G&DHS ‘Meet & Greet’ on Zoom Jan 11 at 7 p.m. EST

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.

https://zoom.us/j/98464986531

Meeting ID: 984 6498 6531

Southwest Middlesex has a duty to save records

July 14, 2021June 10, 2026Glencoe & District Historical Society

Municipal Act and Responsibility

Legal Mandate

Federal and Provincial Governments in Canada have mandated that public records be officially archived for legal, governance, and historical purposes.
The division of records kept usually coincides with jurisdictional boundaries: Federal, Provincial, County, and Municipalities. (Library and Archives of Canada Act, S.C.2004).
Ontario has further mandated that preserved public records be available to the public. (Archives Act, RSO 1990; Archives and Recordkeeping Act, 2006; Archives and Recordkeeping Amendment Act, 2019.
The Ontario Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001. C. 25 Section 254 further states that municipal offices must preserve certain documents and they are to be publicly accessible. Those records need to be adequately stored. It further indicates that municipal offices could deposit their records in an archives.

Many neighbouring Ontario counties have created their own archives to fulfill their legal obligations and to preserve important heritage materials. These include Elgin, Oxford, Huron, Perth, Grey, Bruce, Lambton, Haldimand, Wellington and more recently in 2020, Norfolk. Middlesex County has not done so yet.

Often records are not easily accessible due to the location of the records in the municipality. They are either stored off-site in another municipal structure or are not available for access to the public. Whether in digital or hard copy, records need to be accessible in a timely manner, especially when there are MFIPPA requests.

Environmentally controlled (EC) storage facilities are necessary for preserving records. The temperature must be 18-21 degrees Celsius, which is colder than an office environment. Relative humidity (RH) should be between 45-50%. If both elements are not met, mold can occur if humidity is too high, and paper can deteriorate if the temperature and RH are too low. Based on the surveys returned from the municipalities in Middlesex County, none of the records are in EC areas. A few municipalities indicated the records are stored in their community centres. While these facilities may have air-conditioning, the RH control is still an issue.

Even if municipal records are covered in Records Retention Schedules as per the Municipal Act 2001, S.O. 2001. C. 25 Section 253, some records have historical value that can be retained for researcher and/or historical value. When records no longer serve administrative value, they could still have cultural value for information. Less than 3% of municipal records are archival. While it might not be a lot, municipal records like tax assessment rolls, building plans, environmental assessments and other documents should be considered for placement in the Middlesex County Archives.

Written by the Committee to Establish a Middlesex County Archives, July 2021

Canadian Farmer – Eric Simpson

March 30, 2021January 23, 2022Glencoe & District Historical Society

Eric Simpson is an egg farmer on Longwoods Road who farms with his brother, Owen, his mother Vicky , wife Sarah, two boys and a couple of staff. Eric was interested in following the YouTube channels of other farmers and decided his family farm had a story to tell too.

Simpson Poultry Farms makes their own feed, so Eric’s egg farm story starts with the corn and soybeans he grows to feed his chickens. Enjoy the day with Eric.

Check out his channel

Here is baby chick day:

Who We Are 2019

September 24, 2019June 10, 2026Mary Simpson

Mission: to promote, encourage and foster the study of local history and genealogy including original research.

The Historical Society primarily focuses on local history within the bounds of the current Municipality of Southwest Middlesex, located in the south-west tip of Middlesex County.

The area includes:

Village of Glencoe
Ekfrid Township [Former]
Mosa Township [Former]
Appin
Newbury
Melbourne
Middlemiss
Wardsville

Local Expertise: Many of our members are experts in regional history:

land registry records for West Middlesex 1790-1973
regional settlement in the 1800’s
life and culture throughout the past 200 years
involvement in WW1 and WW2
history of local families
significant buildings and structures
local agriculture
building design and methods, and
textiles, sewing, quilting.

Objectives: The Glencoe & District Historical Society is an incorporated non-profit volunteer organization. It is a member of the Ontario Historical Society and the Ontario Genealogical Society. Our objectives are:

To promote, encourage and foster the study of local history and genealogy including original research.
To collect and preserve information, including books, manuscripts, typescripts, charts, maps, photographs, photostats, microfilms, tapes and related material for such historical study.
To reproduce some of the talks presented to the Society, as well as other research and materials, particularly relating to the region and to sell such reproductions.
To encourage, support and solicit research information on heritage buildings in our District as well as lend our support to other community groups who are active and interested in the preservation and restoration of heritage buildings.

The founding president Reverend George Hamilton held a strong passion regarding the preservation of local history and believed in the importance of sharing knowledge and engaging people with an organization that would provide an environment focused on encouraging these interests. The Society was formed in April 1978.

Grand Opening of The Archives

June 24, 2019June 10, 2026Mary Simpson

Certainly the major event of our spring schedule was to host our official opening at 178 McKellar Street, the new “Archives”, on a bright and sunny May 15th. Much planning and preparation went into making this wonderful day a success. The extended hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. planned for our event enabled visitors to come and go as their time allowed. The ribbon cutting at 11 o’clock was attended by SWM Municipal Council, our G & DHS Executive and about another fifty-five or so people. This gathering also was present for the re-dedication of the Rotary Memorial at the front of the Archive building, and for the awarding of lifetime memberships to long serving members Ina Nelms and Louise Campbell. Congratulations to them.

Throughout the day guests and visitors were encouraged to sign the guest book and enter the draw for prizes. Visitors also toured the building and displays, chatted with volunteers and members and enjoyed the refreshments provided. In the early evening, we were pleased to have historical author Guy St. Denis talk about his fascinating new book “The True Face of Sir Isaac Brock“.

Much appreciation goes out to those who made this day possible and to the approximately 180 people who came through our doors. We were pleased to have the opportunity to share “who we are and what we’re about” with our community.

Grand Opening of The Archives, May 15, 2019

Harold’s Photos of Glencoe

April 17, 2019March 7, 2024Ken and Sharon Beecroft

On Wednesday evening April 17, 2019, the Glencoe & District Historical Society hosted the Annual Meeting at the new ARCHIVE facilities. President Lorne Munro welcomed those attending and introduced the guest speaker, our own historian Harold Carruthers. Fifty people attended this event, the first program to be presented at 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe.

Although President Lorne introduced Harold, no introduction was needed. Harold mentioned that the presentation is a continuation of one that he did last April 2018 at Glencoe’s Historic Train Station.

Harold showed 300 images spanning the period between the 1880’s and the 1960’s, focussing on the street scenes of Glencoe Ontario. Harold also focused on the human perspective, highlighting parades and social events. Many people, long gone, were recognized by members of the audience.

Upon conclusion of the display at 8:15 p.m., President Lorne Munro thanked Harold for his interesting narrative. A time of fellowship followed the presentation and audience members enjoyed exploring the new facility. The Annual Meeting and Election of Executive Officers led by President Lorne Monroe followed.

50 people attended
Bev Whitlock and Linda Mayhew
Harold shares a story about one of the images.
The audience explores the The Archives, the new facility
L – R: Ken Beecroft, incoming president and Harold, local historian
L-R: Barb McDonald, JoAnn Galbraith, Ina Nelms
Harold Carruthers renews David McDonalds membership. Ken Willis to the right of Dave. Barb McDonald swigging coffee, as well as JoAnn Galbraith