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Ontario Vital Statistics: New Years Are Here!
Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 12:00 AM
This morning the Lambton Room received an exciting package in the mail. It contained the latest round of Ontario Vital Statistics. We now have a new year's worth of records pertaining to births, marriages and deaths in the province of Ontario. We have birth registrations up to and including 1914; marriage registrations up to and including 1929; and death registrations up to and including 1939.
About fifteen minutes before the package arrived, I had just been discussing with one of my co-workers about...
Lambton's Communal Experiment: The Maxwell Settlement
Posted on Friday, June 03, 2011 12:00 AM
One of the most interesting stories of European settlement in Lambton County comes from an ardent believer in socialist theory, a man named Henry Jones. He brought settlers from Scotland to Lambton County to establish a communal settlement in the late 1820s.
Jones was inspired by Robert Owen, a Welsh entrepreneur and social reformer. Owen was disheartened by the wretched working conditions that plagued Britain during the industrial revolution, and introduced socialist reforms in the mill he managed...
Into the Belly of the Beast: Behind the Vault Doors
Posted on Monday, April 18, 2011 12:00 AM
[IMAGE] Behind the Vault Doors
Visitors to the Lambton Room don't often get the opportunity to glimpse behind the vault doors. When they request records to conduct their research, one of our staff members diligently scurries into the back and fetches the necessary files. I want to use this blog post to give people a peek into the vault itself, and an idea of the special or unusual records that are available in its depths.
The Lambton Room's vault is equipped with special equipment to maintain constant...
Lambton's Favourite Irish Preacher: Uncle Joe Little
Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:00 AM
[IMAGE] Photograph from Lambton Room collection.
I had the opportunity to learn about one of Lambton County's most interesting and beloved preachers this week. Joseph Russell Little, popularly known as "Uncle Joe Little," roamed and preached in Warwick Township and beyond from 1833 to 1880. His eccentricities have become legendary in Lambton County, and time has mingled together truth and myth to create a fascinating portrait of a lovable preacher.
Little's adventures began April 10, 1833, when he...
Where Did Our Collection Come From?
Posted on Friday, March 18, 2011 12:00 AM
The Lambton Room had an interesting beginning, here is 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.
The George Smith...