The Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley Volume 14, Number 2, August 2009
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ISSN 1206-4394 The Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley Volume 14, number 2, August 2009 Table of Contents West End Walk Planned ……………………………………………..………. Kelly McGillis 2 Adventures of John Keleher: An Irishman, A Sailor, an Immigrant ……….…. Don Willcock 3 Peterborough Miscellaneous Directory 1906 ……………….……… Peterborough Directory 7 Rambles on Chambers Street ……………………...…………………………. Andrew Elliott 15 A Short History of Lakefield College School ………………………….………….. Kim Krenz 17 Peterborough’s Canadian Icons …… ………. Gordon Young, Lakefield Heritage Research 20 Diary of A. J. Grant, 1912 ………………………………………….. Dennis Carter-Edwards 21 Queries ………………………………………………………………………… Diane Robnik 23 The Surname Barry: Irish-Cork Origins and History ……………………………. David Barry 25 Book notes: …………………………………………………………………………………….. 31 Paterson, School Days, Cool Days; Galvin, Days of My Years; Cahorn, The Incredible Walk. Peterman, Sisters in Two Worlds East Peterborough, Douro Township, 1901 Census, April 1901, Section 1 ……………….. 32 First Nations of the Trent Valley 1831 ……. …………………………………. Thomas Carr 40 The Ecological Economy …………………………………………………….……. David Bell 42 News, Views and Reviews ………………………………………………………………………. 43 Trent Valley Archives upcoming events; Wall of Honour update; Notice of new book, Elwood Jones, Historian’s Notebook Cover picture: Peterborough waterfront, late 1930s. Note Peterborough Canoe Company in foreground. In the distance you can see Peterborough Cereal Company, Quaker Oats and the Hunter Street Bridge. Notice the CPR tracks along the Otonabee river. (Credit: Trent Valley Archives, Electric City Collection, painting by Jack Hamer) Trent Valley Archives Fairview Heritage Centre 567 Carnegie Avenue Peterborough Ontario Canada K9L 1N1 (705) 745-4404 [email protected] www.trentvalleyarchives.com Trent Valley Archives West end walk planned Fairview Heritage Centre Kelly McGillis, Examiner, 10 July 2009 Peterborough Ontario K9L 1N1 (705) 745-4404 Trent Valley Archives is holding a new fundraising [email protected] historical walk of part the old west end of the city with tour www.trentvalleyarchives.com guide Steve Guthrie from CHEX that will cover Weller St., Homewood Ave., Belmont Ave., Hopkins Ave. and Murray Reading Room open St. between Park St. and Monaghan Rd. The tour was Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 4pm written by Gina Martin, whose father's family, the Basciano’s settled on what was then called Elm St. (now Hopkins Ave.) and was known as Little Italy. "There are several themes to this historical walk," Martin says. "Many people who helped to shape Peterborough and, in some cases, other parts of Canada, lived in the Weller/Homewood area -company presidents, mayors, military men, doctors, bankers, and financiers. Board of Directors Over all, this will probably not surprise people. The only Basia Baklinski thing that may surprise them is the calibre of wealth and Ivan Bateman power that some of these people had. Tom Childs "George A. Cox was at one point the richest man in Andre Dorfman Canada and brought many banking and insurance Sarah Gauntlett institutions not only to Peterborough but to Canada. Stephen Guthrie, President Edward Rogers Wood of Belmont Ave. has a similar story Elwood Jones, Vice-President and, at one time, was a business partner of Cox. Walter Wally Macht, Past President Clarke Austin of Weller St. was a teacher for many years Dave Mahoney but later went into real estate and found significant fortune Gina Martin, Secretary when the western provinces joined Confederation. He set Lisa Weagle up two Peterborough based companies securing and Don Willcock investing in Alberta and Saskatchewan lands. "The people on these streets were products of the Heritage Gazette of the Trent Valley Victorian elite who strived to present a certain portrait of Elwood Jones, editor themselves to the rest of society. They saw themselves as [email protected] upper crust with a very wide social gap between themselves Gina Martin, assistant editor and the working class. This was less a comment about their Keith Dinsdale, Martha Kidd, John Marsh, personalities as it was about the social times. Diane Robnik, Don Willcock "It is ironic then that the epitome of the working Dorothy Sharpe, typist immigrant class in Peterborough literally took up residence in their backyards in the form of Elm and Murray streets. Trent Valley Archives Trust Fund There is such a striking contrast between the rich almost Peter Lillico, Michael Bishop, mansion-like estates of Weller St. and the tiny wooden Tom Robinson houses of Elm St. "Elm St. was Peterborough's original Little Italy. Trent Valley Archives Great stories off that street! My dad grew up there. There Diane Robnik, Associate Archivist were actually a number of separations between the [email protected] immigrant crowd and the Weller St. crowd. You had the Carol Sucee, Librarian class struggle as well as the struggle between Catholic and Protestant. The information and opinions expressed are those of the "Dad used to say that it was sometimes a tough walk contributors and not necessarily those of the Trent Valley home from school at St. Peter's since they would have to Archives or its directors. Unless otherwise noted, illustrations walk past Queen Mary to get to Elm St. There would be are from the collections of the Trent Valley Archives. threats to have the Orangeman's Parade go down Elm St. in July. Of course, this never happened, but the threat seemed ©2009 Trent Valley Archives to rear its head among all the kids each July," Martin says. Any copying, downloading or uploading without the explicit Martin doesn't want to give away all the fascinating consent of the editor is prohibited. Classroom use is stories of that area of town, and particularly the vibrant life encouraged, but please inform the editor of such use. of Little Italy, so to find out more, join the walk! THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN KELEHER: AN IRISHMAN, A SAILOR, AN IMMIGRANT Don Willcock John Keleher (sometimes spelled “Kelleher”) and his and three 12-pounder carronades, in addition to her 38 family sailed on the Emigrant Transport Ship John “rated” 18-pounders. The American frigates United Barry in the summer of 1825. This would seem to be a States, President, Congress, Chesapeake, fairly standard story of emigration, and the Kelehers Constellation, and Constitution (the famed “Old little different than thousands of other men, women, Ironsides”) were sometimes considered equal with and children who left their native Ireland to make British small line-of-battle vessels. While these better lives in 19th century Canada – except for two Americans were usually victorious in ship-to-ship remarks in documents pertaining to the Peter actions against British frigates (having captured or Robinson-organized immigration to the Peterborough sunk the frigates Guerrière, Java, and Macedonian, area. The first paragraph of a letter of reference and several smaller warships), they were no match for indicates “The bearer John Kelleher is one that the strong British squadrons that patrolled the United belonged to the Shannon Man of War” and that the States coast from the Mississippi’s mouth to New commanding admiral at Cove (later Queenstown, now York. Consequently, the American frigates were used Cobh), Ireland, “now is anxious to serve a man who primarily as commerce raiders against single British or was in a Man of War in so distinguished an affair”. Canadian merchantmen or lightly-guarded convoys. The other notation appears in the comments made by The Constellation, however, spent the entire war Dr William Burnie, the Royal Navy surgeon in charge blockaded near Norfolk, Virginia, and saw no sea of John Barry’s passengers: beside John Keleher’s action. Both sides employed “privateers” – small, name, Burnie writes “Shannon!!!”. What was so armed, privately-owned vessels issued with “letters of significant about the warship Shannon that would marque”, and carrying large crews – to disrupt make a senior British admiral “anxious to serve”, and commerce in coastal waters. a veteran Royal Navy surgeon take special notice of In April 1813, sixteen-year-old John Keleher and among a shipload of immigrants, a man who had once fifty-one other young Irish men and boys sailed from served on her? Waterford, Ireland, on board the Newman & Company His Majesty’s Shannon, a 1,066-ton, 38-gun brig Duck (T. Silly, master) bound for the company’s frigate of the Leda class, was built at Frindsbury, near St Lawrence fishery plantations on the southeast coast Chatham, England, and commissioned in 1806. She of the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland. Newman & spent most of her career blockading and patrolling Co. was founded in 1779 by the Newman family of enemy coasts, and escorting British merchant convoys Dartmouth, England, to catch, process, and sell to and from various overseas ports. The Shannon’s Newfoundland cod. The fifty-two new recruits on the first (and only) commander was Captain Philip Bowes Duck were hired for the company fishery, and were to Vere Broke. be “hardy boys that have good bone and health. We do At the outbreak of war with the United States in not want men who have been on a Man O’ War – they 1812, Broke and Shannon were based in Halifax, learn idleness and their morals are apt to corrupt the Nova Scotia, as part of a squadron consisting of a 60- natives.” (Newman & Co. correspondence, cited by gun ship-of-the-line and seven frigates. The squadron Admiral H.F. Pullen, The Shannon and the was assigned to blockade the U.S. eastern seaboard. Chesapeake, p. 48). It seems that Newman & Co. Its ships could capture or destroy enemy warships or (unlike the British military) set high physical and merchant vessels if they sailed. It was to protect moral standards for their employees. British shipping, including Britain’s important Within two miles of her destination of St Greenland whaling fleet, in the Atlantic. On 16 July Lawrence Harbour on the Burin peninsula, the Duck 1812, the Shannon while leading a patrol captured the was overhauled and captured by the American first warship lost by either side in the War of 1812 – privateer schooner Governor Plumer (J.