March 12, 2025. 7:00 p.m. Onsite at The archives and via Zoom.
Come to the Archives or tune in via zoom to meet the author, Daniel Perry. Instead of helping launch a new book, Daniel wants to meet with us as part of the research.
The material in this presentation is the partial basis of a non-fiction book he is working on, but it’s unlikely to be published (or even submitted to a publisher) by the time he visits. He will present the work-in-progress to us. He is hoping that local people will have more stories and clues to fill in the gaps.
Thomas Gardiner’s younger brother Singleton (1774-1834) is well documented in local history as the effective founder of the vanished village of Cashmere, along the Thames in Mosa Township. But what of Thomas?
Thomas Gardiner led a life both ordinary and extraordinary. Before his death in Mosa Township around 1840, Thomas served in the Irish Volunteers during the Rebellion of 1798, joined the Lincoln Militia in Canada, feuded with the Anglican Church, taught school, and likely endured epidemic cholera. He documented much of his life in letters to the Executive Council of Upper Canada in the 1830s, now preserved in Library and Archives Canada. But was he a reliable narrator? Missing from his account is, for example, his arrest for leaving Canada during the War of 1812.
Let’s help Daniel Perry unravel the truths and myths behind Thomas Gardiner’s fascinating story. Read this post for more about this ambitious book project.
Daniel Perry grew up in Glencoe, Ontario, and has lived in Toronto since 2006. His stories have been short-listed in the Vanderbilt/Exile Competition, have twice earned Summer Literary Seminars Unified Literary Contest fellowships, and have appeared in The Dalhousie Review, Exile Literary Quarterly, The Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature, The Nashwaak Review, White Wall Review, Little Fiction, NoD, In/Words, Paragon, Ottawa Arts Review, Sterling, the quint, echolocation, The Broken City, Wooden Rocket Press, Hart House Review, Broken Pencil–Death Match IV, and the Stone Skin Press anthology, The Lion and the Aardvark.
He has a great website where you can find links to a lot of his short stories and check out his just published book: Modern Folklore.
Modern Folklore, a horror novella has arrived on Planet Earth in both physical and electronic format. Published by Toronto’s Canada’s hottest new indie horror press and bookshop, Little Ghosts Books, it’s on the festival circuit, gracing Toronto’s Word on the Street and the Mississauga Literary Festival.
Now it’s time to read the book and buy the book for Christmas gifts. Support your local bookstore or order from Google. Ask at your local library. Contact the author, CJ Frederick through her website. The author is very appreciative.
Launched! Rooted and Remembered Oct 23, 2024
Great evening with James Carruthers, the story keeper; CJ Frederick, the story teller and author; and Patrick, the story champion. We packed the Archives and hosted a few people via zoom as well.
Sometimes the story keeper and the story teller is the same person, handing stories on to the next generation. Sometimes they are two different people.
Stories ripple all around us, if only we’re willing to hear them. In 2012, CJ first learned of Ellwyne Ballantyne and the astonishing relationship he forged with two strangers after reading a short newspaper article about the dedication of an unusual tree to a long-dead soldier from World War One. With obligations to work and family filling her time, she wasn’t yet ready to hear his story. It took a global pandemic, with the prospect of lockdowns and unexpected forced time at home, to open her ears, mind, and heart and be ready to explore the roots of Ellwyne’s story that took place more than a century before.
CJ grew up in the 1980s in a wood-framed farmhouse built by Scottish settlers, situated on a dead-end road that terminates near the winding Sydenham River. In 2000, this road was renamed from a numbered concession to Buttonwood Drive. The name reflects the stand of buttonwood trees gathered at the river’s edge, where they most comfortably grow.
In 2020, she began reflecting on the fallen soldier and his extraordinary buttonwood tree that grows near her childhood home. Her curiosity eventually led her to the doors of Carruthers clan descendants, where she begged to have a conversation about Ellwyne and his connection to the tree. Thinking it might have the makings of a short story, she began putting together the pieces of Ellwyne Ballantyne’s brief life. But, with each photograph, letter, and artifact shared, she became more engrossed in the tale of an orphan who had stepped foot on three continents and was taken in by strangers who came to love him as their own. At the outset, CJ did not anticipate that it would bloom into a novel, but as she learned more details about the characters and events, she believed that each nugget was fascinating and intriguing.
C
I hope that Ellwyne’s story and his connection with the Carruthers clan touches people with its message of love, faith, and remembrance. It’s only through storytelling that those who carry memories, and decide to share them, make history come to life.
CJ Frederick
Rooted and Remembered weaves together the will to honour and remember with a glimpse into rural settler life and hardship, as told in one family’s story about an orphaned boy and his beloved buttonwood tree.
CJ hopes that Ellwyne’s story and his connection with the Carruthers clan touches people with its message of love, faith, and remembrance.
Ellwyne Ballantyne’s twenty-two years of brief, bright life are summed up on a simple plaque attached to a majestic buttonwood tree in Carruthers Corners. When local author CJ Frederick first saw the memorial tree in the rural area just outside of Glencoe, ON, she experienced a keen reverence. “It’s just a dot on a map. I was not prepared for how beautiful the tree was. It looked like it was wearing a cloak; as my mother says, ‘wrapped in a queen’s robe’. Knowing that this tree was dedicated to the life of someone who had given that life in a faraway, long-ago conflict really made me stop and think about remembrance and the enduring nature of love.” Ballantyne’s story had to be told; Frederick was eager to record it.
Ellwyne Ballantyne’s buttonwood tree at Carruthers Corners
Frederick’s father, Butch Frederick, had mentioned the plaque years earlier, and it weighed on her mind until the pandemic in 2020 provided time to investigate. An article about the plaque’s dedication in 2012 led her to James C. Carruthers of Mossley, ON. Frederick accepted an invitation to Carruthers’ farmhouse for what would be the first of many hours of ruminative local history conservation, and dutifully inspired imagination.
For James Carruthers, the tree and its plaque represents his childhood spent listening to his grandmother’s stories about the kind, lonely boy from India she took under her wing and treated as her own. Ellwyne Ballantyne, born in Calcutta, India in 1895 to a steadfast mother, was orphaned by the age of 11. His stepfather steered Ballantyne and his half-sister first to Scotland, then to North America. Soon after he landed, in the dead of winter, at the doorstep of James A. and Betsy Jane Carruthers in 1906 at Carruthers Corners. During his years working the land with the Carruthers family, Ballantyne discovered a buttonwood tree thriving completely out of its element. The striking metaphor between tree and boy ignited a stewardship within Ballantyne that rooted him in his newest land, and family. This cultivated kinship matured with Ballantyne’s voluntary enlistment to serve on behalf of Canada overseas in World War I, where he was summarily sent to France. He was killed in action in September, 1917.
Lost, but not forgotten by James A. and Betsy Jane Carruthers—Ellwyne Ballantyne lived on through their stories, and also the land. Indeed, the buttonwood tree of this historical youth is the towering tree of his present memorial.
Though delighted to share Ballantyne with the rest of the world—Carruthers had waited a long time to share Ballantyne’s story with an audience outside of family—he held back the finer details at first. “My admission ticket to the full Ellwyne story, as far as James Carruthers was concerned, was that I grew up close to where Betsy Jane [James C.’s grandmother] was raised, I knew the area quite well, that I had a strong interest in the past, and that my grandfather had also served in World War I.” Frederick’s great grandfather also enlisted, but was honorably discharged when needed at home. “I feel a connection to what that generation endured.” Carruthers’ expansive archive included not only the cherished memories of his grandparents, but also a photo of Ballantyne and his birth mother in India, handwritten letters, and a wooden carving handcrafted by Ballantyne.
Sometimes the story keeper and the story teller is the same person, handing stories on to the next generation. Sometimes they are two different people.
Frederick grew up in a farmhouse on a concession fatefully renamed Buttonwood Drive, near the Sydenham River, home to many flourishing buttonwood trees. “I helped my dad plant more than 5,000 trees as we reforested a corner of our farm property with conifers. I have always been fascinated by the stoicism and beauty of trees.” She had initially set out to write a short story based on the plaque and its buttonwood tree, but as a few phone calls and visits stretched into over fifty hours of remembrance, Frederick knew it was a full-length novel. “When I told James C. that the story was far too complicated and long for a short story, I asked if I could try to construct a [fiction] novel. This thrilled James because he wants the story to be shared with others before it is lost to the memories of those who will pass and take it with them.” With Carruthers’ permission, Frederick used the factual pieces of Ballantyne’s history to fully immerse the reader in the fictionalized, fully-realized details of his life from beginning to end.
“Lots of people go through the motions of saying that they remember or they give thanks for the sacrifice of others,” says Frederick when asked what drew her to tell this deeply personal story of strangers, “but the Carruthers family has set a fine example of what remembrance means and how it looks. It doesn’t have to be big and showy, but it can be meaningful and real. And worth sharing.”
A technical writer by trade, Frederick is a creative fiction author by inspiration. “I spend all day storytelling business concepts, but I’ve always wanted to write a novel. Small towns and family-owned farms are disappearing, and when they’re gone, they’re just gone. I want to tell rural stories and find an audience who will appreciate them. And the memory of Dad talking about this plaque on a tree all but in the middle of a twentieth century farm field pulled at me. The pandemic made me feel like if not now, when? So I took the opportunity to spend my lockdown time researching, connecting, and writing about this incredible tale.”
Rooted and Remembered by CJ Frederick is a fiction novel based on the real life of Ellwyne Ballantyne, a remarkable boy from India who bestowed a legacy of love and compassion to a rural Ontario family before his life was cut short in World War I. To purchase a copy of the book (available in paperback or ebook), visit the Amazon website or order it from any bookstore.
Frederick’s just published book was launched at The Archives in Glencoe on October 23, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. This story was written by CJ Frederick and published in a September edition of the Middlesex Banner.
Jim May is also a story keeper for Ellwyne Ballantyne. Here he is with Chris Carruthers and Harold Carruthers after a presentation to the historial society about a pilgrimage to France to pay respects to Private Ballantyne
Come meet story keeper, James Carruthers and local novelist CJ Frederick. They will describe how they brought this special family history to the printed page.
Topic: Lest We Forget Ellwyne Ballantyne.
Time: Oct 23, 2024 07:00 PM America/Toronto
Join Zoom Meeting or come to the Archives. Join the zoom call at 6:55 p.m. so we can settle in for a 7 pm. start.
CJ and James hope that Ellwyne’s story and his connection with the Carruthers clan touches people with its message of love, faith, and remembrance. It’s only through storytelling that those who carry memories, and decide to share them, make history come to life.
Author CJ Frederick signs book at Tartan Days, July 20, 2024.
Copies of “Rooted and Remembered” will be available to purchase.
Listen to CJ tell about how she became intrigued with this story and how she collaborated with James Carruthers, the grandson of Betsy Jane Carruthers, during the pandemic to write a ‘creative non-fiction’ book about this wonderful young man, Ellwyne. Link to Interview starts at 9 minutes.
CJ’s First Novel – her story: Stories ripple all around us, if only we’re willing to hear them. In 2012, CJ first learned of Ellwyne Ballantyne and the astonishing relationship he forged with two strangers after reading a short newspaper article about the dedication of an unusual tree to a long-dead soldier from World War One. With obligations to work and family filling her time, she wasn’t yet ready to hear his story. It took a global pandemic, with the prospect of lockdowns and unexpected forced time at home, to open her ears, mind, and heart and be ready to explore the roots of Ellwyne’s story that took place more than a century before.
CJ grew up in the 1980s in a wood-framed farmhouse built by Scottish settlers, situated on a dead-end road that terminates near the winding Sydenham River. In 2000, this road was renamed from a numbered concession to Buttonwood Drive. The name reflects the stand of buttonwood trees gathered at the river’s edge, where they most comfortably grow.
In 2020, she began reflecting on the fallen soldier and his extraordinary buttonwood tree that grows near her childhood home. Her curiosity eventually led her to the doors of Carruthers clan descendants, where she begged to have a conversation about Ellwyne and his connection to the tree. Thinking it might have the makings of a short story, she began putting together the pieces of Ellwyne Ballantyne’s brief life. But, with each photograph, letter, and artifact shared, she became more engrossed in the tale of an orphan who had stepped foot on three continents and was taken in by strangers who came to love him as their own. At the outset, CJ did not anticipate that it would bloom into a novel, but as she learned more details about the characters and events, she believed that each nugget was fascinating and intriguing.
Join us on March 3rd, 2024 to 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 those injured and killed at the Battle of the Longwoods in 1814.
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.
Local organizations and families are encouraged to place a wreath. Call JoAnn Galbraith 5192895954 to put your name on the list. Or arrive early and approach the organizers to add your name and organization to the list.
Co-promoted by the Glencoe & District Historical Society
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.
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.
Three perspectives on the local #4 Bombing and Gunnery School during WWII were presented at the Archives, 178 McKellar St, Glencoe October 12, 2022 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Blair Ferguson, local author of Southwold Remembers: The #4 Bombing and Gunnery School brought some great artifacts. Blair is an authority on the local training facility which is located at the Fingal Wildlife Management Area. His book is filled with stories about the people who worked there.
Andrew McGill is a local photographer and farmer. Andrew presented his family’s personal connection to the Gunnery School.
Paul Anderson, author of Eric Stirling – The Missing Son – A Recollection of His Life, (published privately) joined us from his home in New Zealand via Zoom. 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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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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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.
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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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.
Notes by Ken Beecroft. Presentation by Jim May. Wednesday November 21, 2018 – 2:00 p.m.
The Members’ Meeting, held at Glencoe’s Historic Train Station, followed today’s Program presentation, which featured guest speaker, Jim May. Jim spoke about Jim and Jane’s 2017 autumn trip across northern France, Belgium, Bavaria and Austria, to the battlefields and historic places, significant to Canada from the Great War. Jim pointed out that the itinerary of the tour was geographically based and not chronological to events of the First World War. Overall, the tour commenced in the Belgian city of Bruges, and ended in Salzburg, Austria.
The May’s travelled with a guided group of fifteen Canadians, including friend and seasoned traveler Heather Wilkinson. Their trip started in the Picardy and Flanders area of northern France. Jim talked about of summer of 1916, and the Allies “Big Push” Offensive in the Somme Valley.
What was supposed to be a quick victory over the Germans turned into a long costly campaign. The Royal Newfoundlanders especially paid dearly, along with other heavy Commonwealth losses. The tour group visited Hawthorne Ridge Cemetery #2 near Beaumont Hamel. They travelled to Hill 62 in western Belgium, near Ypres. Intense fighting in this area caused significantly heavy Canadian casualties. He talked about the Menin Gate in Ypres, commemorated in 1927, and a place of pilgrimage ever since.
Jim described the official and unofficial type of war monuments in the area. They travelled to Vimy, where he described the terrain and overall history of that April 1917 battle. Jim spoke about the design and construction of the Vimy Monument, and it’s unveiling in 1936 by Edward VIII. Jim’s presentation was accompanied by a slide show of the various sites and monuments.
Jim presented a treasured portrait of a family ancestor who died during the war, Pte. Ellwyne Arthur Ballantyne 4th Bn.Ellwyne was killed on the western front in 1917 and was buried at Aix-Noulette Communal Cemetery in France. Jim was particularly pleased to have had the opportunity to visit Ellwyne’s grave at that Cemetery.
Upon conclusion at 3:05 p.m., President Lorne Munro thanked Jim for his presentation and slide show, and presented him with an honourarium.
U-119 was unsuccessfully attacked on 29 April 1943 by a Short Sunderland flying boat of 461 Squadron RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force). The boat sustained no damage but one man was killed.
She sank Halma on 3 June east of Halifax, Nova Scotia and damaged John A. Poor on 27 July. Both ships were attacked with mines laid by U-119 on 1 June.
U-119 was sunk by a combination of depth charges, gunfire and ramming from HMS Starling on 24 June 1943.[1]
Due to her late entry into the Second World War, Prestonian did not see much action. Upon arriving at Halifax, she underwent major repairs and it was not until January 1945 that she began working up at Bermuda. After she returned she was assigned to EG 28, a local convoy escort group working out of Halifax. She remained with this unit until the end of the war in Europe. In preparation for service in the Pacific Ocean, Prestonian began a tropicalization refit at Halifax completing on 20 August 1945. However the plans to send her to the Pacific had been cancelled and she was paid off 9 November and sold to Marine Industries Ltd.[2][3]
Stuart William Patterson
Stuart William Patterson
Stuart William Patterson
Stuart William Patterson
Excerpt from Royal Canadian Legion Yearbook:
Stuart Patterson was born 6 April 1928, in Rodney, Ontario. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy on March 9, 1944 and was sent to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia for basic training in WWII. He was assigned to HMCS Prestonian 18 November 1946 as part of escort group 28 out of Halifax. At the end of the war, Stuart volunteered to serve in the Pacific. He was is discharged 4 Jan 1946.
Stuart returned to Rodney where he farmed as well as worked for Union Gas for 30 years. He helped found Rodney Legion Branch and he also founded Rodney Christian Mission and served as its pastor . He volunteered at the Parkwood Hospital in London, a veterans’ hospital. Stuart and his wife Betty have 5 children.
