Vimy Ridge Day is a day to commemorate the deaths and casualties of members of the Canadian Corps in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place during the First […]

This year, heritage organizations, historians, genealogists, writers, archivists, museums, libraries, and passionate community members from across the district will come together in Delaware for a day of discovery, connection, and inspiration. It’s our annual opportunity to meet the people behind the projects — the books, archives, oral histories, exhibitions, and creative initiatives that are keeping our shared past alive.

What to Expect
Reports and stories from the year 2025.
A look ahead at upcoming projects and events.
Election
Input and ideas and suggestions from the membership - bring your ideas
Read the by-laws. Here they are: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hphRnsPobdCkoPQTwO1Vfi8UT_tJZ9Q0/view?usp=drive_link

This 40-minute talk explores identity, displacement, and intergenerational trauma, woven with the long history of the Groat family and the local significance of Newbury. Dr. Groat is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Indigenous Studies at Western University, and a citizen of the Kanyen'kehaka nation and Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. In 2025, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his work promoting Canadian heritage.

These free, community-led walks invite people to explore their surroundings through history, shared spaces, and everyday lived experience. Together, we’ll walk, talk, and reflect on what makes our villages liveable, welcoming, and worth caring for.

In this engaging talk, Kendra Coulter will discuss her book The Tortoise’s Tale, a unique and moving story told in an autobiographical style from the perspective of a tortoise. Through this unconventional voice, the book invites readers to reflect on time, care, resilience, and human–animal relationships.

Kae Elgie brings to her research a wealth of experience from her pre-retirement career as Manager of Information Technology for the Region of Waterloo Library. Her passion for organizing information continues to guide her family history and genealogy work. Drawing from extensive research saved by her ancestors and combined with her in-depth research into census and land records, archaeological findings, and historical texts, Kae Elgie tells the remarkable story of 10,000 years of food gathering and agricultural production on the 200-acre farm in Chatham-Kent where she grew up.

Honoring the Past: Stories & Tales From the Front May 23 & 24 Looking further ahead, Tyrconnel Heritage Society is preparing for a brand-new experience. This May, they will transition […]

Join acclaimed musical artist Denise Pelley, accompanied by Stephen Holowitz, for a powerful lecture-and-listen experience inside the historic AME Church at Fanshawe Pioneer Village.

This fifth edition of the Fanshawe Village series highlights the lives and contributions of two remarkable Black Canadians:

Salome Bey – pioneering singer, songwriter, and “Canada’s First Lady of Blues”

Lawrence Hill – celebrated author of The Book of Negroes

🔎 Why do some places vanish while others endure? Join us to explore how geography, transportation, industry, and timing shaped the fate of Middlesex County’s lost communities—and what their stories still tell us today. In this illustrated and engaging talk, local historian Jennifer Grainger explores the rise and fall of these vanished villages. Drawing on maps, photographs, land records, and archaeological clues, she traces where these communities were located, how historians and genealogists research them today, and what—if anything—remains on the landscape.

Join us for our Annual St. Mary’s Service at one of Middlesex County’s most treasured historic landmarks, lovingly preserved since the 1840s.

Built of local walnut—generously donated by Captain Christopher Beer, who even postponed building his own home to support the church—St. Mary’s stands as a testament to dedication, sacrifice, and community vision. Although regular services ended in 1920, the tradition of gathering here has continued for over a century.