersected the Peterson Road. By 1862, 23 miles of the proposed road had been constructed, running north from Burleigh Bridge. With the survey and proposed construction of the Monck Road, it was decided not to extend the Burleigh Road as far north as the Peterson Road, but only to the Monck Road, which resulted in a total distance of 43 miles for the Burleigh Road. Due to the poor quality of the Burleigh Road, settlement of the surrounding townships was extremely slow and it never achieved the importance of some of the other Colonization Roads. The Burleigh Road no longer exists today. (Taken from: Murray, Florence B. "Muskoka and Haliburton 1915-1875: a collection of documents." Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1963. Spragge, George W. "Colonization Roads in Canada West, 1850-1867." Ontario History. Vol. XLIX, no. 1, 1957.)

The Registrar General registers are registers in which all instruments including proclamations, commissions, letters patent, and other documents issued under the Great Seal and the Privy Seal of Canada, are entered. Prior to Confederation, the registration function was the responsibility of the Provincial Secretary for each province. In 1867, this responsibility was assumed by the Secretary of State. It continued in that Department until 1966 when the Register General became a separate Department. In 1967, the new Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs took over all the duties and functions of the Registrar General.

During World War II, atomic bombs were used to attack Japan by the United States of America. Hiroshima was bombed on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. These were the first atomic bombs to be used in warfare. Two hundred and forty thousand Japanese civilians died.

The Realistic Travels Company was a large stereographic publishing company based in London, England. It existed from approximately 1908 to 1916 and was run by H.D. Girdwood. Realistic Travels had branch offices in Toronto, New York, Bombay and Cape Town. (Taken from: Darrah, William C. The World of Stereographs. Gettysburg: W.C. Darrah Publisher, 1977.)

The Queen’s-Trent Concurrent Teacher Education program is co-sponsored by Trent University and the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. In 1974, Trent and Queen’s agreed to undertake a joint program in Teacher Training Education combined with an undergraduate Arts and Science education. The program is designed for students wishing to teach at either the elementary or secondary school level.

The Quebec Camping Association Inc. was formed in 1937 and is a chartered unit of the Canadian Camping Association.The Quebec Camping Association is made up of individuals, representatives of agencies and institutions interested in the development of organized camping in the Province of Quebec. The membership includes camping directors, camp staff, institutional and agency directors, and others who are interested in or associated with camping. All types of camps (private, church, school, organizational and institutional, long and short term and day camps) are represented by the Association.The Quebec Camping Association's objectives are furthering the welfare and interests of children and adults through camping as an educative and recreative experience; raising the standard of camping practices and to be the voice of camp leaders by interpreting camping to parents, educators, the legislature and the public.(Taken from: The Quebec Camping Association)

The original Pugets Sound Agricultural Company came into being in 1839 as a subsidiary branch of the Hudson'sBay Company in response to the intended private Oregon Beef andTallow Company. It functioned primarily in the Cow lits Valley and the Puget Sound area to the north of the Columbia River. Its purpose was partly to victual the fur trade establishments and also the nascent and burgeoning communities of the region. Its initial deed of settlement was dated December 23, 1840 and was first printed in 1912.

The root of the modern day Progressive Conservative Party of Canada is found in the 1854 Liberal Conservative Coalition Government of the Province of Canada which was headed by Sir John A. Macdonald. Between 1873 and 1878, the Liberal Conservative Party dropped the Liberal label in favour of the title Conservative Party which was in keeping with the flavour of Macdonald's National Policy and pro-British election platform. From 1917 to 1920 the party was known as the Union Party. The name changed again to the National Liberal and Conservative Party from 1920 to 1922. It then reverted back to the original name of Liberal Conservative Party until 1938 when it became the National Conservative Party. The name of the party changed once again in 1942 with the election of former Progressive Party member and Manitoba Premier, John Bracken, to the Conservative Party leadership. The name became the Progressive Conservative Party, as it is known today. The ideologies of the Conservative Party have remained fundamentally the same since the inception of the party with some variations over the years. The party is tied, albeit loosely, to the British Conservative Party, and in turn, to the ideals of toryism (collectivism and privilege as the salient features of social and political life), but the Canadian Conservatives have also supported business liberalism. Business liberalism (ie. free enterprise) in combination with toryism are two sets of ideas which are not readily reconciled, therefore, the Conservative Party, regardless of title, has constantly been shifting, since its inception, to keep these ideals in balance with public and party opinion, and has not always been successful. Since 1935, the success of the federal Liberal Party has heavily outweighed the success of the Progressive Conservative Party. Some of the more notable Conservative Party leaders include Sir John A. Macdonald, R.B. Bennett, John Diefenbaker, and Brian Mulroney. (information taken from: "The Canadian Encyclopedia", second edition, 1988, and "Politcal Parties and Ideologies in Canada" by W. Christian and C. Campbell, 1983).

The Progressive Conservative Association of Ontario was developed to provide a support network for Progressive Conservative MP's and candidates in Ontario ridings. Each riding has its own association to address concerns and draft policies that can be presented by MP's in the government.

The Privy Council Office under the direction of the Clerk of the Privy Council was created to provide a secretariat to support the administrative activities of the Privy Council and to assist the President, in council business. In 1940, the operation of the Office was modernized by instituting more business-like procedures such as pre-establishing agendas for Cabinet meetings, records of Cabinet decisions taken, notification of departments concerning required action and the creation of a central filing system. In 1968, further changes to the Privy Council Office were introduced. These included an operations division to provide expanded secretarial services to the Cabinet and Cabinet committees, a Plans Division to provide services to the planning committees, and a Federal-Provincial Relations Division to provide liaison services between government departments and the provinces. (Taken from: "Government Archives Division: General Guide Series." Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, 1991.)

Founded in 1931, Beta Sigma Phi is an international women's organization that focuses on stimulating personal growth and development of its members through cultural and social programs and through service to others. Members volunteer for such activities as blood donor clinics, daffodil day, and meals on wheels. The organization supports various charities. Beta Sigma Phi was established in Peterborough in 1944 and the Preceptor Psi chapter was established in 1969.

The set of posters of the Russian Revolution were photographed at the Lenin Library in Moscow in 1966 by Italian photographer Caio Garruba and reproduced by him for publication in the West. The originals were created between the years 1917 and 1929, beginning with the October Revolution and spanning a 12 year period of unrest, counterrevolution, famine, foreign military intervention, and economic turmoil. Many were designed by renowned Russian artists, such as Moor, Apsit, Lisitski, Ivanov, and Mayakovski (information taken from the booklet which accompanies the posters).

T.H.B. Symons was chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee to Robert L. Stanfield from 1968-1975. This Committee was established by Robert L. Stanfield in order to "revamp the [Progressive] Conservative Party in the wake of the Diefenbaker debacle, partly by attracting bright, new M.P.s, partly by trying to convince Quebecers that the Conservatives were more than just a party of les anglais" (Taken from: Tailor, Charles. "Radical Tories." p. 194).

The Grand Association of the Patrons of Industry in Ontario was based on the American Association of the Patrons of Industry from Michigan in 1889. The Ontario organization declared itself independent of the American organization in 1891. By 1892 they had adopted the rules and constitution of their American brethern. They wanted to uphold and encourage the moral, social, intellectual, political and financial situation of people in rural Ontario. In 1894 the Patrons elected 17 members to the Ontario Legislature. Their membership exceeded 30 000 people and they had massive support from most communities. During the same time that the Patrons of Industry were operating, the Grange, which also represented the farmers of Ontario, was operating. Both organizations failed to acknowledge the existence of the other and in turn each organization duplicated the efforts of the other. This helped to encourage the decline of each organization. The Patrons were formed in order to try and save the way of life and thought that existed in the late 1800's farming communities. They sought to resist industrialization and although they started off strongly they were unable to keep the momentum going and eventually they deteriorated to the point of non-existence. (Taken from: Hann, Russell. "Some Historical Perspectives on Canadian Agrarian Political Movements: The Ontario origins of agrarian criticism of Canadian industrial society." Toronto: new hogtown press, 1973.)

The Charles E. Goad map making company was established in Montreal, Quebec, in 1875. In its business of creating fire insurance plans, the Charles E. Goad map making company was the most comprehensive company in its coverage of Canada. By 1885, the company was firmly established in Canada and by 1910, Goad and his surveyors had created fire insurance plans for more than 1300 Canadian communities. When Charles E. Goad died that same year, the company was taken over by his three sons, who continued to run the business under the name Chas. E. Goad Company. In 1911 an agreement was reached between the Chas. E. Goad Company and the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association, by which the Goad Company was to create and revise plans for the Association exclusively. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association was founded in 1883 for the purpose of standardizing fire insurance rules. This agreement ended in 1917, and in 1918, the Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association established its own plan making department. It was named the Underwriters' Survey Bureau Limited. At the same time, the Bureau acquired the exclusive rights from the Chas. E. Goad Company to revise and reprint the Goad plans. The Goad Company, which continued to exist until 1930, stopped producing fire insurance plans. In March 1931, the Underwriters' Survey Bureau purchased all of the assets of the Chas. E. Goad Company, including copyright. The Underwriters' Survey Bureau continued to produce fire insurance plans for the cities and towns in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association remained responsible for the production of plans in the western provinces and the B.C. Underwriters' Association was responsible for plans in British Columbia. In 1960, these regional operations were amalgamated with the production of plans under the centralized Plan Division of the Canadian Underwriters' Association. In 1975, the Association changed its name to the Insurer's Advisory Organization, and at the same time, decided to cease fire insurance plan production and sell all plan inventory. This was the end of 100 years of continuous fire insurance plan production in Canada. (Taken from: Hayward, Robert J. "Fire Insurance Plans in the National Map Collection." Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, 1977.)

The Peterborough Women's Committee was a local organization which lobbied at various levels of government and also provided resource material on women's issues. The committee opened a resource centre for women, published a directory of services available locally for and by women, and held all-candidates' meetings. The committee was in existence between 1977 and 1987.

The first normal school for the training of elementary school teachers opened in Toronto in 1847. In 1850 a system of township model schools was established. They were specially designated elementary schools where teachers or potential teachers could observe existing practice under supervision. The successful candidates received Third Class Certificates valid for three years. In 1880 there were forty-seven model schools. Candidates were awarded First or Second Class Certificates after attendance at normal school. At times there were two year courses at normal schools. Model schools were abolished in 1924 and with them the Third Class Certificate. In 1936 the Second Class Certificate was discontinued except at the Ottawa Normal School. In 1874 the Ottawa Normal School was established and in 1900 the London Normal School. In 1908 normal schools were opened in Hamilton, Peterborough, and Stratford. Peterborough Normal School was officially opened on September 15, 1908 and operated until the late 1960's. Several hundred teachers were trained there over the years of operation. The first principal was Duncan Walker. In 1973 the Peterborough Teachers' College (formerly the Peterborough Normal School) closed its doors and the staff moved to the Faculty of Education, Queen's University.

The Peterborough Social Planning Council (PSPC) was developed to promote greater co-ordination between different providers of social services in Peterborough and area. It was to provide consumers of social services the opportunity to have input into the social system and to identify the needs and problems, and receive recommendations about services and activities. The PSPC was to build a data base, to be open to the public, with information of existing services. In 1978 the PSPC reported on the task force on Children's Services. It conducted various research projects on existing and future implementation of social services. It provided a community forum for preparation of briefs in response to the published intentions of governments. The PSPC monitored the emergence of urban and rural planning developments. It also encouraged and assisted groups establish programs in needed areas. The PSPC was located on King Street in 1978 in space given to them from the United Way office.

The land which is now Peterborough County was originally part of Newcastle District before 1841, and the Colbourne District until 1850, the year when districts were replaced by counties in Upper Canada. At this time the United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria was created. In 1861, Victoria County was given independence from Peterborough. Peterbourgh County is made up of the following townships: Galway, Cavendish, Anstruther, Chandos, Harvey, Burleigh, Methuen, Ennismore, Smith, Douro, Dummer, Belmont, North Monaghan, Otonabee, and Asphodel. (taken from Illustrated Historical Atlas of Peterborough County 1825-1875. Peterborough: The Peterborough Historical Atlas Foundation Inc., 1975.)

The Peterborough Presbyterial Women's Missionary Society is a community of Christians involved in local and world missions.