Woodstock Ontario

Resource Centre Re-opening!

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OxHS Resource Centre, photo by Chris Packman

Hello Everyone,

As of Tuesday, August 3, 2021, the Oxford Historical Society Resource Centre will be re-opening. We will be available By Appointment Only. Research and photocopying fees may apply.

To make an appointment please contact the Society at info@oxhs.ca

The Society follows all Covid-19 protocols as mandated by Southwestern Public Health, which includes wearing masks, social distancing and limiting the number of visitors allowed in the building.

Oxford County requires ALL visitors to their buildings to complete a short health form. There are signs at both entrances to the building listing instructions for completing the form.

“So They Came – the young men farmers”

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Hello Everyone,

Dr. Elaine Becker’s newest local history book on the story of Burnside Lodge is coming together.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

The young men responded to advertisements or word of mouth information with application to the Salvation Army.  If they had the proper backing and references, they were sent for training at Hadleigh Farm Colony. The young men were trained and tested and then sent to Canada or Australia for employment with local farmers.  In Canada they went to many centres but Smith Falls or Woodstock Ontario were primary centres with officers assigned for follow-up.

The boys were warmly greeted and were transported to the lodge or marched from the train station as the occasion allowed.  They were fed and, on many occasions, spent the first night there before proceeding to their appointed local farms.

Before proceeding to the farm, The Salvation Army made financial agreement between all parties for the Army to protect the wages of the young men.  The wages minus any funds advanced to the young man were kept in trust by the Army and records were kept to ensure fair wages were received. 

Elaine is now at the stage where she is looking for volunteer(s) to help design the cover.

If you are interested in designing the book cover for “So They Came – the young men farmers”, please email Elaine at ebecker2@sympatico.ca.

Reminder – Zoom Meeting Tonight – Wednesday, May 26, 2021 @ 6:30pm

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Don’t forget to join the Oxford Historical Society in welcoming George Emery, Scott Gillies and Vicki Brenner for their presentation on George Emery’s newest publication: Public Festivals in Ingersoll, 1855-1930.

The presentation will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 6:30pm via Zoom. The Zoom information is listed at the bottom of this post.

From the book’s introduction by George Emery: “The book enriches the literature on Ingersoll’s local history. It describes Ingersoll’s street festivals in their late-19th-and early-20th-century times and furnishes guidelines for their interpretation.  It supplements newspaper descriptions with photographic images, drawn from the rich archives of Ingersoll’s Cheese & Agricultural Museum and the Ingersoll Library. In the process the book showcases those archives as gateways for research on our community’s local history Gateways, indeed! The digital files on the Oxford County Library local-history website offer access to documentary sources –from the comfort of one’s home.  Moreover, the Ingersoll Historical Photo Gallery, developed in collaboration with Scott Gillies of the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum, provides a brilliant introduction to 30 some dimensions of Ingersoll’s past. The library’s rich digital files, in turn, lead directly to photographs and artifacts in Scott’s Cheese & Agricultural Museum–simply a gem of a place to visit.  Through its several book publications, the Ingersoll & District Historical Society is an essential third agency for promoting knowledge of our local past.“

Zoom Meeting Wednesday, May 26, 2021

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Please join the Oxford Historical Society in welcoming George Emery, Scott Gillies and Vicki Brenner for their presentation on George Emery’s newest publication: Public Festivals in Ingersoll, 1855-1930.

The presentation will take place on Wednesday, May 26 at 6:30pm via Zoom. The Zoom information is listed at the bottom of this post.

From the book’s introduction by George Emery: “The book enriches the literature on Ingersoll’s local history. It describes Ingersoll’s street festivals in their late-19th-and early-20th-century times and furnishes guidelines for their interpretation.  It supplements newspaper descriptions with photographic images, drawn from the rich archives of Ingersoll’s Cheese & Agricultural Museum and the Ingersoll Library. In the process the book showcases those archives as gateways for research on our community’s local history Gateways, indeed! The digital files on the Oxford County Library local-history website offer access to documentary sources –from the comfort of one’s home.  Moreover, the Ingersoll Historical Photo Gallery, developed in collaboration with Scott Gillies of the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum, provides a brilliant introduction to 30 some dimensions of Ingersoll’s past. The library’s rich digital files, in turn, lead directly to photographs and artifacts in Scott’s Cheese & Agricultural Museum–simply a gem of a place to visit.  Through its several book publications, the Ingersoll & District Historical Society is an essential third agency for promoting knowledge of our local past.“

Zoom Meeting Wednesday, April 28, 2021

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Please join the Oxford Historical Society in welcoming Brenda Boswell for her presentation: Women and The Bicycle Craze – Change and Resistance in 1890’s Oxford County, for a Zoom meeting on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 starting at 6:30pm.

Bicycles took much of the world by storm during the late Victorian age. The bicycle provided a tool for women to ride into a whole new world. This presentation will explore how the bicycle helped women move into this new era and the societal resistance that came with it.

It includes research by Rebecca Beaisaert, on turn of the century bicycle clubs in Ingersoll and Tillsonburg.