Elora: The Early History of Elora and Vicinity provides little-known details about the settlement and development of the Elora area in southern Ontario from the earliest settler in 1817. Then, as now, people were drawn to the Elora Gorge and the rocky banks of the Grand River. The book is a compilation of material that appeared weekly in The Elora Express between 1906 and 1909 with some additional material from the 1920s. Connon traces the settlers as they arrive and reports on the development of the town as they acquired a grist mill, a store, a bridge, and inevitably a railway. Rich with genealogical information, this is an important historical document. Introduction by Gerald Noonan.
This comprehensive history of Ontario's agricultural development, first published in 1946, is a classic of scholarship and readability. It will appeal not only to agriculturalists and historians but also to anyone interested in life in early Ontario.
The Canada Company was responsible for the opening and settling of over two million acres of land in Upper Canada. Author Robert C. Lee focuses his attention on the extensive parcel of land on the shores of Lake Huron that became known as the Huron Tract. His comprehensive research explores the underlying forces leading to the formation of the Company, the intriguing mix of people charged with responsibilities for the Company and the overall impact of its operations, leading to its present-day legacy. The politics of the day, coupled with diverse and colourful personalities – such as John Galt, Tiger Dunlop, William Allan, Thomas Mercer Jones, Frederick Widder, Sir Peregrine Maitland, Bishop Macdonnell and Bishop Strachan – introduce an interesting blend of vision, intrigue, mischief and day-to-day survival strategies that make for compelling reading. Add to this the shareholders perspective of the Company versus the settlers perspective and you have a fascinating glimpse of pioneer conditions. Included are descriptions of early towns such as Guelph and Goderich, as well as background on the Huron Tract township names. "Robert Lee’s outstanding book brings to life the unusual assemblage of characters who were instrumental in the development of Upper Canada’s largest private settlement scheme – the Huron Tract. Their relationships with each other, and especially with the Canada Company for which many of them worked, make a great story." – Lutzen Riedstra, Stratford-Perth Archivist "Robert Lee has vividly recreated the personalities and the political intrigues that were part of the Canada Company’s operation – the largest one of its type in Ontario’s history. The most comprehensive work to date on this fascinating era, this book is eminently readable and a must-have for history lovers. – Ron Brown, author of Ghost Towns of Ontario
These biographies of Canadians are arranged chronologically by date of death. Entries in each volume are listed alphabetically, with bibliographies of source material and an index to names.
When Charles Clarke settled in Elora, Ontario, in 1848 he joined the ranks of the province's radical reformers, becoming a vigorous critic of everything in Canada that smacked of the old regime - rank, privilege, and monopoly - and an enthusiastic supporter of everything promised by the new - equity, democracy, and individual opportunity. He played a prominent role in drafting the 'Clear Grit' platform of 1851, supporting such ideas as a householder's suffrage, the secret ballot, and representation by population. He later espoused the two great causes of nineteenth-century Anglo-Canadian liberalism - provincial rights in Canada and Irish Home Rule in Britain. Equally involved in local affairs - from the Sons of Temperance to the Natural History Society - Clarke tirelessly promoted the natural beauties of Elora and tried to protect the environment of the Grand River gorge from the ravages of industry and human carelessness. Using Clarke's journalistic writings, his private diary, and a memoir he wrote later in life, Kenneth Dewar paints a vivid picture of Clarke's evolving sense of himself and his world in an age of profound transformation.
"This collection of essays represents a selection of the papers presented at the 1998 Migration conference at the Centre of Canadian Studies at the University of Edinburgh."--Acknowledgements.
Written to honour the life and work of the late Peter N. Oliver, the distinguished historian and editor-in-chief of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History from 1979-2006, this collection assembles the finest legal scholars to reflect on the issues in and development of the field of legal history in Canada. Covering a broad range of topics, this volume examines developments over the last two hundred years in the legal profession and the judiciary, nineteenth-century prison history, as well as the impact of the 1815 Treaty of Paris. The introduction also provides insight into the history of the Osgoode Society and of Oliver's essential role in it, along with an illuminating analysis of the Society's publications program, which produced sixty-six books during his tenure. A fitting tribute to one of the foremost legal historians, this tenth volume of Essays in the History of Canadian Law is a significant contribution to the discipline to which Oliver devoted so much.
Covering a broad range of topics, this volume examines developments over the last two hundred years in the legal profession and the judiciary, nineteenth-century prison history, as well as the impact of the 1815 Treaty of Paris.
