Lambton County Archives Blog

The Lambton Room had an interesting beginning, and here I will provide you with a brief glimpse into the genesis of our collection.

The idea to begin a "history room" for the county began in 1974, when Mrs. Marion Ellwood (a librarian in Mandaumin ) committed her Tuesday and Thursday mornings to the organization of a "old pictures of buildings, streets and historic events" in a small room in Wyoming. The collection would receive a huge boon in 1975 with the purchase of the George Smith Collection....

John S. Labatt has the unfortunate privilege of going down in history as Canada's first wealthy businessman to be held for ransom. His misadventure exploded into newspapers in August of 1934 after Labatt was snatched off the highway near his summer home on Lake Huron. Here, you will find a description of the kidnapping and trials that followed the event, as well as an exploration of the material related to the kidnapping that can be accessed at the Lambton...

The inconspicuous and ordinary material you encounter in your everyday life may be surprisingly relevant for the archives of the future.

Only a small portion of printed material created is actually intended for preservation in a collection. As it turns out, often the most captivating and fascinating pieces of a collection are made up of material that was never meant to be retained. It is referred to as ephemera, derived from the Greek ephemeros, "lasting...

Sometimes our archive receives donations that hint at Lambton County's connections with the rest of Canada and even extend internationally in scope. The Brown family travel documents are an excellent example.

Floyd Albert Brown lived in Forest from 1893 until his death on March 23, 2009. A native of Windsor, Brown was an intrepid pharmacist who, in his own words, "closed my pharmacy in Windsor [in 1973] and embarked on a two and a half year round the world odyssey with my family to study world pharmacy...

The Lambton Room is excited to present its new blog, a place where you can experience some of the interesting pieces of history I encounter as an archivist. My name is Dana Johnson, and I am the voice behind this blog and the Lambton Room Historian. Join me as I investigate thought-provoking documents from our collection, and stop by to learn more about the history of the County of Lambton.

The traces left by the past are sometimes confusing, often fragmented, and ultimately fascinating footprints...