The collection consists of photocopies, originals and typescripts, brought together by Howard Pammett, of newspaper articles and unpublished articles on a variety of subjects such as Mossom Boyd, lumbering in the Kawarthas, Katherine Wallis, Peterborough Canoe Company, Trent Valley Navigation Company, and steamboats on the Trent-Severn system. The newspaper articles are from the "Progress of Peterborough" series by Pammett (Peterborough Examiner, 1950-51). The unpublished articles are "A Survey of Kawartha Lumbering 1815-1965" by Pammett and "The Peterborough Canoe" by Donald Cameron. There is also correspondence of Katherine Wallis, Mossom Boyd, and the Trent Valley Navigation Company.

This fonds consists of oral history tapes made by George Cobb. Topics covered on the tapes include: Trent Canal, lumbering, early medicine and dentistry in Peterborough County, native studies, mills and so forth.

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.

This fonds consists of the original and collected papers of E.C. Guillet, relating to his works and research on the Trent Valley/Peterborough/Kawartha area. Included is correspondence, primarily with George M. Douglas and Helen Marryat; maps (photocopies); newspaper articles regarding above area; collected manuscripts of historical authors; photographs; and Guillet's own unpublished manuscript of Canadian Literary Pioneers.

This fonds consists of the personal and business records of the Geale, Hamilton, Peck, Barker and Rogers families. There are letters relating to World War I written by Beresford and Robert Hamilton and Heber and Harry Rogers; letters, diaries, journals of Richard Birdsall Rogers (superintending engineer of the Peterborough Lift Lock); the records of Hon. Robert Hamilton, a factor at the Hudson's Bay Company stationed at Fort Edmonton. The fonds also contains stereographs, approximately 1000 photographs, and a C.E. Goad fire insurance plan for the city of Peterborough, 1882. Items of interest include a group of photographs of the Trent Valley area and the building of the canal; Rogers family pictures of the Stoney Lake area and the Juniper Island Regatta; photos of early aircraft and the Curtiss Aviation School; photos of hydraulic lift lock at Peterborough; and one letter from Catharine Parr Traill to Robert Miles Hamilton.

This collection of family papers, correspondence, journals, photographs, newspaper clippings and published works spans the years 1834 to 1966 and measures approximately 3 1/2 linear metres. The papers were deposited in Trent University Archives through the courtesy of members of the Geale and Rogers families in 1983.

The papers are divided into two series:

Series A, the Geale family papers, consists of records pertaining to the descendants of the Hon. Robert Hamilton, a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company stationed at Fort Edmonton in northern Manitoba. Robert Hamilton married Annie Seabourne. One of their sons was Robert Miles Hamilton (1864-1939). He married Alice May Barker and resided at "Auburn" in Peterborough, Ontario. Their children were Miles Beresford Hamilton, Robert Barker Hamilton, (Alice) Seabourne Hamilton, and S.R. Hamilton (son). Alice Seabourne Hamilton married Charles Norman Geale. Papers of the Barker family (the Hon. Samuel Barker was Mrs. Robert Miles Hamilton's father) are included in this series as are the papers of the Peck family. Edward Armour Peck was the natural son of Arthur Henry Peck and the adoptive father of Charles Norman Geale. He married Kitty Revell. Both Miles Beresford Hamilton and Robert Barker Hamilton served overseas in the First World War and their correspondence is included in this series.

Series B of this collection consists of the Rogers Papers. Richard Birdsall Rogers was born at Ashburnham in 1857. He lived there until 1916 and then moved to "Beechwood Farm" in Douro Township. He was a land surveyor and was appointed superintendent engineer of the Trent Valley Canal in 1884. Richard married Clara Mina Calcutt of Peterborough in 1881. They had seven children. One daughter, Leah, married Herbert Geale, brother of Charles Norman Geale. Two sons, Heber and Harry served overseas in World War I. Their correspondence is included. R.B. Rogers designed and supervised the building of the hydraulic lift locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield. These papers included several files of plans and specifications for the locks, correspondence and documents accrued during the scandal preceding Rogers' resignation in 1906, the Holgate Report which condemned Rogers and the Keefer investigation which completely vindicated his work as Chief Engineer. We have created a major on-line exhibit focusing on the life and times of Richard Rogers and the Peterborough Lift Lock: http://digitalcollections.trentu.ca/exhibits/birdsall-rogers/zrptboll.htm