Hand Book for the Dominion of Canada, 1884

Originally published as a guide book for members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science who were attending the associations meeting in Montreal in 1884.
There are 31 pages of advertising for hotels, travel and insurance companies, and anybody who thought the visitors might be pursuaded to shop with them.

A great prize to railway enthusiasts will be the 3 fold out maps showing the railway routes across Canada and the upper portions of the USA. There is a further pull out map showing the geological features around Montreal.

The book is a mine of information about the Canada of that period organized into what today would be 'info-bites' and 'factoids.'

Topics discussed range as widely as politics and geology, music and the cost of public works. There is a lot of attention paid to means of transport and in particular to the railway system.
There are sightseeing guides for most of the major transportation routes from the west coast to as far inland as Toronto. While there is a mention of Manitober and British Columbia the majority of the book is dedicated to the areas from the maritimes to the western boundaries of Ontario.

Pathfinders of the West - 1907

The author, Agnes Christiana Laut (1871-1936) was a well known and respected Canadian author on the subject of the discovery of the area of North America to the west of the great lakes.
In this book she concentrates on the voyages of some of the earliest explorers (C. mid 1600s), those whom Agnes calls Pathfinders: Pierre Esprit Radisson, M. de la VŽrendrye, Samuel Hern, Sir Alexander Mackenzie and the team of Lewis and Clark.
The majority of the voyages of discovery described at least start in Canada but describe areas which are now on both sides to the US - Canada border. the Lewis & Clark expedition, of course, took place mainly in US territory.

An excellent book for those who want to get a feel of what it was like to venture into a vast unknown area with only your wits and skills to rely on. An adventure few of us today could undertake.

380 pages with 61 illustrations including some very early photographs.

This book will also be a valuable source of material concerning the Hudson's Bay Company, the fur trade and the personal and political relationships between the various authorities, European and First Nations based, and the individual explorers.
In her Foreword Agnes makes a spirited defense of her omission of the voyages of Marquette, Jolliet and La Salle claiming they did not make 'discoveries' only followed in the footsteps of the true Pathfinders.Agnes' writing style makes this an easy and interesting read, more like an adventure story than an historical account. She paints vivid characters of the people she is writing about be they rugged pioneer, native North American or duty bound officer.

Readers not familiar with the mores or morality of 100 years ago may be somewhat surprised at the attitudes and concepts which form a basis for Agnes' storytelling style.
This, in it's own right, is an interesting social commentary.

There is a valuable appendix containing reprints of important letters and official dispatches (some translated) dating from the 15th and 16th century.

The Civil Service List of Quebec 1853 and Canada 1872 & 1894

These are dis-bound sections of an annual set of session papers which record the staff of the Canadian (only for Quebec in the 1853 report) Civil Service during that year.
The listing of the Civil Service staff varies in format from report to report. All of them give the officer's name, rank, department, salary and the date of their appointment.

The 1872 report also include their "origin" and creed while the 1852 Quebec report also includes notes about the department and some of the employees.
Nor was government employment limited to clerical tasks in those days.
The lists include such positions as lock keepers, the entire North-West mounted Police Force (1894) as well as workers in the government run railways.
There are also, of course, lists of clerical staff for the various levels of government, tax collectors and postal workers to mention but a few.

Archive CD Books (Canada) selected these three reports at approximately 20 year intervals to give you the best chance of finding your ancestor if he worked for the government through this period.

There are thousands of Civil Servants listed in these reports and the largest, the 1894 report includes an alphabetical index. If an ancestor was working for the government in this period they are going to be listed here.

Canada as a National Property, 1926

This is an "advertising" book published by the Canadian Government to encourage immigration during the 1920s. To suit this purpose the book provides a great deal of information on the types of employment available in the various areas of the country and on the volume and growth of these industries since 1900.

Of course the living conditions are not neglected and there are also descriptions of things like the geography and the political "climate." A late chapter even describes the recreational opportunities for things like fishing, hiking and sightseeing.

This is an excellent book if you want to get a feel for Canada in the mid 1920s. It clearly is doing a "sales" job and so doesn't discuss the less attractive conditions but on the whole it's a fairly accurate picture of what a settler and his family could expect to find if they decided to take the opportunity to start a new life in the new world.
There are nine colored maps showing the distribution of major industries like agriculture, mining and forestry. There are also a number of photographs, engravings, tables and diagrams illustrating the types of conditions to be expected by the immigrant.

The Blue Book: Textile Directory US & Canada 1897-98

This is a comprehensive directory of the textile trade and associated manufacturing industries for the years 1897 and 1897.
It lists all manufacturing operations in the whole of Canada and the United States. The Textile manufacturers are indexed by country, state/province and the type of fiber they worked in, i.e., cotton, woolen, silk, or the coarser fibers like jute, linen, hemp or flax.
There are also entries for associated trades such as Dyers and Finishers, Print Works and Bleachers and a section identifying 'new mills' opened since the last issue.

To round out the directory there is a section listing 1144 railroad routes followed by 17 pages of maps showing all the US railroad routes and the business districts of selected cities important to the textile trade.

If you are researching anyone, or anything, associated with the textile industry in these years there's a good chance of a mention here.
Each Works and Mill is listed by name and the listing includes the names of the owner or principle officers as archivell as the main facilities.

In addition to the actual directory there are almost 200 indexed advertisements for all sorts of textile manufacturers and service providers.

At the rear there is an alphabetical index of all the entries in the directory which, together with the text search capability, will make finding the mill or person you are interested in, easy.

Gazetteer and Business Directory, Canada 1930

A wonderful book with a truly misleading original title.
Of the almost 2000 pages in this book the gazetteer takes up 70 while the rest are devoted to a wonderfully complete directory of Canadian businesses and professional people and their advertising.

This is a great resource in a Country where early directories are so scarce.Both the gazetteer and the Business Directory are indexed by Province but the Business Directory is also sub-indexed by trade or profession.
So, if you are looking for someone who was a Grocer in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan you can go straight to the alphabetized list of 71 candidates, most of who were trading under their own name rather than under a company name.
In fact the vast majority of the businesses listed were named for the owner including, of course, the professional listings for Physicians, Veterinarians, Barristers, Insurance Agents, etc.

To help you Archive CD Books (Canada) have included the OCR'ed search layer behind the page images as usual. You should note, however, that this book is so crammed with information, the very small, close packed, type used has meant that the recognition process was not up to the standard we have come to expect.
Search success rates should still be in the high 90% range but a human search is strongly recommended if the computer search doesn't find your information right away.

A really good trade directory for the whole of Canada in 1930 with a bonus of a very detailed gazetteer for each Province in the Dominion and Newfoundland which would not be confederated until 1949.
Notably missing are any listings for the North West territories, surprising in view of it's population of about 9,000 compared to the Yukon's population of about 4,000 which has generated a listing of over half a page.

Another one for the must have list.

Stoddard's Lectures - Canada, Malta & Gibraltar - 1902

John L. Stoddard was an American gentleman Victorian adventurer who explored the world and brought his tales and pictures back to an audience of Victorian town dwellers eager to share his 'wild' experiences.

One of the pioneers of photography, every page is illustrated with at least one of his remarkable pictures.
Despite his Victorian heritage Mr. Stoddard's written style remains very readable and could easily be mistaken for the writing of a contemporary author were it not that the subject had undergone such profound change since his time.

The two combined lectures on Canada occupy 240 pages, Malta 58 pages while Gibraltar is covered in 30 pages.

The index is based on place names and major topics while the list of illustrations is in order of appearance but each entry is usually started with a place name.

The book's text is fully computer searchable.

A wonderful living image of Canada, Malta and Gibraltar at the turn of the last century.
Approximately 400 photographs. This is a reproduction of the 1911 edition and so includes a number of "colorized" plates.

A History of the Eastern Townships - 1869

An early history of Canada and more specifically of that important area of Quebec just to the South East of Montreal known as the Eastern Townships. Mrs. Catherine Matilda Day (1815 - 1899) wrote two books about the Eastern Townships, and they were very popular in their time. And rightly so: Catherine has an easy writing style which is surprisingly readable considering that she's writing a history. But that's her secret. She turns history into a series of tales giving a living presence to the historically accurate characters who are the subjects of her stories.
See if you can read the story of the poor immigrant family who tried to walk through the Townships before the spring thaw, without reaching for the tissue box.
Of course there are passages giving a more conventional, factual, history but even here Catherine gets right to the heart of the matter so you get the facts you need without any unnecessary commentary.

In the third part of the book there is a detailed account of the formation of the Eastern Townships. The founding of each village is described and the names of many of the individuals and families instrumental in their early development are given in full.

The book is divided into three parts and its contents, as described by the author, are: "Part First of the book contains a brief sketch of the discovery of America; the colonization of Canada by the French; its state up to the conquest; a short account of that event, and a reference to important changes that have transpired from time to time.
Also, a synopsis of the civil history of Canada......." "Part Second contains a series of miscellaneous chapters,......... They relate principally to the aborigines of our own section; the earliest explorations and general opening up of the country for settlement; the conditions on which the lands were granted; the method of erecting townships; and finally, the difficulties, perils, and privations encountered by the early settlers."
"Part Third gives short historical sketches of each Township within the districts of Bedford and St. Francis, with brief notes on many individuals who have been prominently interested in their early settlement.
Such incidents and adventures as are proper to embody in a work of this nature are also given."

Here is an example of the chapter contents from Part two:CHAPTER V. p177Improvements In Dwellings, Furniture And Other Conveniences. -Mechanical Labor. -Method Of Converting Corn Into Food. -Erection Of Mills. -Opening Of Roads. -Clothing In Use. -Female Employments. -Social Gatherings. -Drinking Habits. -Fertility Of Soil. -Surplus Produce. -Want Of A Market. -Early Products. -Trading Establishments. -Public Houses. -Wheeled Vehicles. -Wild Animals.CHAPTER VI. p201Want Of Moral And Intellectual Culture Among The People. -Character Of A Majority Of The Early Settlers. -Sabbath Breaking, Indifference, Irreverence. -First Teachers Of Religion. -Partial Success. -Educational Interests .-First Schools And Their Teachers. -Doctors And Their Patients. -Sufferings And Casualties.

Who, What & When in Canada (before the 20th Century)

This CD is a compilation of four books. The main thing they have in common, and the reason why they are published here as a collection, is that they are all good sources of concise information about the People, Places and Dates which are significant in the (immigrant influenced) history of Canada up to the beginning of the 1900's:
"The Hand Book of Canadian Dates" by F. A. McCord
"Alphabet of First Things in Canada" by George Johnson
"The Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the year 1864"
"Almanac of ye olde time British Whig for ye year anno domini 1903"

Each document may be individually computer searched for keywords but we have enabled our FastFind search feature so you can access all the information contained on the CD in just one search.

The Hand Book of Canadian Dates by F. A. McCord: was published in 1888. Mr McCord styles himself an Assistant Law Clerk in the Canadian House of Commons and we can presume that he compiled this handy source of information as a result of information searches conducted in pursuit of his important work.
His ready access to the Parliamentary library would, of course, ideally place him for this research. In the 1894 Civil Service list (CA0030) we find him listed as THE Law Clerk of the 'Law and Translation Branch' of the House of Commons. Other information given was that he first joined the Civil Service in 1884 and that he was born on 29 August 1856, making him about 32 when this book was published.Alphabet of First Things in Canada by George Johnson: was first published in 1889 but then re-published in 1890 in a greatly expanded and improved edition. It is this second edition that is reproduced here.
The author provides the best description of the contents by explaining his motives: 'Having often found myself compelled to verify a date, or to search for the sources of a movement which in the course of years had become of importance, I began, some years ago, to jot down any statement of first things in Canada that I met in my readings. The more readily to find what I wanted, I arranged the collection in alphabetical order.'

A well annotated source of hundreds of significant events in Canada's past.

The Canadian Almanac, and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the year 1864: was published in Toronto but does not follow the normal almanac convention of limiting its interest to just its own local. Of course it begins with a calendar of the subject year giving: Diurnal, Celestial, Civil and Ecclesiastical data for every day as appropriate.
But this only accounts for 15 of this 100 plus page collection of facts and figures. Subjects range far and wide from meteorological statistics over a range of years through lists of important civic information such as: The name of - and postmaster of - every post office in Canada, The names of the judiciary and the parliaments of every province as well as those of the Dominion, The names of many professional institutions and schools (including the names of their officers), The names of all the clergy (all denominations) and, The name of every masonic lodge and its officers. Then add in pages of Public Accounts and Imports and Exports for both the provinces and the Dominion as well as a selection of interesting period advertisements.
Leaving the best to last there is a fold out Map of the area of Upper Canada which we call Eastern Ontario, ranging from the Canada East/West border across to Kingston. It shows both counties and townships in addition to all the recognized town and villages of 1864. Altogether this unusual Almanac is just a 'bomb' of historical details defining Canada up to 1864.

Almanac of ye olde time British Whig for ye year anno domini 1903 (being ye seventieth year of aforesaid delectable newspaper in ye ancient and good old burg styled Kingston, Ontario) Despite this rather clumsy attempt at humor in titling this is an almanac which opens a glimpse on life and the social 'mores' of this period. Its reason for inclusion in this collection is that it also contains a 5 page listing of 'Historical Events,' the latter part of which rounds out the listing of historic events in Canada in the 19th century.

While the Century Company was compiling its Dictionary in the late 1800's it decided to draw all the proper name references it found into a separate appendix to be included in the last of the dictionary's eight volumes. When they completed the dictionary they found that the appendix of names was so large it justified a complete volume of its own. Consequently the first edition of the Cyclopedia of Names, for the single year of 1894, was published as a stand alone book. This is the edition of the book which has been reproduced here.

We are told there are over 25,000 name entries and from its weight alone that's easy to believe! Measuring 34 cm high by 25 cm wide and its 1085 pages making it over 6 cm thick, it is certainly one of our largest and heaviest books.

The names in the book are from all sources, all countries as well as from both fact and fiction although being an American publisher there may be some bias. Each entry provides a pronunciation guide and an etymology giving either: the earliest recognized use or, the life facts if it is a person. This will be an invaluable source of personal chronology if you were researching one of the characters cited.

The Canada Directory 1853/54

Robert W. S. MacKay's second edition of Lovell's commercial guide and information handbook to the newly Confederated (1841) Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada (known as Canada East - C.E. and Canada West - C.W. in this directory.)
The information it contains was current to November 1853 but the Directory was not published until 1854.

Please note the Directory ONLY covers the areas which are approximated by today's Quebec and Ontario Provinces.
The Directory itself claims to contain the "Names of the Professional and Business men of every description in the Cities, Towns and Villages of Canada." Indeed, the listings include villages with only about a hundred inhabitants.
Each entry is accompanied with a short description of the place's location, its distance to the nearest principal cities and in many cases the normal stage or steamboat fare to get there. The directory makes no distinction between Professional and Business men so, for instance, ministers & doctors will all be found listed side by side with innkeepers and carpenters.
For the larger cities the description is enlarged to include some of the history and important events while the listing is expanded to include all sorts of resident officials and government appointed agents.

There are also many engraved advertisements for the local businesses. For the Major cities, like Quebec, Toronto and Montreal, this can expand the city's listing to cover several tens of pages.

These listings are further enhanced by an Appendix giving the information on "newly" formed villages and providing new and updated information on those places already listed.

There is also a large section of the book devoted to "Miscellaneous Matters" whose scope defies a full description but which contains such useful information as: the names of the ministers of ALL of the churches, the population of towns, counties and cities taken from the Census of 1850, and a directory to ALL the post offices in the Confederation.

The book is completed with a large section of advertisements for businesses in the Eastern and Central United States of America.

This is a very rare directory, in fact we couldn't even find a copy of this edition listed in the holdings of the Library and Archives of Canada.
They have copies of the previous (and we believe 1st) 1851 edition, and the later (3rd) 1857 edition.

Archive CD Books (Canada) were looking for another copy because they discovered that six pages have been carefully cut from their copy and they wanted to try and complete it.
Only four of the pages are actually in the directory section, two each in the Toronto and Montreal sections.
It's possible to determine what was on the missing pages and from this it can be concluded that the pages were removed by someone wanting them to make a journey to the US to look for work.
Archive CD Books (Canada) will continue to look for these pages and will publish them for free downloading when found. If you have, or know of anyone who has, a copy of this 1853 edition please contact Archive CD Books (Canada).

The book numbers 691 pages and is packed with useful information from cover to cover.
As the cities, towns and villages are listed alphabetically, and the book contains several indices, it is very easy to find your way around in it.
Archive CD Books (Canada) have, however, formatted this copy on CD for text searches using the free download pdf interpreter programs like Adobe Reader.

The Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland (and other great sea disasters) - 1914

The story of the ill fated Empress of Ireland seems some how to have been largely overshadowed by the similar ill fate of the Titanic but here is a book which not only provides a detailed, contemporary, account of the tragic end of the Empress but also contains an account of the Titanic tragedy with the benefit of the 2 years and 1 1/2 months of perspective which is the surprisingly brief period separating these two (somewhat similar) marine disasters.
It may be that the Empress' sinking was a Canadian disaster, taking place in Canadian waters and taking the lives of passengers and crew who were mainly Canadian which is the reason that the story has not received the same international attention as that of the Titanic.
Yet in it's proportions, 1,477 passengers, 1,012 of whom were killed, it affected the lives of at least 2/3 as many as that of the sinking of the Titanic.
A huge loss of life for a single peace time disaster.

The book's author, Logan Marshall, managed to publish this book in the same year as the Empress' sinking and he told the story in the style of a tabloid newspaper.
As well as relating the facts established by the official inquiry he also reports many first hand accounts of those who lived through the events and of those who were involved in the subsequent rescue efforts.
His reporting of the Titanic disaster is given in a similar vein. There are, however, some interesting differences in the stories as he tells them.

What struck me most was that all the stories of the Empress of Ireland were of heroism and bravery while those of the Titanic were mixed with a sprinkling of stories of shame and cowardice.
An interesting comparison, perhaps resulting from the greater time which had elapsed between the Titanic's sinking and the writing of this book.

The final 4 chapters are given over to listing significant marine disasters between 1866 and 1911 and some conclusions as to how greater safety at sea might be achieved.

The book provides survivor lists and death rolls for both the Empress of Ireland and for the Titanic, or it does so for first and second class passengers (various excuses are offered for not listing the third class passengers and the crew.)

An important, contemporary, document reporting one of Canada's most significant civil disasters.

Irish (Canada & USA) Song Books, Erin-go-Bragh & Faugh-A- Ballagh -c1873

When Archive CD Books (Canada) were first offered this "old song book" they were uncertain if it would be suitable for their publications. Archive CD Books (Canada) finally decided to ask Mary Yeatman Robinson, the book's current custodian, to loan it to them because we could not find any trace of it on any of their normal references for old and rare books.
When it arrived and they had time to look at it a little harder it became clear that; first it was two separate song books bound together in one home made cover, and that there was no trace of either of them in any of the normal reference sources. (There are plenty of song books using the same names but none with these collections.)
That, together with their rather advanced state of dilapidation, confirmed that what was needed was a rescue mission, not just the normal "copy to make it more available."
The titles of both books seem to be anglicised "translations" of well known Irish catch phrases or, more properly, battle cries.

There's some dispute about the exact source of Erin-go-Bragh but the majority opinion has it as "Ireland Forever." This phrase has been unofficially adopted in North America to represent everything traditional to Ireland and there is even a flag or banner in green and gold which carries the phrase. "Faugh-a-Ballagh" is the anglicised version of the phrase "Clear the Way" which has long been the war cry of battling Irishmen but has become closely associated with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Archive CD Books (Canada) suspect it is this connection which may have originated these books as the Royal Irish Fusiliers spent a lot of time fighting for the British cause in North America many of their rank choosing to stay on when their term of service had ended.

Many of the songs in this latter book are clearly the songs of a fighting group and there are a couple of direct references to the military group.

Only one of the two books still has a title page left and showed it had been published in New York in 1873. Archive CD Books (Canada) think that the other book came from the same publishing house and is about the same age.
Both books are full of anglicized versions of traditional Irish ballads, although the Faugh-a-Ballagh also includes "side splitting stories and anecdotes."

Between them these two books contain over 100 ballads and stories, even allowing for the two or three that were already missing.
A few credit an author and fewer still identify the music or "air" to which the verse is to be sung.

Archive CD Books (Canada) constructed a new index on the CD and have included these references where they are available.

Archive CD Books (Canada) have made the titles searchable (but not the text.)
If you are proud of your Irish heritage, or just enjoy traditional Irish songs, this is a collection which came close to disappearing forever.

Official History of the Canadian Forces in The Great War

This is the earlier of two significant Official Histories sanctioned by the (then) Canadian Ministry of National Defence.
Being published 23 years after the August 1914 - September 1915 period covered, it does not quite have the 30 years of perspective normally recommended for objective histories but, on the other hand, it does have the advantage of a more contemporary viewpoint preparation for its publication having started in 1921. Col. Duguid had plans for a series of such Volumes, each dealing with an identifiable period of the Canadian involvement, but the project was interrupted and permanently deferred by the outbreak of the 2nd World War.

The author, Colonel A. Fortescue Duguid D.S.O., B.Sc., R.C.A., held the position of Director of the Historical Section of the General Staff and so was ideally situated to obtain and make reference to all the official records which he has certainly done.

The Volume is divided into two books, the first containing the substance of the history while the second is dedicated to reprints of 850 official records, messages, reports as well as 14 maps showing the topography and troop dispositions at critical points in the activities.

The Main volume also contains eight pull out maps, a frontispiece showing the Western Theatre and a timeline chart showing the "Employment of Canadian Formations" during the period August 1914 to September 1915.
This is a very detailed and comprehensive account of the activities starting at the week before the outbreak of war and telling the story of the raising of the 1st Canadian Contingent, it's training and the actions it fought. It concludes with the formation of the Canada Corps. and the landing of the 2nd contingent on 13th September 1915.

The CD contains a complete copy of the original text of this book, including all the maps, footnotes, references to the appendices and - of course - all of the appendix volume.

The text is completely computer searchable and Archive CD Books (Canada) have additionally book marked major milestones in the book such as Chapter headings.

These features, in conjunction with the extensive contents lists and the 44 pages of index provided by Colonel Duguid, make this an eminently accessible resource for anyone researching Canadian military activities during the Great War.

This valuable book has been loaned to Archive CD Books (Canada) by Chris Wight. Chris has joined Marc Leroux to undertake the mammoth task of making a biographical database of all the Canadians who took part in The Great War.

This work will be underway for a long time, but the current data base contents have been made available and can be found at http://www.canadianGreatWarProject.com

Please visit their site so they know their work is being appreciated.

The War Book of Upper Canada College, Toronto (1914-1919) Published 1923

This book was intended to identify all the "Old Boys" of the prestigious Upper Canada College who participated in "The Great War" of 1914-1918.

Those who gave their lives are commemorated in a separate section but for every "Old Boy" identified there is a short biography and the majority also have a photographic portrait.
The book does not give an exact number of Old Boys recorded but we estimate it to be in the order of 1100.
In addition to the biographies, which take up most of the book's 322 pages, there are also lists of Decorations, Honours and Distinctions earned and a chronological list of entries into the college ranging from 1861 through 1918.

This is a hard to come by source of biographical information of ex students of this ancient and prestigious educational establishment.

The book is fully searchable using Adobe Reader, even down to the name captions on the photographic portraits.

This valuable book has been loaned to us by Chris Wight. Chris has joined Marc Leroux to undertake the mammoth task of making a biographical database of all the Canadians who took part in The Great War.

This work will be underway for a long time, but the current data base contents have been made available and can be found at http://www.canadianGreatWarProject.com

Please visit their site so they know their work is being appreciated.

The Royal Montreal Regiment 1914 to 1925 & 1925 to 1945 - Set.

This is a compilation CD containing both volumes of the History of the Royal Montreal Regiment.

Together they provide a valuable and detailed history of the Regiment from it's formation in 1914 up to the end of it's active WW2 service in 1945.

Full descriptions of the contents of each of the individual volumes making up this set can be found under the product codes CA0100-1(The Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion, C.E.F. 1914-1925) and CA0100-2 (The Royal Montreal Regiment 1925 to 1945) within our on-line catalogue.The whole CD is fully searchable for text using Adobe Reader¨.

The Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion, C. E. F. 1914-1925

A complete and detailed history of the 14th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force starting with it's formation in August 1914 from the: 1st Regiment (Canadian Grenadier Guards), 3rd Regiment (Victoria Rifles) and 65th Regiment (Carabiniers de Mont-Royal) through to its reorganization in 1920 when it was combined with the Westmount Rifles to become The Royal Montreal Regiment.
Thus, this is a history of the activities of the 14th Battalion through the Great War of 1914 - 18, in which it took an active and decisive part.
The author, R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, was given access to many official records in the writing of this history and he has done a great job in organizing and tabulating the factual data so that it is easy to find and understand.
In particular he has provided 6 appendices giving the Honor Role, Honors and Awards received (2 categories), Commissions, the Battalion's Itinerary and the statistics.

But that isn't to say this is a dry book of facts. Far from it! Mr. Fetherstonhaugh has an interesting and understandable writing style which brings these cold hard facts to life and gives us a true insight into the lives of the members of the Battalion as they lived through this terrible ordeal. But yet again, he manages to inject a note of humor now and again.
His description of a "cheery little game" invented by the members of the Battalion, at the top of page 10, is bound to bring a smile to the face of the reader.

There are 21 photographs, many taken on the battlefield, and 6 sketch maps illustrating the campaigns, amongst the 334 pages of this book.
Reading it will reward the reader with a rare insight into what it was like to be a Canadian soldier taking part in The Great War.

The book is fully searchable using Adobe Reader, which will be of great assistance to anyone researching a specific person since many members of the battalion are mentioned by name within the text as well as appearing in the appendix lists.

This valuable book has been loaned to Archive CD Books (Canada) by Chris Wight. Chris has joined Marc Leroux to undertake the mammoth task of making a biographical database of all the Canadians who took part in The Great War.

This work will be underway for a long time, but the current data base contents have been made available and can be found at http://www.canadianGreatWarProject.com

Please visit their site so they know their work is being appreciated.

The Royal Montreal Regiment 1925 to 1945

This is the second volume of the history of the Royal Montreal Regiments, picking up when the previous one left off in 1925 and continuing through the whole of the regiments involvement in the second World War.

Essentially the history given in this book ends with the dismissal of the unit from the parade marking it's return to Montreal on 10 September 1945 but there are two additional chapters which deal in some detail with the individual members of the Regiment and a further chapter recounting the history of the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion from it's formation in 1943 to it's dissolution in 1945.

Completing the volume are a number of appendices giving the Honour Role, Honours and Awards, an Index of Persons and a Regimental Index (persons and military units identified in the book.)

So you can find out if the person you are seeking appears in this volume we have extracted the names from the Index of Persons and placed it on our web site.

Both the first and second volumes of the Regimental history were ably written by Robert Collier Fetherstonhaugh.
Sadly he didn't live long enough to see the publication of this book and there is a dedication to him in the book's opening pages.

The book is liberally illustrated with 19 pages of multiple photographs the great majority captioned with the names of the individuals appearing in them.

It is also fully searchable using Adobe Reader. This will be of great assistance to anyone researching a specific person, location, or event.

There are also 6 sketch maps showing the locations inhabited by the Regiment during their campaign.
These maps include locations both in England and Europe. Lastly there is a chart showing the "genealogy" of the Regiment from 1914, making it easier to follow the various developments, identities and duties that applied during it's illustrious "career."

This wonderful book has been loaned to us in memory of the Late Harry King D'All, who served with the RMR in England throughout the war and was peacetime RSM of the same regiment.
This loan was made possible by his children, Helen D'All (Montreal), Dan D'All (South Haven, Mississippi) and Maggie D'All Dugard (Pickering, Ontario) as well as his grandsons Liam McGintny (Montreal) and Tim & Tyler Dugard (Pickering).

Lovell's Gazetteer of British North America - 1874

There's nothing I can say to describe the contents of this book which isn't already printed in it.
The title page has: "Lovell's gazetteer of British North America: containing the latest and most authentic descriptions of over six thousand cities, towns and villages in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, British Columbia, And The North West Territories; and general information, drawn from official sources, as to the names, locality, extent, etc., of over fifteen hundred lakes and rivers, table of routes, showing the proximity of the railroad stations, and sea, lake and river ports, to the cities, towns, villages, etc., in the several provinces."
This is the first of the Lovell's Gazetteers of British North America and was edited by P. A. Crossby - born in 1842.

It is titled as an 1874 edition but the copyright was registered in 1873 and this is how it is frequently listed by libraries.

As well as being used to find the facts of locations known today as they were in the early 1870s it is invaluable for finding places which have since been swallowed up in our ever expanding cities, those whose names have been changed and those which have quietly faded away.
By examination it seems as if Crossby used a population size of about 80 people as the threshold for the inclusion of a village or settlement.

The Table of Routes and the accompanying lists of railway, ship and stage routings is particularly useful in understanding how accessible, or remote, the homes of our ancestors were.
It also includes many pages of interesting advertising.And the Preface contains: "The nature and extent of the labor involved in the preparation of this Gazetteer may be inferred from the fact that there are 6,000 Cities, Towns and Villages within the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland; that each of the 6,000 had to be classed in alphabetical order; the geographical position described; the railway or steamboat connections, postal or telegraphic facilities, distance from important centers; also the manufacturing, mining, agricultural, shipbuilding and fishery industries; and the population, as far as it could possibly be obtained.
Also, that the locality and extent of over 1,500 Lakes and Rivers had to be described."

This CD is formatted to be read by any of the freely available PDF interpreter applications although we recommend the use of Adobe Reader© version 4 or better for maximum compatibility.

It will run on any computer which can run a PDF interpreter and read standard CDs.

Archive CD Books (Canada) have formatted the CD for text searches although the original book was carefully designed to make all the information readily available through alphabetized listings.
The addition of Archive CD Books (Canada) "bookmarking" has improved this accessibility to the point where text searching should hardly be used.

The Irishman in Canada - c1877

By Nicholas Flood Davin.Possibly the first comprehensive history of the Irishman's contribution to the establishment and development of Canada written and still today one of the "standard works" on the subject.

This book makes an admirable attempt to capture not only the facts of the Irish contribution but also the essence of the impact the Irish character has made on the country.

The author, Mr. Davin, uses a turn of phrase and vocabulary which seems a little out of place some 125+ years later and yet his meaning is still as clear and thoughtful as ever.

At a first glance it might seem that the whole 690 plus page book is all text but a more detailed examination shows that the author has cleverly used poetry for his illustration and there is frequent verse interleaved with the text both to illustrate his subject and to lighten the mood.

In its closing pages there is the announcement of the preparation of a sister volume "The Scot in Canada" and it carries with it a request for the submission of: Facts regarding early settlers; Facts regarding the early growth of cities, towns and villages; Facts touching the history of Canadian merchant affairs; Facts regarding public men; Facts regarding the clergy, leading men, literary men, professors, teachers, poets, editors, &c.; Specimens of humour; and Any information not generally known, and realized that this was the same formula which had been so successfully used to compile this book of the Irishman. Despite the author and publisher having included a 6 page table of contents and an unprecedented 23 page index there is still no way to find all the earlier and influential settlers mentioned other than by reading through the complete book.
Not, that is, until Archive CD Books (Canada) published this version on CD because they have made the whole book text searchable.
At last, the valuable contents of this wonderful book have been fully unlocked!

Hudson Bay or Everyday Life in the Wilds of North America

Here is a narrative of first hand experience in the service of the Hudson Bay Company during the 1840s.
This was the first book written by Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825 - 1894) although not his first experience at writing as he spent much of his free time in Canada writing down his adventures so his mother could read what an experience her son was having.

It was not until the end of his period of employment that he decided to rewrite his experiences in book form.
When published his book was so successful that he continued to write story books for boys for the rest of his life.

This is the only one based on actual experience although he always researched the background to his stories carefully. Being written as much to entertain as to instruct, this book is easy to read and has the feel of a novel - even containing dialogue in some places.
On the whole, we are told, it is a true account of the actual personal experience of the author during his six years spent in Canada.
During his "tour" Robert was assigned to a number of different "forts" from his initial assignment in the York Factory (Hudson Bay) to the Red River settlement and Norway House and finally the places he visited while progressing through Lachine and at Seven Islands in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence leading up to to his return to England.
There are numerous tales of encounters with the First Nations peoples and with the Canadian wildlife all given with an eye to detail and without any significant attempt to judge the indigenous lifestyle on the basis of a European upbringing.

The copy of the book used to make this CD was actually the fourth edition, published in 1902, 8 years after the author's death.
In some ways this is fortunate as the publishers have included, in this edition, a Preface and a Biography of Robert which helps to place him in perspective and adds some character to the individual whose tales you are reading.

Archive CD Books (Canada) are grateful to Joyce Johnson for allowing them to make a copy of her book so that you may also have the benefit of this "easy" introduction to the activities of one of Canada's great institutions.

Please join with us in thanking Joyce for her generosity.

The text in this book has been formatted so that it can be searched using the "Search" and "Find" features of the freely available PDF file reading applications. We recommend using Adobe Reader (TM) V4 or later for maximum compatibility.

The Loyalists of America and Their Times from 1620 to 1816 - 2 Volumes

In just two volumes this book, published in 1880, covers an enormous sweep of North American history and does so while encompassing events both at the national level and at the very personal level.
An absolute necessity for those tracing their Loyalist roots.
It took Egerton Ryerson, himself a descendent of Colonel Joseph Ryerson of the famous Loyalist Ryerson family, 25 years to complete this book.
This was not only due to his being employed as the Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada from 1844 to 1876 but can also largely be ascribed to the enormous amount of personal research he did to determine his facts. Egerton, circulated an open letter requesting all descendants of the United Empire Loyalists to write to him, at his expense, and give him their histories and reminiscences.
Many of the resulting letters are reproduced in this book.In order that the history can be complete it picks up the thread with the persecution of the Puritans in England during the early 1600's and follows their pilgrimage to find lands where they can live in freedom.
This, of course means that much of this history is actually that of the early days of what is now the United States of America. Egerton Ryerson states openly in the book that he has written this history of the Empire Loyalists from the point of view of a Canadian and he is not slow to criticize what he considers to be misleading in the written history of both the USA and Great Britain on this subject.
Nor is this just empty criticism.
Throughout the 1000 pages of this book he supports his facts with liberal references and with footnotes which frequently take up more of the page that the main narrative.Having followed the development of America from the first colony at New Plymouth through to the Declaration of Independence he provides a very detailed account of the subsequent War of Independence including, of course the aftermath which included the expulsion of those who we now identify as the United Empire Loyalists.
The emphasis of the narrative then shifts to the establishment of these uprooted families in the various areas of Canada.The conclusion of the history details the Declaration of War on Britain by the United States in 1812 - while it was still heavily engaged in Europe with the French under Napoleon - and the almost immediate invasion of Canada.
Again Egerton stints no detail and provides detailed accounts of both grass roots battles and grand strategy equally.

This is a wonderful history, not only in its primary purpose of detailing the origins of the United Empire Loyalists, but also in recording the history of the uneasy relationship between the United States of America and the British collonies which have become Canada.
Egerton Ryerson had a genius for combining the "big picture" with the detailed account in such a way that the story comes to life and you can feel yourself living the experience.

Many of the original Loyalists, and their descendants, are identified - with some of their individual experiences being recounted.
His accounts of the activities of the Indian warriors during the various actions has to be read to find an understanding which bypasses all of the Hollywood style "hype" and places their actions in a correct perspective with the actions of other, so called civilized, nations.

Archive CD Books (Canada) thank the Penetanguishene Centennial Museum and Archive (Ontario), Curator Nicole Jackson, for allowing them to borrow the Volume 2 of this set from their collection.
Archive CD Books (Canada) subsequently purchased the Volume 1 to complete this CD.
They have now donated our Volume 1 to the above museum, both for safe keeping and to provide the Archive with a complete two volume, set.
Both volumes are reproduced on a single CD as high quality images of the original publication.

In addition the text has been computer "read" so that it can be searched using the "Search" & "Find" features of freely available PDF file interpreter applications such as Adobe Reader (TM) V4.
We recommend Adobe Reader (TM) V4 or later for maximum compatibility.
May be used on any computer which can run a PDF interpreter application and has a CD drive.

Canada
An Illustrated weekly Journal for all Interested in the Dominion
April through August, 1916

This is a magazine style news publication which styles itself as "An illustrated weekly journal for all interested in the Dominion."
As you might expect it contains articles about the events in the news both at a national and at a provincial level, including, for instance, the "Investment Supplement."
What raises this bound set of issues out of the ordinary is that about half of the content is reporting on the progress of the Great War in Europe from a Canadian perspective.

Usually the front page and the "centre fold" spread are completely devoted to pictures of serving Canadians while other pictures "from the front" and portraits of individuals mentioned, are scattered throughout the remainder of the issue. Articles report the progress of the various campaigns while others single out individual Canadian units for examination in detail. Serialized features include "Letters from the Front," which gives us the individual perspective of a few of those intimately involved in the fighting, and "A Company Officer's Experience," which is a personal account of one man's experiences.
From a purely genealogical perspective perhaps the most interesting portions of each issue are the lists of casualties and commissions.
Of course the predominance of the reporting concerns "Officers" but most of the issues also devote space to "NCO's and Men."

Each issue also contains a section reporting births, marriages and deaths in Canada, and a "Purely Personal" section which is packed with snippets reporting the events in the lives of Canadians, both enlisted and civilian.
Of course the exact content of each issue varies to accommodate the events to be reported, but for anyone interested in the Great War, or indeed in the events here in Canada during this particular period, here is a wonderful, contemporary, window on Canada's view of the events taking place during this critical period.

The whole of the text of the book is computer searchable and we have enabled our FastFind technology to speed up your searches for individuals and events.

Like all newspapers this CD requires a thorough reading to extract all the morsels of information tucked away in its pages.

Here are three examples of the little gems which can be found, (copied from the bottom right hand corner of page 1-19 - amongst the financial news):"Lieut.-Col. D. W. McPherson, C.A.M.C., of Toronto, O.C. the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Woodcote Park, Epsom, and formerly at the front with No. 2 Field Ambulance, has been given the command of the Ontario Military Hospital at Orpington, Kent.
Roy Beavis, a Canadian private soldier, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Hythe on Monday for illegally wearing the uniform of a major and the ribbon decorations of the D.C.M. and the French Legion of Honour, and a month's imprisonment for fraudulently obtaining food and lodging.
Mr. Robert Lindsay, formerly of Montreal, is presenting a billiard table to the King George and Queen Mary Maple Leaf Club, 11, Charles Street, Berkeley Square, and Mrs. Shearwood Watson has sent an additional piano to the Club.
The demand for residential accommodation in the Club by soldiers on leave is continuous."
Just think what it would be like to be researching the McPherson or Lindsay families and to find these snippets! The Beavis family? Well, it certainly sounds as if he had a good time, doesn't it!

Officers and Men in the First Canadian Contingent - 1914

The full title is: List of the Officers and Men Serving in the First Canadian Contingent of the British Expeditionary Force - 1914

Compiled by the Pay and Records Office, Canadian Contingent, 36, Victoria Street, London, S. W.

Surely this has to be the most comprehensive listing of those who served in the First Canadian Contingent during the Great War.
Every individual is listed in their Brigade, Battalion, Company, specialist group or whatever is appropriate, together with their rank and regimental number (if applicable.)

A must have for every genealogist's reference shelf.

Archive CD Books (Canada) have configured the CD to make it text searchable so it is a real research tool.

When Canada announced its intent to support Britain by sending a fighting force to Europe in 1914 it raised an amazing volunteer army of over 32,660 in just three weeks.
Coming from all over the country these volunteers were entrained and bought to the Valcartier camp to receive basic training and to be equipped.
Where enough volunteers came from the same area their Regiment was subscripted with the area name as in the "Toronto Regiment" and the "British Columbia Regiment."
In addition to these untrained volunteers many veterans of the Canadian armed service re-enlisted to once more serve alongside the already existing permanent fighting force.

In only a few weeks the Canadian Expeditionary Force was loaded into a convoy of 32 ships for shipment to England and then on to Europe.

This book records the names of all these men, both the new and experienced volunteers as well as the pre-existing forces.

This great book has been loaned to Archive CD Books (Canada) by Marc Leroux. Marc has joined Chris Wight to undertake the mammoth task of making a biographical database of all the Canadians who took part in The Great War.

This work will be underway for a long time, but the current data base contents have been made available and can be found at: http://www.canadianGreatWarProject.com

Please visit their site so they know their work is being appreciated.

Three Years in Canada, Vol II

This is an early and rare book describing Canada in the form of a report, to the British Government, of its development and the opportunities it offers.

While this is the second of two volumes comprising the whole book it stands in its own right without any loss of information or intelligence.
This is because the author, John MacTaggart, does not seem to have been following any plan for the contents or format of the book but simply collected his observations, interpretations and impressions into a random order and published them.
Perhaps the only exceptions to this rule may be found towards the rear of this volume where he suggests 'advantageous' courses in which Canada's development might be directed.

As well as gathering materials for this book, MacTaggart was employed as the Clerk of Works under Col. John By in the construction of the Rideau Canal from Ottawa (Bytown) on the Ottawa, or Grand, river to Kingston on the St Lawrence at its exit from Lake Ontario.
He earned himself a reputation as a free-thinker and was known for being free with his views, especially when he'd been drinking.

A good deal of these attitudes come through in the book making his descriptions and impressions all the more valuable by probably being more accurate and less influenced by the politics of the day.
On the other hand, he does not hold back in expressing his own opinions and ideas in a way which tends to jar with our current perceptions and knowledge.

Altogether this gives us a wonderful insight into the early development of Canada, its people and its customs.

To add value for the busy researcher Archive CD Books (Canada) have fully bookmarked the pages and have made it computer searchable including our optional enhanced "FastFind" search capabilities.

The original of the book is owned by a good friend of the Archive CD Books project, Karen Prytula.
Karen has asked them to dedicate this CD edition of her book to: 'Great Aunt Dolly and Great Uncle Harry Rush for helping me so much in researching our family history.' and Archive CD Books (Canada) are pleased to do so.

Presbyterian Pioneer Missionaries in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

This book was authored (although edited might be a more accurate description) by the Rev. Hugh McKellar, D.D. in 1924.
In his introduction the Rev. Hugh makes it clear that he was motivated to make a permanent record of the pioneer missionaries who helped to carry the Presbyterian ministries into the developing prairie and western provinces of Canada.

The Rev. Hugh does not lay any claim to the completeness of his record but to judge from the listing of ministers and missionaries sent into the western provinces included in the rear of the book it would appear to be quite exhaustive.

The reason for the use of the term "editor" rather than "author" is that many of the later biographies and reminiscences are attributed to other writers, either in answer to Rev. Hugh's inquiries, or in writing about the subjects for other purposes, i.e., church reports.
Many of the written reports are accompanied by photographs - or in a couple of instances - drawings - of the subjects, sometimes including their spouses and occasionally showing the buildings from which they conducted their ministry.

Clearly the primary reason for inclusion in this book is work done in the provinces from Manitoba westward but so many of these individuals had previously established ministries in the east and so the book also includes much of the personal history of the Presbyterian church personnel in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

While the book is primarily about the lives of the missionaries their stories are inextricably bound up with the story of the development of the Canadian west so that the reader will find this is also a history of the settlement of western Canada starting with the idealistic settlement along the Red River, championed by Lord Selkirk - the source of so much political wrangling and violence.

A valuable resource both for its personal histories and as a guide to the early history of the Canadian west.

Fully computer searchable with searches speeded up by the use of FastFind technology.

A Biographical Index of Daguerreotypists in Canada 1839-1871

Compiled and written by one of Canada's foremost experts on early photography, Graham W. Garrett, this index provides the most complete and exhaustive listing of people and companies in Canada involved in the making of daguerreotypes using the process invented by the Frenchman Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre in 1839.
This early photographic process was immediately in competition with an alternative process, announced in the same year by Britain's William Henry Fox Talbot, which made calotypes (also known as talbotypes) or to use Fox Talbot's own words, "photogenic images."The first daguerreotype to be taken in Canada was recorded in April of 1840 and soon there was an explosion of entrepreneurial daguerreotypists to fill the demand by people wanting to have an accurate portrait recorded without the high cost of employing an artist for days or weeks.

The same growth applied to those engaged in supporting the daguerreotypists by providing supplies and applying post-process colouring to the end product.
This trade continued for about 30 years before the daguerreotype, also called "Sun Paintings" and "the beautiful mirror with a memory," was mostly replaced by images made using one of the numerous alternative processes which followed from Daguerre's and Fox Talbot's early breakthroughs.

This index identifies about 780 individuals and companies whose activities related in some way to the daguerreian process and includes all information that could be found about the location of their activities, their lives, their relationships as well as giving references to recorded evidence of their activity.

To further assist researchers the author provides finding aids to help locate listed individuals through their geographical location or by a selection of useful "keywords."

Further research background is provided by a bibliography of over 150 contemporary editorials giving the date of publication and identifying the newspaper carrying it.

Finally there are nine appendices accumulating listings of nearly all the referenced publications, institutions, exhibitions etc. mentioned in the index.

Last, but by no means least, there is a gallery of 18 Daguerreotypes which are of historical significance because they are all demonstrably the product of Canadian activity in the art.

Everyone interested in tracing the origins of early daguerreotypes, and the daguerreotypists who took them, is going to want to keep this index at hand.
It is expected to be the basic key to all research on this subject from now on. A reviewer of this index has said:My lord - what a piece! Your work is really incredible - the minutiae of it all is really humbling. You've spent literally countless hours on this and it shows.
This is indeed the place where one must commence. "Get Garrett on dags" is going to be some sort of byword I think.

This CD is fully searchable using the "search" and / or "find" functions of a PDF reader. Runs on any computer fitted with a CD reader and having a PDF reader application installed.
We recommend the use of Adobe Reader (TM) version 6 or higher.

Archive CD Books (Canada) have enabled the FastFind technology on this CD to speed up your searches.

Roll of Pupils of Upper Canada College, Toronto, Jan 1830 to June 1916

The title of this book is a masterly understatement.
Certainly it lists every student who attended the school from the school's beginnings in January 1830 until the end of this reporting period in June 1916, but in that listing may also be found such known facts as:birth date, date of entering and leaving school, name of previous and next school fathers name, location and professionaddresses for "home" and "where found during school term" and in many cases significant details about the student in latter years such as location and profession or the date and circumstances of their death.

Then there are other lists in the book where the names of "old boys" who took a part in notable events in Canadian (and related) history are recorded.
Nor does the wealth of information end there.
Following a fairly detailed account of the school's history and a listing of the school's governors, the names and details of every master who had taught in the school are recorded, some at significant length.

The pupils of Upper Canada College went on to take up positions in all walks of life in Canada, not to mention those who journeyed further afield.
They could be found in military and civilian service, in public and private life and in all types of commerce.

An enormous number of Canadian families are going to find that they had some connection with this most famous and historic Canadian school.

Although compiled alphabetically Archive CD Books (Canada) have made the book computer searchable and enhanced the search capability with their FastFind technology.

Early Canadian Life
Volume 1 : December 1976 to December 1977.

Published by Archive CD Books (Canada) in Volumes starting in December 1976.
The reproduction of this periodical resulted from an online discussion of some detail of pioneer life in Canada which has long since slipped into obscurity. The important outcome, however, was the introduction of Archive CD Books (Canada) to Joyce Beaton who, together with her partner Janice Johnston, published this periodical between 1976 and 1980.
While not in the "front line" of "hard genealogical data" the multitude of stories and articles in it do fill in a great deal of that all-iimportant background on our ancestors lives.
It was for this reason that Archive CD Books (Canada) are providing a wider availability of these original publications through the media of a digital format. Nominated as "Best News Magazine in Canada in 1975" There cannot be a better description that that given in the first ever issue :"EARLY CANADIAN LIFE is a journalistic guide to the good life. . .packed with exciting news from the world of the arts. Plus lively features on heritage homes, interesting personalities, pure food cooking, good books, intriguing shops, new hobbies and unusual places to visit.
The spice of life is what Early Canadian Life is all about!
Early Canadian Life is coincidentally born during the Christmas season. We hope you enjoy our new publication bringing you stories of our country's history, its unique architecture, art and culture.
A special thank you to the talented Dundas artist Lynn Johnston whose artwork appears in our masthead.
Because it is the festive season our gift to you is the introduction of many talented Canadians.

Maggie Lawson Pratt treats you to a stroll through antique and craft shops in Southern Ontario. Celia Kainz, a sculptor in her own right, visits fellow artists.
The Canadian Bookworm, writer John Hearn, shares his expertise in collecting old books.
As Helen Carter pursues her passion for hand-crafted items she invites us along to meet some of the interesting personalities she finds.
Pam Sheldon has a natural curiosity and a talent for bringing out the best in her talks with people.
Helen Godwin takes us back in time to Grandmere's kitchen. Her French heritage gives her access to family cooking secrets and she'll share them with us in each issue of Early Canadian Life.
Potter Maureen McNaughton will be a regular columnist and Gerald Tooke will help craftspeople to avoid pitfalls when doing business. Resident astrologer, Ron Greening, will take us out of this world with astrological forecasts and readings.
Mary Simpson, Alexandra Orwin, Ruth Coxe and Heather Easton have all contributed to our first issue.
No doubt we'll be adding new names and faces as we grow. Kim Dadson, a journalism student at Ryerson in Toronto, is showing her natural bent with stories of craft shows she visits on our behalf.We're sure you'll find our advertisers as interesting as our feature articles. It's our hope that by telling the story of the craftsperson we will encourage more people to search for a deeper meaning to life and to express it in an artform.
Early Canadian Life may suggest to you the life of the pioneer, or if you are a newcomer to this country it might be the day you stepped off the plane onto Canadian soil.
We have an interesting and exciting history and everyday we're writing new pages.
New Canadians bring their culture with them to make our mosaic attractive and ever-changing."

Volumes 2 - 4 will be available soon.