Marie Williams, Glencoe: The huge crowd that packed into the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives on February 22 proved that the “Sage of Ekfrid” is as popular today as he was over 100 years ago. In addition to 30 viewing online, over 50 turned up in person.
Read moreThanks to CTV for doing a piece on the importance of building a Middlesex County Archives. CTV London’s Marek Sutherland reports: TV news item here
Read moreJoin the Glencoe & District Historical Society and come to the meeting of the members to review the accomplishments of 2022 and make plans for the coming year. Individual Memberships are $20 and family memberships are $25. Tax Receipts will be issued by Membership Secretary Harold Carruthers.
Show and Tell! Bring a family heirloom, artifact, or mysterious thing from the past to share with the group. We’ll have some fun with this.
Existing members: this is your official notice to attend the annual general meeting to be held at the Archives, 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe, Ontario.
Topic: Glencoe & District Historical Society Annual General Meeting 45 years!
Time: Apr 19, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Join us on March 5th as we commemorate the Battle of Longwoods which was originally fought on March 4th 1814. Arrive at 1:45 p.m. and park carefully. We will remember them.
We will remember those injured and killed at the Battle of the Longwoods in 1814.
Battle Hill National Historic Site, 2945 Longwoods Rd, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0
Watch this beautiful short video of the MOURNING RING OF LIEUTENANT PATRICK GRAEME OF THE 89TH REGIMENT OF FOOT. KILLED ON MARCH 4, 1814, WHILE LEADING THE BRITISH ATTACK AT THE BATTLE OF LONGWOODS.
Click to Facebook Event by the Upper Thames Military Re-enactment Society https://www.royal-scots.com/
Co-hosted by the Glencoe & District Historical Society
On-line and at the Archives.
Redvers Albert Noble III will tell the story of Operation Jericho which took place on 18 February 1944 during WWII Allied aircraft bombed Amiens Prison in German-occupied France at very low altitude to blow holes in the prison walls, kill German guards, and use shock waves to spring open cell doors. The French Resistance was waiting on the outside to rescue prisoners.
Local guests: Arrive at the Archives at 6:45 p.m. so we can join our on-line guests at 7:00 p.m. Speaker Red Noble from Melbourne joins us at the Archives located at 178 McKellar St, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0.
On-line guests: Join Zoom Meeting before 7:00 p.m. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87337405310?pwd=cFdVOW1kSnc1d2tIeE9LSGVTMTduZz09
Of the 832 prisoners, 102 were killed by the bombing, 74 were wounded and 258 escaped, including 79 Resistance members and political prisoners; two-thirds of the escapees were recaptured.
The raid is notable for the precision and daring of the attack, which was filmed by a camera on one of the Mosquitos.
Redvers Albert Noble III born December 11, 1950. “My early passion was playing toy soldiers at the age of 7 but this grew to a life long study of history. I drove transport trucks for 38 years throughout North America and served in management positions too. When not working , I enjoyed traveling globally.”
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Local guests: Arrive at the Archives at 1:45 p.m. so we can join our on-line guests at 2:00 p.m. Author Tom Wilson joins us from the French Riviera. The Archives is located at 178 McKellar St, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0.
No Guns, Just God’s Glory is a book about the Chaplains who fought the good fight during WWII. Details about the role of Allied military chaplains and stories of those who died in the Battle of Normandy from June 6, 1944 to August 25, 1944.
On-line guests: Join Zoom Meeting before 2:00 p.m.
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Rev. Tom Wilson is a local son, who for 12 years owned and managed the Why Not Shop in Glencoe and lived on a farm near Melbourne. He is a Canadian Anglican Priest who has served in Southern Ontario, Scotland and now the French Riviera. Tom holds 3 degrees, a BA and Mdiv from Western and a doctorate from Drew University in New Jersey. He and his wife have 3 small dogs, a Bichon and 2 chihuahuas. Welcome home Tom. Looking forward to your presentation direct from the French Riviera.
Order his book, No Guns, Just God’s Glory at: 
https://www.orepeditions.com/fr/histoire/566-no-guns-just-god-s-glory-9782815104166.html
Tom: “I look back with fondness on my time in Glencoe and SW Ontario. I confess though, I do like the winter here on the French Riviera, as it is normally sunny and warm during the days, but the nights are cool.”
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Presenters: Blair Ferguson, Andrew McGill, and Paul Anderson
October 12 at The Archives, 178 McKellar St, Glencoe from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. https://glencoehistoricalsociety.ca/events/
This is a hybrid event: Zoom AND in person! Arrive at the Archives at 6:45 p.m. so we can visit and welcome our online guests. Start at 7:00 p.m. sharp.
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Meeting ID: 833 7114 4079
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Blair Ferguson, local author of Southwold Remembers: The #4 Bombing and Gunnery School. Blair Ferguson is an authority on this training facility which was located at the Fingal Wildlife Management Area during WWII. His book is filled with stories about the people who worked there. Special price $20.
Andrew McGill – local photographer and farmer. Andrew will present his family’s personal connection to the Gunnery School. We’ll pay tribute to his grandfather, Blake, who was a hardworking member of the Glencoe & District Historical Society in its early years (Est. 1978). Blair and Andrew are presenting in person.
Paul Anderson, author of Eric Stirling – The Missing Son – A Recollection of His Life, published privately , New Zealand. Paul is joining us from his home in New Zealand via Zoom.
Paul Anderson has published the wonderful letters his uncle wrote to family back in New Zealand. Young Eric Stirling joined the airforce and like so many young guys from the Commonwealth, he was trained in Canada at the #4 B&G School. He never made it home.
The young men were SO young. The movies cast actors in their 30s so we forget that WWII was the first adventure off the farm for many young soldiers. Eric was 24. Many were not even 18.
Please join us to learn about what went on over in Fingal during WWII. It was a very exciting time!
October 12, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.
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Meeting ID: 833 7114 4079
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Our 2022 Zoom – Meet & Greet
Tuesday, January 11th 7 p.m.
We want to say hello and to let you know that we’re still here. Now that all these online meeting tools are available, we think it’s time to try them out.
We urge all our local history enthusiasts and friends to join us. The Directors are going to tell us what they’ve been working on during the pandemic and we want to hear about your work too.
Zoom Instructions:
Jan 11, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting at 6:55 p.m.
Meeting ID: 984 6498 6531
Report from the Committee To Establish A Middlesex County Archives (CEMCA):
Unlike other counties that have established a County Archives (Lambton, Kent, Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk, Perth, Huron etc.) to house municipal as well as important historical materials, Middlesex County has not. In February 2020, representatives of historical societies and interested citizens from across Middlesex County gathered to ascertain the interest in establishing a Middlesex County Archives. The group had concerns about what would happen to their precious historical documents due to aging volunteers and lack of resources. The group gave resounding approval to the initiative and the Committee to Establish a Middlesex County Archives was born. After two meetings, Covid-19 halted those for the year but work remained ongoing. In February 2021 virtual meetings commenced via Zoom.
How best to achieve the goal? The primary focus had to be municipal records. Through legislation, County and Municipal governments are mandated to officially store public records for legal, governance, and historical purposes. The Ontario Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001. C. 25 Section 254 further states that municipal offices must preserve certain documents, and that they are to be publicly accessible. Those records need to be properly stored and available in a timely manner. It further indicates that municipal offices could deposit their records in an archive, to be secured. In addition, many historical societies hold historically significant documents and still more remain in private hands. Without a County Archives, there is concern about the location and condition under which many valuable historical documents are being stored.
CEMCA, through a survey to Mayors and Clerks, and another survey to Historical Societies within Middlesex County, ascertained much data – most materials were not stored in secure, environmentally-safe areas and most were not easily accessible. That is a problem for municipal as well as local historical documents.
In June, CEMCA developed a series of “Facts Sheets” and other pertinent information to be sent weekly to County and Municipal Councillors and Administrative Staff. Information included: Municipal Act and Responsibilities, What is an Archives? How Will the Municipality and Clerks Benefit? Where Are the Records Now? Who Would Use the Middlesex County Archives, Resources Required and Challenges and Opportunities. To see any of this information, please check Middlesex Centre Archives webpage: www.middlesexcentrearchive.ca or email proposedmiddlesexcountyarchive@gmail.com.
Committee representatives from each municipality are contacting their councillors and/or making presentations to their councils. On September 28, 2021, CEMCA will be making a presentation to County Council to formally ask that a Middlesex County Archives be established.
Who benefits from a County Archives? Municipal clerks, town planners and developers, lawyers and architects, heritage advocates, scholars and educators, genealogists and family historians, tourists. The biggest benefactors will be our future generations!!!!!!!
How can you help? Contact your county councillors by writing, email or telephone to express your support for the Archives. For more information, please email proposedmiddlesexcountyarchive@gmail.com.
Let us lose nothing of the past, it is only with the past that one builds the future. Anatole France
The 1866 Fenian Raids under Captain Anthony O’Malley.
Ken Willis will talk about the Wardsville Volunteer Infantry Company. The Company was actively protecting southwestern Ontario along the Saint Clair River in Sarnia area from March – June 1866 for fear of an invasion of the Fenians.
Everyone welcome! 7:00 p.m. at The Archives, 178 McKellar Street. Glencoe.
