Perth, Lanark and Richmond Settlements Map, 1824
Adapted from Rev. William Bell, Hints to Emigrants; in a Series of Letters from Upper Canada (Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes, 1824). Archive.org. Web. 19 June 2014.
Continue reading →M.C. Moran
Squatter’s rights: the Widow Cahill petitions the Crown (Part I)
The following petition is found amongst the Upper Canada Land Petitions, though it concerns a property in Lower Canada (on Calumet Island/L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet, in Pontiac County, Quebec). Honourable Sir, I humbly beg leave to state that in the year 1835 I…
Continue reading →The Ballad of James and Margaret
The family lore surrounding my 3x-great-grandparents James Moran and Margaret Jamieson is so romantic (and I have to say, so seemingly improbable) that I sometimes refer to the story of their elopement to Canada as “The Ballad of James and…
Continue reading →Documents: Burial Records
Occupation: Married Woman (Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980)
During the 1930s Alex and Annie operated a small grocery shop in their home on Armstrong St. In the depths of the depression my father, who was a railroader, got very little work and we were often short of cash….
Continue reading →Ottawa Passé & Présent/Ottawa Past & Present
Ottawa Passé & Présent/Ottawa Past & Present is a remarkable website: an interactive blog which juxtaposes photographs from Ottawa’s past with photographs from the Ottawa of today. Here, for example, is 96 to 102 Wellington Street, in 1938 and in…
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