Fonds consists of records created and accumulated by the Trent University Archives. See box listing for more details.

This item is a typescript of an autobiography written by Captain Charles Rubidge and published in 1870.

This fonds consists of correspondence, research material, manuscripts and publications pertaining to the scholarly works of Professor Richard Dellamora. The materials relate largely to his publications, which include "Masculine Desire" (1990), "Apocalyptic Overtures" (1994), "Postmodern Apocalypse" (1995), "The Work of Opera" (1996), and "Victorian Sexual Dissidence" (1999), as well as several journal articles. Research notes encompass such nineteenth-century writers as Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, John Ruskin and Algernon Swinburne.

This fonds consists of Town & Gown Concerts programmes, correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, press releases, and financial statements, 1969-1979. Also included are miscellaneous programmes of Trent University Performing Arts Series, Trent Music Hall Society, Theatre Trent, Peterborough Festival of the Arts, Community Concert Association, and Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, 1970-1987.

This fonds consists of the administrative records of the Ontario Research Council on Leisure (ORCOL), minutes and agendas of the board of directors as well as issues of Recreation Review and the Journal of Applied Recreation Research. The records were generated by the Ontario Recreation Research Committee.

Collection consists of several Indigenous newspaper titles. The publications are dated primarily in the 1970s and 1980s and are, in most cases, Canadian in origin. See file listings for more information on each individual title.

This addition to the fonds consists of correspondence between Scott Medd and his sister Miss Mary Medd of Peterborough, Ontario. The correspondence is from the later period of their lives. There are also photographs of the Medd and Daniels families.

This item is a photocopy of a letter from A.G. Fleming, of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, to his sons, David and Sandford, in Canada.Topics discussed include difficulties in booking passage to Canada, activities of David, and those of (later Sir) Sandford in railways. Also mentioned is Dr. Hutchison, Peterborough's first doctor, as well as incidences of grave illness and quarantining of newly-landed emigrants. The letter is dated July 16, 1847.

This item is a photocopy of Dr. Hutchison's birth register of his patients, which he kept during his practice in Port Hope, Cobourg and Peterborough. It is taken from the doctor's lecture note-book, from his days as a medical student in Glasgow (1815). The birth register contains births from 1817 to 1846.

Fonds is a research collection comprised of handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, photocopies of published and primary materials, transcriptions of letters, video and cassette tapes. Subject areas pertain primarily to Catharine Parr Traill, Susanna Moodie, Robertson Davies, and a conference held at Trent University in honour of Timothy Findley (1997). Also included are handwritten notes, correspondence with researchers, publishers and editors, and copies of talks, papers and manuscripts by Professor Peterman.

Fonds includes records of the Travel Grant Committee at Trent University, including policy, procedures, memos and budgetary matters, 1972-74 and 1986-92.

This addition to the fonds consists of photocopies of the records of Christ Church, Bobcaygeon, giving an outline history of the beginnings of the congregation and church construction, treasurer's accounts (Building Committee), Font Account (Reverend C.W. Paterson), Bazaar Account, and Liabilities Account (Building Committee). The records photocopied range from 1869 to 1881.

This fonds consists of essay submissions, correspondence and financial records which relate to the Alternatives magazine when it was published at Trent. There are layouts, original artwork and subscriber information for several issues. Conserver Society Notes, which amalgamated with Alternatives, also has material in this collection.

Collection consists of photographs and slides of businesses, landmarks and sites within and near the city of Peterborough. Images include Peterborough Lift Lock, Little Lake, Petroglyphs, Peterborough Square, Fairhaven Home for the Aged, Edmison Heights Public School, P.C.H. Nurses residence, Queen Mary Public School, Kinsmen Garden Club, Zeidler farm house, Peterborough Courthouse addition, Sir Sandford Fleming College, Hutchison House, Art Gallery of Peterborough, St. Peter's Cathedral, Peterborough Centennial Museum, Peterborough Public Library, Comstock Funeral Home, Peterborough Theatre Guild, Victoria Park, Kaos Cafe & Revue Cinema, etc.

This item is a copy and translation of a letter from Louis Riel in the prison at Regina to Dr. Romuald Fiset, thanking Fiset and the committee for Riel's defence, for what they were doing for him and outlining his activities since his return from the United States so that his attorneys (Lemieux and Fitzpatrick) might have his side of the story. In the letter, Riel also voices his desire that his trial be held in Lower Canada.

This item consists of a photocopy of the municipal Board of Health returns, from 1847, RG 5 B 16 from the Library and Archives Canada. It is a report on the hospital and a request for money to help pay salaries and other costs that are usually incurred by the sick. This item was sent by the Mayor of Cornwall to the Government of Britain.

This fonds consists of photocopied correspondence, of a political and social nature, mainly from Thomas D'Arcy McGee and John A. McDonald, covering topics such as the entertainment of the Maritime delegates to the Quebec Conference. The correspondence dates from June 5, 1862 to June 21, 1867.

The fonds consists of photocopies of records of Christ Church, Bobcaygeon, Ontario, including minute books, parish registers (baptisms, marriages, burials and confirmations), and a vestry book including both accounts and minutes. The photocopied records cover approximately a hundred-year span from 1865 to 1960.

Collection is comprised of approximately 4200 slides of photographs pertaining primarily to the Canadian and Greenland Arctic. The photographs were taken during the 1970s to 1990s by Roger Buxton and are identified and dated. Also included are aerial views of Trent University (14 September 1985), photographs of the aftermath of the Barrie, Ontario tornado (31 May 1985), and photographs of family and scenic landscapes.

This fonds consists of briefs, correspondence, memoranda and responses to "To Know Ourselves" and "Some Questions of Balance".

This addition to the fonds consists of documentary records of the activities of the Peterborough Community Concert Association including programs, reviews of concerts, correspondence, minutes and financial records.

Fonds consists of research materials and correspondence pertaining to Professor Walden's writing and teaching career. Also included are folders of personal correspondence.

This fonds consists of programmes, rules and regulations, membership records, annual reports, minutes, correspondence and research material of the Lyceum Club and Women's Art Association of Peterborough.

Record group consists of records documenting the activities of the Academic Skills Centre, and includes committee records, budgets, program material, and correspondence.

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.