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The Addison family members are descendants of Mark Robinson, Ranger and Superintendent of Algonquin Park from 1907-1936. Ottelyn Addison is the daughter of Mark Robinson, and was born in 1909. Her children are William D. Addison, Peter M. Addison, and Edward M. Addison. Ottelyn spent her childhood summers in Algonquin Park, and has written two books about Algonquin Park, "Early Days in Algonquin Park", and "Tom Thomson, The Algonquin Years". She was also editor of "The Young Naturalist" and "The Richmond Hill Naturalist Bulletin". Ottelyn currently lives in Aurora, Ontario.

Kenneth Charles Bellamy was born in 1919 in Cramahe Township, Northumberland County, the youngest son of Charles and Olive Bellamy (nee Bland). The Charles Bellamy family lived in the Smithfield/Brighton, Ontario area. Charles owned a farm in Salem, Ontario in his later years and in his younger years, worked for the Grand Trunk Railway as a brakeman. In 1938, Ken joined the Canadian Armed Forces and served overseas in World War II with the Midland Regiment, Hastings Prince Edward Regiment and the Essex Scottish regiment. Upon returning home, he married Ruth Catherine Allen. Over his career, he worked on the family farm, for the Department of Highways, and with Marbon Chemical Corporation in Cobourg, Ontario.

Ruth Catherine Allen was born in 1918 in Cramahe Township, the daughter of Durwood and Beatrice Allen (nee Hennessey). The Durwood Allen family lived on a farm in the Castleton, Ontario area. Ruth attended Peterborough Normal School in 1938 attaining her Teachers Certificate. During the course of her teaching career she taught in Morganston, Frankford, Napanee and South Cramahe Public Schools.

Ruth and Kenneth married 30 June 1947 in Brighton, Ontario. They had two daughters, Mary Margaret and Kathryn Ann, and lived in the community of Salem. After Ruth’s death in 1979, Ken married Joyce Blakley. Joyce died in 1985 and Ken in 2007. (Taken from information supplied by the donor).

James Davidson was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1801, the son of Hugh Davidson. In 1823, James Davidson came to Canada with his sister. They settled first with an Uncle in Smith Township. In 1831, James settled on lot 20, concession 5, Smith Township, and established his own 200 acre farm. He married Elizabeth McConnell of Cavan Township the same year. They had four sons and four daughters: Ann, Hugh, William, Mary Jane, Sarah, James Jr., Robert, and Fanny. In 1837, Davidson fought in the Rebellion. Robert eventually went into the hardware business in Peterborough, Hugh and James Jr. went into farming, and William became a grocer and flour merchant. Elizabeth Davidson died in 1864 and James Davidson died sometime after after 1884. (Taken from: "History of the County of Peterborough." Toronto: C. Blackett Robinson, 1884.)

The Dunsford family is connected through marriage to families associated with the early settlement of Peterborough and area, namely the Boyd, Langton, and Rubidge families.

The Bark family resided in Toronto, Ontario during the early 1900's and spent their vacation time at their cottage, "Lingerlonger Lodge" which was located on the shores of Moore Lake, just south of Minden, Ontario.

The Bateson family consisted of George who married Mary (?) and lived in Penetanguishene; Isaac Newton who married Margaret (?) and lived in Dowagiac, Michigan in the United States; Jane who married a Robert Russell (farmer) and lived in Scotland County, Missouri in the United States; Eliza who married James Morrison and lived in Lindsay, Ontario; Margaret who married James Marshall (Carriage-maker) and lived in the village of Cannington, Ontario; Letitia who married William Henry McCardle (labourer) and lived in Midland, Ontario; Mary Eleanor who married Thomas Richardson (blacksmith) and also lived in Midland, Ontario; and William who married Harriet (?) and lived in Bailieboro, Ontario. These nine people were children of Isaac (died January 22, 1880) and Ellen (died September 13, 1900) Bateson of Cavan Township. William Bateson died January 28, 1930. It is unknown who Thomas and John Bateson are except that they were executers of Isaac Bateson's Last Will and Testatment.

The Baulch family were tailors who lived in Hampton, Ontario and Port Hope, Ontario. Members of the family include Joseph H. and his wife Laura, Henry N., R. Baulch, and Will Baulch, Rochester, New York.

Richard Birdsall was born in 1799 at Thornton-le-dale, England, and educated at Londesborough, Yorkshire. His family intended a naval career for him upon graduation. Instead, when he graduated in 1817, he emigrated to Canada. Due to his education, he qualified for a position as a fully-accredited land surveyor in Canada West. In May of 1820, he was commissioned to survey the Newcastle District, where he remained for the rest of his life and became a very prominent man. The Newcastle District was comprised of the counties of Northumberland and Durham and included which would later become the counties of Peterborough, Victoria, and Haliburton. In 1821, he married Elizabeth Burnham, daughter of Zaccheus Burnham, who was a prominent early settler in the District. From his father-in-law, Birdsall bought 920 acres of land at the northeast end of Rice Lake (Lot 1, Concession 1, Asphodel Township) and made his home there. His wife died in a tragic fall in 1827 leaving Birdsall with four young daughters. He remarried in 1836 to Charlotte Jane Everett of Belleville and had four more children with his second wife; two of these were Richard Everett Birdsall (1837-1877) and Francis (Frank) Birdsall (1838-1914). Between the years of 1827 and 1836, Birdsall carried out most of his surveying work, including the survey for the town of Peterborough. In 1831, he was commissioned Captain of the fourth Regiment of Northumberland Militia and he led the Asphodel contingent when the militia was called out in the Rebellion of 1837. Later he was an officer in the Peterborough Regiment. Birdsall was also a Commissioner of the Court of Requests and a Justice of the Peace. When the Colborne District was created in 1841, he was the councillor for Asphodel and in 1850, when districts were replaced by counties, he represented Asphodel at the Peterborough County Council as its first Reeve. He continued in this position until his death on January 20, 1852. (taken from Peterborough: Land of Shining Waters. Peterborough: City and County of Peterborough, 1967.)

The Boyd family, in Canada, originated with Mossom Boyd who was born in India in 1814 and died at Bobcaygeon, Ontario July 23, 1883. He was a member of the Anglo-Irish gentry and emigrated to the Sturgeon Lake region of Upper Canada in 1834. In 1844 Mossom married Caroline Dunsford. He became assistant to Thomas Need, owner of the Bobcaygeon sawmill and he eventually took over the mill when Thomas Need returned to England in 1843. Mossom was able to develop the mill into a large lumbering enterprise with land holdings and timber rights in Albany, New York; Bobcaygeon, Peterborough, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan, 20 000 acres around Cowichan Lake in British Columbia and 260 square miles in Quebec. By the 1870's he had the largest enterprise in the region. After his death the business was run by his son, Mossom Rater Boyd, who extended the business into Quebec and Vancouver as well as moving into steamboating, stock raising and railway development. (Taken from: "The Canadian Encyclopedia." Vol. I A-For. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1985.) The Boyd enterprises not only included lumbering but also breeding polled Hereford cattle and cross-breeding cattle and buffalo. The Boyds were involved with the Lindsay, Bobcaygeon and Pontypool Railroad and the Trent Valley Navigation Steamship Company. This diversification helped the Boyd's through the lumber depression of the 1890's. Mossom Martin and his half-brother William Thornton Cust Boyd were active partners along with their cousin John MacDonald of Albany, New York in the firm of Boyd & Company. When Mossie died in 1914, the next generation became involved in the administration of the various estates and gradually disbanded the huge operation. The third generation of Boyds tended to have their own interests and professions although all were involved intermittently with the lumbering and stock farm concerns. Please see the end of the finding aid for the Boyd family genealogy.

The Denoon family arrived in Peterborough between 1871 and 1883. In 1883 William Denoon lived north of Hunter and west of George, pt 7 as a tenant. In 1887 William was working with livestock presumably in the butchering business since by 1890 he is a butcher. He died in Ashburnham 30 May 1891 of consumption at the age of 39. By 1896 Mrs. William and John Denoon were running the butcher business. The Denoons were butchers for approximately 23 years (1887-1910). By 1926 Elizabeth Denoon (widow of William) lived with Kenneth M. Denoon. Kenneth was a gardener and was a home owner on the north side of Lansdowne Street. By 1936 and 1937 only Kenneth M. Denoon can be found living in Peterborough with his wife Lola Y. and still living on the north side of Lansdowne Street. In 1937 Kenneth is a farmer. Presumably John and Kenneth M. Denoon were children of William and Elizabeth Denoon. (This information is found in the Peterborough County Directories located in the Trent University Archives.)

Joseph Walton (1772-1826) was the first settler of the Walton family to settle in Smith Township, Peterborough County in 1819. He married Hannah Stuart (1772-1861) and they had seven children: John (1797-1881), Nancy, Joseph (1913-1900), William (1814-), Matthew (1817-1902), Jacob (1820-1865) and Robert (1823-1904). The family farmed in Smith Township and eventually spread out across Canada and the United States. Verna Burgess is the granddaughter of Joseph Walton who married Sarah Jane Chalmers (1821-1875). Their daughter Emma (1861-1946) married Dr. Francis John Burgess (1861-1945), a general practitioner and pharmacist in Lakefield, Ontario, and they had four daughters: Lelia, Verna, Doris, and Helen. Verna became a high school Department Head and she sat on the committee (as representative of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation) to examine the need to have a non-sectarian degree-granting college, which would eventually become Trent University.

John and Mary Anne Fair had a number of children. The oldest daughter, Martha Jane Fair married William Hall. John and Mary Anne's second son was John Joseph Fair. Their youngest daughter was Caroline Fair and she held a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Samuel Dickson was born in 1809 in County Cavan, Ireland. He emigrated from Ireland to Peterborough in 1830 and became employed by James Hall as a distiller. In 1840 he built a saw mill on the Otonabee and owned all the land from Parkhill (Smith Rd.) to the bridge on Hunter Street on both sides of the river. He married Ann Holmes and they had ten children: one son and nine daughters of whom only six daughters survived. Samuel Dickson was on the Peterborough Council for four years. He built a number of houses and owned a large portion of Peterborough property. He died in 1870 when, while supervising the repair of a railway pier, he fell into the river and drowned. His daughters married and they and their husbands helped to run the lumber business. His eldest daughter, Mary Ann, married T.A. Hazlitt, who on the death of Samuel Dickson became the manager of the lumber business. Elizabeth married William Davidson and through her line the family maintained the lumber business. In 1906 the Dickson family sold some of their property and established the Peterborough Lumber Company which would give jobs to some of the older men from the Dickson Co. Samuel's grandson Dickson Davidson was the President of the new company. When he died Laura Davidson became President. At her death in 1957, Helen Munroe McCrae, became the President. She was a great granddaughter of Samuel Dickson.

Henry Fowlds was born in 1790 in Scotland and married in 1813 to Jane Marshall Steele. Together they had ten children (Eliza, John, James S., Robert H., Elizabeth, Henry M., Mary C., William J., Mary Anne, and Theresa) of which only five survived (James S., Elizabeth, Henry M., William J., and Theresa). The family came to North America in 1821, settling first in New York, and then in Hartford in 1833. In 1834, they crossed the border and settled in Prince Edward County, Upper Canada. The Fowld's family settled in Asphodel Township in 1836, and then moved on to Westwood, where they set up a saw mill in conjunction with Dr. John Gilchrist in what was to become the village of Keene. On September 27, 1851, Henry Fowlds purchased from the Honourable James Crooks the water rights, lands and buildings then known as Crooks' Rapids, and later as Hastings. The Fowlds built upon this base, expanding their original saw mill to a corporate busisness of saw mill, grist mill, general store and post office. The three Fowlds' brothers, James, Henry M. and William, set up a lumber and flour business under the name of Jas. L. Fowlds and Bros. This company was terminated with the death of James Fowlds in 1884. The Fowlds were quite active in Hastings, occupying the seat of reeve, and the office of postmaster. James S. (1818-1884) married Margaret MacGregor and they had nine children between the years of 1845 and 1860. Their seventh child, Frederick W. (1857-1930), married Elizabeth Sutherland and they had three children, Helen, Eric, and Donald. Eric and Donald were soldiers in World War I and Helen was a nurse in the same war. Helen married Gerald Marryat after the war and became a remarkable local historian of the Peterborough region.

Thomas Alexander Stewart Hay was born in Peterborough on August 14, 1849, the son of Thomas Hay of Seggieden, Scotland, and Anna Maria Stewart. Anna Maria was the daughter of Thomas A. and Frances Stewart, pioneer settlers in Douro Township. Hay married Elise Roux, of Montreal, June 27, 1881. Hay was a civil engineer by profession. He learned a great deal from his uncle, George Stewart, who was also an engineer. Hay was a charter member of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. He was a Mason and he accomplished much in his career, working for the Midland Railway, the Trent Canal (where he assisted in the design of the Peterborough lift lock) and the City of Peterborough, as a City Engineer. In this capacity, he designed the Smith Street (now Parkhill Road) bridge at Inverlea, and aided in parkland development in the city. Hay was the first President of the Peterborough Historical Society, the active curator of its museum, and the author of "A Short History of Peterborough," an appendix in E.S. Dunlop's edited version of Frances Stewarts' letter "Our Forest Home." Hay died on March 28, 1917, leaving his wife and two daughters Frances Isabel and Helen.

The Honourable Robert Hamilton (1826-1891) was a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who was stationed at Fort Edmonton. He married Ann (Annie) Seaborn (Seabourne) Miles (born in 1838 at Rupert's House d. 1863). Annie's mother was Elizabeth (Betsy) Sinclair (b. ca. 1805 and d. 1878) and her father was Robert Seaborn Miles Sr. (1795-1870). Like Robert Hamilton, Robert Miles Sr. was a Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. One of Robert and Annie's sons, Robert Miles Hamilton (1864-1939), married Alice May Barker and resided at "Auburn" in Peterborough, Ontario. Alice's father was the Honourable Samuel Barker, a Conservative Member of Parliament and a barrister. Alice and Robert Hamilton's children were Miles Beresford Hamilton, Robert Barker Hamilton, Alice Seabourne Hamilton, and S.R. Hamilton (male). Both Beresford and Robert Barker Hamilton served overseas during World War I. Alice Seabourne Hamilton married Charles Norman Geale.

Edward Armour Peck, whose papers are also included in this fonds, was the natural father of Arthur Henry Peck and the adoptive father of Charles Norman Geale. Edward Armour Peck was married to Kitty Revel.

Richard Birdsall Rogers was born at Ashburnham in 1857. He was the son of Robert David Rogers and Elizabeth Birdsall and a grandson of Richard Birdsall. He lived in Ashburnham until 1916 and then moved to "Beechwood Farm" in Douro Township. He was a land surveyor and was appointed Superintending Engineer of the Trent Valley Canal in about 1884. During his time in this office, he built the Peterborough-Lakefield Division and the Simcoe-Balsam Lake Division of the Trent Canal including the Hydraulic Lift Locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield, besides many dams and other works on this canal. Richard married Clara Mina Calcutt of Peterborough in 1881. They had seven children. Their daughter, Leah, married Herbert Geale, the brother of Charles Norman. Two of Richard and Mina's sons, Heber and Harry, served overseas in World War I.

Some members of the Hay and Dunlop families are descendants of Thomas Alexander Stewart (1786-1847) and Frances Stewart (1794-1872), Irish immigrants who arrived in Cobourg, Ontario from Ireland in 1822 and settled the following year in Douro Township near the present city of Peterborough.

The Hueston family (fl. 1918-1919) lived in Thorndale, Ontario.

The Medd family were early settlers in Millbrook, Cavan Township, Upper Canada who later moved to Peterborough, Upper Canada. The first member of the Medd family to settle in the region was Robert Medd. His son Thomas Medd (ca. 1850-1916) married Mary Scott (1845-1922) in 1870. Mary Scott was the granddaughter of Adam Scott, the first pioneer settler on the site of Peterborough. They had two sons, Sidney T. Medd and A.W. Medd. Sidney Taylor Medd, a barrister, married Estelle Lumsden Ackerman some time between 1909 and 1910. They had two children, Scott Ackerman Medd, born in 1911, and Mary E. Medd. Scott Ackerman was educated at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario and upon graduation, was employed by the Bank of Montreal in both Peterborough and Oshawa. In 1932, dissatisfied with his career in banking, Scott Medd successfully applied to the Royal Academy School in London, England. In 1938, he married Beryl Gray-Rees in London, and on June of the following year, their only child Miriam Frances was born. With the outbreak of the World War II in 1939, Scott Medd's artistic career was interrupted as he spent the next six years of his life with the Royal Artillery. In 1945, he was a member of the British occupation force sent to liberate Norway from the Germans. After the War, Scott returned to art as a teacher at the Camberwell School of Art in London. In 1960, he was appointed Resident Advisor to the Students in Painting at the British School in Rome, Italy. He retained this position until 1970, when illness forced him to retire. Scott Medd had a long and successful career as an artist and teacher. He died 9 November 1984.

William Hamilton Munro (1882-1976) was born in Peterborough, Ontario, the oldest son of George and Euphemie Hamilton Munro. He attended public school and high school in Peterborough and later entered the School of Practical Science, University of Toronto, from which he graduated in 1904. He joined the engineering staff of his grandfather's firm, the William Hamilton Manufacturing Company, for a short time and later worked for other engineering companies, first with John B. McRae of Ottawa and later with Smith, Kerry & Chase of Toronto. During this period, Munro gained wide experience in dam and power house construction. In 1909, W.H. Munro was transferred to the Electric Power Company of Ontario and in 1910 was appointed manager of the Peterborough Light & Power and Radial Railway Companies, branches of Electric Power. He then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and went overseas as a transport officer. On his arrival in England, W.H. Munro was stationed at a reception and training base at Shorncliffe, Kent. Here he remained for eight months before being posted to northern France early in 1916. He was still in northern France on Armistice Day, 1918 and was with the Canadian Forces during their brief occupation of Germany in 1919. On May 29, 1919, Munro married Angele Melina Marie Pouille of Bruay, Pas de Calais, France. He took his military discharge in England and joined Vickers Limited of London and Barrow-in-Furness. This invloved him in water turbine engineering and sales which led to a good deal of travel. Munro left Vickers in 1926 to become manager of the Nova Scotia Tramways and Power Company in Halifax. He remained in this position until 1928 when he was appointed manager of the Bolivian Power Company Limited in La Paz, Bolivia. In 1933, W.H. Munro returned to Canada and joined International Utilities Limited as general manager of one of its divisions, the Ottawa Light, Heat & Power Company. He remained as manager of International Utilities until his retirement in 1951 when he and his wife returned to Peterborough, Ontario. W.H. Munro died in 1976. George Reid Munro (Reid), 1887-1920, was the second son in the Munro family. He graduated from the School of Practical Science in 1905, and in 1907, he joined the survey party of the Hudson Bay Railway Company. During the World War I, he remained in Peterborough, taking care of the William Hamilton Company and looking after the Munro family affairs. He died in 1920, a victim of an influenza epidemic. (Note that some of George Reid Munro's papers relating to his work are located at Library and Archives Canada - MG 30.) Euphemia Margaret Munro (Effie), 1885-1950, was the only daughter in the Munro family. She attended St. Hilda's College and later graduated from from the University of Toronto in modern languages in 1906. In 1918, she graduated from the Training School for Librarianship in Toronto and was appointed librarian of the Peterborough Normal School, a position she retained until her retirement. The youngest Munro child, Alan Hugh Munro, 1889-1948, graduated from the Faculty of Applied Science, University of Toronto in 1911. On graduation he worked for a succession of power companies on power development construction including the Dominion Department of Railways and Canals, Rice Lake Division of the Trent Canal at Campbellford, Ontario. During the World War I, he served with the 6th Field Company, Canadian Engineers from 1914-1919 and was wounded in 1917. After the World War I, he again worked for a variety of companies on construction projects but appears not to have established himself firmly with any one of them, a situation which was exacerbated by the coming of the Depression. Many letters between 1918 and 1921 mention the influenza epidemic and the many deaths.

Daniel Nill was a farmer who at one time owned the property at 1202 Morton Line in Cavan, Ontario. The fonds consists of items which were found on the property in 2001; they relate to Nill and to members of the Mason family.

The Nimmo family lived in Bensfort, South Monaghan Township in Northumberland County.

John Northway was born August 17, 1848, at Leat, near Lifton, England, the eldest son of Thomas Neathern Northway and Grace Doidge. In 1868, John left England for New York, where he was soon relieved of his watch and money. Disenchanted, he made his way to Canada, and went to work for a tailor in Embro, Ontario. From this inauspicious beginning, Northway, using his sound business judgement, became, not just a tailor "on the floor" of a shop, but, by 1901, a merchant, manufacturer and financier with partnerships throughout the province and investments throughout the continent. Having achieved success, Northway sent his children to the best schools, and provided for them the formal education he had never received. John Northway founded two main companies: The Northway Company Limited, and John Northway and Son Limited. Upon his death in 1926, leadership of these two firms fell to his sons, A. Garfield and John A. respectively, under whose direction expansion and later retraction was carried out. The factory, begun in 1896 to supply the companies, was closed down in 1930. John Northway and Sons Limited came to have three stores in Toronto, and one each in Hamilton and Stratford. In 1957, this company bought the Brantford outlet of the Northway Company Limited, which A.G. Norhtway, who foresaw no successor, had been gradually disposing of. In January 1960, A.G. Northway died, and The Northway Company Limited was put into voluntary liquidation by its directors. In November 1960, the directors of John Northway and Sons Limited sold the company to outside interests. It has since disappeared. Dr. Mary Louise Northway, born in 1909, was the daughter of A. Garfield Northway and Mary McKellar and the granddaughter of John Northway, founder of the Northway Company Limited and John Northway and Son Limited. Mary was educated in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto, B.A. 1933, M.A. 1934, and Ph.D. 1938. In addition, Mary did graduate work at Cambridge University in England. Dr. Northway taught psychology at the University of Toronto from 1934 to 1968, and the last fifteen years of her tenure were as Supervisor of Research at the Institute of Child Study. She also earned international recognition as a pioneer in the field of Sociometry. From 1950 to 1963, she was the president of the Northway Company Limited. Among the many honours bestowed upon Dr. Northway were: Fellow of the Canadian Psycological Association, Honorary Life Member of the Ontario Camping Association, and an Honorary Degree from Trent University in 1979. Throughout her life, Mary was involved in camping and she believed in the value of Canadian summer camping and tripping. She was the program director of Glen Bernard Camp from 1930 to 1939 and, with Flora Morrison, was co-director of their own girls' camp, Windy Pine Point, from 1941 to 1950. Dr. Mary L. Northway died in 1987. In her will she left to Trent University its largest private benefaction to be known as the Northway Bequest in memory of her father, Garfield Northway, provising permanent support towards a number of areas, including the facilities for the Trent University Archives. (Information taken from a plaque commemorating the dedication of the Northway Reading Room which was written by the Trent University Archivist, Bernadine Dodge.)

The Orgill family is a branch of the Boyd family of Bobcaygeon, Ontario. Mrs. Norma Orgill (1922-2020), the donor of the collection, was the wife of Herbert Orgill, a descendant of William (Willie) Thornton Cust Boyd (1859-1919). Willie was the son of the lumbering entrepreneur Mossom Boyd (1815-1883).