Showing 855 results

Authority record

Dorsey, Robert Edmund

  • RC0890
  • Person
  • 1919-1944

Robert (Bob) Edmund Dorsey was born in Hamilton, Ontario on December 4, 1919 to Annie and Josiah (Joe) Joshua Dorsey. Dorsey attended McMaster University and graduated with a BA in 1941. He excelled in tennis and badminton, winning the singles tennis championship in a district meet in 1939, and competing in badminton tournaments at the Thistle Club to become Hamilton’s singles champion for two consecutive years.

During his time at McMaster, Dorsey trained as a cadet in the McMaster Contingent of the Canadian Officers' Training Corps (COTC). He completed his military training in 2 years and was named a 2nd lieutenant in 1942, enlisting in active service in May of the same year. While stationed at Camp Gordon, Dorsey completed the requirements to become a lieutenant. He then acted as a training centre instructor in Simcoe and Brantford. In 1943, he married Florence Kathleen Riley. Florence and Dorsey had one son, John Josiah, born February 1, 1944, whom Dorsey never had the opportunity to meet.

After being transferred to the Canadian Army (Active Force) Overseas, Dorsey boarded a ship for England, where he joined to the 5th Canadian Reinforcement Unit. He was assigned to the 7th Brigade Group, 3rd Canadian Division a month later. In the spring of 1944, Dorsey became a reinforcement officer for the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, a machine gun and mortar regiment designated for active service. Dorsey was involved in their pre-invasion training prior to the D-Day operation. He co-founded a frontline regimental newspaper called “The Rocket.” Dorsey was killed at Normandy on June 7, 1944. He was given full military honours in a burial ceremony at Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Reviers in Calvados, France.

United Church of Canada

  • RC0888
  • Corporate body
  • 1925-

The United Church of Canada was founded in 1925 as a merger of the Methodist Church of Canada, the Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec, part of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Association of Local Union Churches.

Wigmore, John G.

  • RC0887
  • Person
  • fl. 1939-1945

John G. Wigmore was the son of Thomas B. Wigmore of Thorold, Ontario and served as a Leading Aircraftman with the RCAF during the Second World War. His older brother William (Bill) C. Wigmore was a Squadron Leader and flew in England, Gibraltar and Malta and was mentioned in dispatches.

Adams, Roy J.

  • RC0886
  • Person
  • 1940-

Roy J. Adams (b. 1940) is an academic with interests in the area of labour issues. He has lectured and held positions around the world. In 2003 he convened the Hamilton Civic Coalition, an organization of top civic leaders dedicated to improving the quality of life in Hamilton

Calvert, Morley

  • RC0885
  • Person
  • 1928-1991

Morley Calvert was a conductor, bandmaster and composer. He was born in Brantford, Ontario. His music education included an LSRM certification in 1946, and A Mus. degree from McGill in 1950 and a B. Mus. degree from McGill in 1956. He founded and was the director of the McGill University Concert Band from 1960-1970 and the director of the Lakeshore Concert Band from 1967-1972. In 1958 at Ayers, QC, he founded the Monteregian Music Camp, which offered summer training for high school students which ended in 1970

Calvert’s professional activities included the position of accompaniment for Maureen Forrester. He was invited to join the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), and was the conductor of the Barrie Central Collegiate Band from 1972-1985. He was President of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Bandmasters Association from 1981-1983 and national executive vice-president from 1981-3. He was the artistic director of the Civic Concert Choir of Hamilton in 1987 and of the Weston Silver Band in 1988. At the time of his death, he was teaching music at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario. Calvert’s compositions, recordings and performances include Suite from the Monteregian Hills published in 1961; Romantic Variations (1976, 1979) was commissioned and privately recorded by the Youth Band of Ontario and the Arizona State University Band; Introduction, Elegy and Caprice (1978) was commissioned as the test piece for the first European Brass Band Championships at Royal Albert Hall in London in 1978 and recorded by the Black Dyke Mills Band.

Sonnenschein, Hugo (Sonka)

  • RC0884
  • Person
  • 1889-1953

Hugo Sonnenschein was born in Kyjov in what is now the Czech Republic in 1889. He wrote under the name of Sonka and his first book of poems was published in 1907 while he was a student in Vienna. During the First World War he served on the Balkan front, but was taken into custody for pacifist activities on several occasions. Following the war he turned to politics and founded the Red Guard as well as being active in the communist community, though he was later kicked out of the Communist Party. Die Legende vom weltverkommenen Sonka, was published in 1920, and is considered his major work. In 1943, he and his wife, Rosa, were sent to Auschwitz. He survived, but after the war he was accused of collaborating with the State Police and in 1947 sentenced to a twenty-year sentence. He died in 1953 in Mirov prison.

Gardner, Ray

  • RC0883
  • Person
  • 1919-1997

Ray Gardner had a long career as an editor and journalist. Born in Victoria, Gardner grew up in Vancouver and worked for the city's three dailies, including The Province, The Sun and the News Herald. In 1947 he won the prestigious Kemsley scholarship, then awarded annually to the "outstanding young newspaperman in Canada," and spent 14 months in the United Kingdom and Europe. While in the UK, he married Kay Gardner, whom he had met in Vancouver in 1945.

On his return to Canada, Mr. Gardner served as managing editor of the Edmonton Bulletin, and worked as a freelance writer for numerous Canadian periodicals, including Maclean's, Liberty and Reader's Digest. After serving as West Coast editor of Maclean's, he joined The Star in 1961, where he became editor of Star Weekly, a weekly magazine supplement distributed with The Star. When it folded in 1968, he moved over to the daily as an assistant managing editor, serving in a variety of roles. He was appointed ombudsman, the reader's representative at the newspaper, in 1982, and remained in that post until his retirement in 1986.

Read, George Baldwin

  • RC0882
  • Person
  • 1886-c.1960

George Baldwin Read served with the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War, and with the Canadian Artillery as a Captain in the Second World War. Born in 1886 in Ireland, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Cork Artillery Militia in 1903. Family legend says that he left home and travelled the world, working in Hawaii, Australia, and ending up in Canada in 1909. While there, he met and married Gwendolen Pym and they had two children, Montague (1914) and Michael Richard (1915).

Read returned to England and became a Captain with NO. 10 Coy. RGA, where he served at Queenstown Harbour. He was later promoted to Admiral and served in France and Belgium.

During the Second World War he served as a Major, possibly as a spotter on Partridge Island. He retired in April 1951.

Ivison, H.E. Stuart

  • RC0881
  • Person
  • 1906-1993

Stuart Ivison was an active member of the Canadian Baptist community and served as a chaplain during the Second World War in England, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Ernest Hauber Stuart Ivison was born 26 March 1906 in Wheatley, Ontario. Joining the Talbot Street Baptist Church during the end of high school and through his work with the church made the decision to enter the ministry. Starting at McMaster University in 1925, Ivison joined the debating team, worked on the McMaster Monthly and was the first editor of The Silhouette.

After graduating in 1930, Ivison was ordained and began his first ministry at a church in Brockville. Two years later he moved to Ottawa to fill a vacancy at First Baptist Church. On 5 August 1931, he married his wife Marjorie, and they had three children: Donald, Duncan and David. As a consequence of his role at Ottawa First Baptist he was often a liaison between the government and the Baptist Convention after the start of the Second World War. He was asked to join the National Defence Headquarters by Bishop Wells of the Anglican Church of Canada. He enlisted in July 1941 and served at Headquarters for two years. In 1943 he requested to go through basic training and serve overseas. Ivison served most of his time with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, until just before the end of the war when he became Staff Chaplain at Army Headquarters. Following his service he returned First Baptist in Ottawa and was an active member of the Baptist community in Canada.

For a detailed account of his life, including a wealth of contextual details for this archive, researchers should consult the oral history recorded in 1986 that is housed in Box 2, File 25.

De Pencier, R.H.

  • RC0880
  • Person
  • fl. 1901-1923

R.H. De Pencier served in the Canadian Contingent of the South African Constabulary in the South African War. From Montreal, De Pencier was part of the Volunteer Rifles and received the Queen’s Medal. His regimental number was 1662.

Koberger, Anton

  • RC0879
  • Person
  • approximately 1440-1513

Anton Koberger was a German goldsmith, printer and publisher, best known for publishing the Nuremberg Chronicle.

Starting as a goldsmith, Koberger moved into printing in 1471. He was very successful, establishing twenty-four presses. His success came from not just from printing, but also owning two papermills and forming business partnerships with booksellers all over Europe.

Book Society of Canada Ltd.

  • RC0878
  • Corporate body

The Book Society of Canada Ltd. was incorporated on 29 May 1945. Its founding president was John C.W. Irwin (1900-71) who worked from 1927 to 1929 as Assistant Manager of the Educational Department of the Macmillan Company of Canada Limited. In 1930 he and his brother-in-law, W.H. Clarke, began Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited. Together they developed and managed the publishing company of Clarke Irwin along with the Canadian branch of the Oxford University Press (from 1936 onwards). Irwin left Clarke Irwin in 1944 to form The Book Society. The latter was a school textbook publishing company. In the 1960s The Book Society published approximately a dozen books per year, many of which were approved by various departments of education across Canada. The founder's son, John W. Irwin, left teaching in 1960, joined the firm, and worked in various capacities of the company. He became President of the firm in 1971. In 1973 The Book Society acquired an educational publishing firm, Bellhaven House Limited (see boxes 56, file 14, and 59, file 1 for authors' contracts and questionnaires), and in 1982, a trade firm, Peter Martin Associates Limited. When Clarke Irwin went into receivership, The Book Society acquired its assets in June 1983. Clarke Irwin was maintained by The Book Society for a short period as a separate entity and reconstituted under the name, Clarke Irwin (1983) Inc. In 1984 The Book Society was renamed as Irwin Publishing Inc. At that time two-thirds of the company's business was in the area of educational publishing and the remainder in trade. The total business sales were {dollar}3 million, 5% of which came from foreign rights revenue.

Montmorency, Henri de

  • RC0877
  • Person
  • 1534-1614

Henri de Montmorency was born in Chantilly, Oise to Anne de Montmorency and Madeleine of Savoy, 15 June 1534. He was the leader of the Politiques party during the French religious wars. He became the Constable of France in 1593.

Crompton, F.C.B.

  • RC0876
  • Person
  • [18--]-[19--]

FCB Crompton served with the Army Service Corps as a Lieutenant. He was demobilized on 13 April 1919. After the war, Crompton wrote Glimpses of Early Canadians: Lahontan (1925).

Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of

  • RC0874
  • Person
  • 1650-1722

John Churchill, military commander, was born in June 1650 in Musbury, Devonshire. He was created the first Duke of Marlborough in December 1702. He died on 17 June 1722.

Gibson, James Herbert (Herb)

  • RC0873
  • Person
  • 1889-1967

Herb Gibson, farmer, First World War soldier (787167), was born 11 November 1889 to William Russell Gibson (1848-1917) and Euphemia Nairn. After serving in the 42nd Lanark and Renfrew Militia, Herb worked on the family farm in Balderston, Ontario until March 1916, when, despite his father’s wishes he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Trained at Valcartier, Quebec, he was initially appointed to the 110th Reserve Battalion for training and then transferred to the 4th Canadian Division to begin fighting in France. He was drafted into the 75th Battalion to replace their losses on the Somme and he arrived in France in December 1916. In March 1917, he was part of the offensive at Vimy Ridge, where he was shot in the right arm. After recovering in England, he returned to France in November 1917. In January of 1918 he learned that both his parents had died just before Christmas. Then in July, while lying at a listening post at Arras, Gibson was shot in the chest. He would see out the rest of the war while recovering in England and be sent back to Canada to be discharged in March 1919.

Due to the wounds Herb sustained, he was unable to work on the farm as he had prior to the war. He sold his farm and moved to Winnipeg to build houses with his brother. Herbert Gibson and May Bell Keays (1896/7-1999) were married in St. Vital, Manitoba on 10 February 1931, after she had finished caring for her younger siblings. They had two children and returned to Ontario in 1939, where Herb first worked at Batawa, Ontario, and then at the #6 Repair Depot RCAF Station, Trenton until 1955. He passed away on 17 October 1967.

Jukes, Reuben Alvin

  • RC0872
  • Person
  • 1887-1959

Reuben Jucksch was born on 5 July 1887 to Ernst August Jucksch and Maria Kalbfleisch of Hanover, Ontario. He volunteered for the army in 1914 at the age of 27 and served with the 20th Canadian Battalion. On his attestation paper, he listed his profession as an artist and painted throughout the war despite prohibitions against it. Jukes’ diaries regularly noted his painting and sketching activities. He was sent to the front on 15 September 1915 and was in hospital when the diaries start, but did not indicate why. He reports the progress of the war, gas attacks, the constant noise of bombardments, and the irritation from lice. He remains in Germany and Belgium until February 1919, when he returns to England, and then is sent back to Canada in May of that year. Following the war he worked in Vaudeville both as a set painter and in various acts. He supplemented his income as a sign painter and in 1940 he founded a sign painting business in Kitchener, Ontario. Jukes died in May 1959 at the age of 71.

Scarlett, Mose

  • RC0870
  • Person
  • 1946-2019

Moseley Stephen Scarlett was a Toronto-based musician who specialized in jazz, blues, ragtime, and swing music from the early 20th century. Scarlett was a known entity in the industry, and frequently collaborated and recorded with musicians such as Jackie Washington, Ken Whiteley, Bruce Cockburn, Marg Stowe, and others.

Scarlett was born in Peterborough, Ontario to an electrical engineer and schoolteacher. At the age of 10 his family moved to Ohio, with Scarlett returning to Canada at the age of 18. Scarlett would marry Anne Tener, with whom he had two daughters, Jessica and Gaelyn. Scarlett and Tener eventually divorced, and Scarlett found a long-time partner in Tina Cohen.

Scarlett routinely played at music events across Canada, and the world. He undertook several tours of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany, and frequented music festivals such as Summerfolk and Northern Lights. Scarlett died in Toronto on 30 May 2019 of leukemia.

Kennelly, Brendan

  • RC0869
  • Person
  • 1936-

Brendan Kennelly, English professor and poet, was born in Ballylongford, county Kerry, Ireland on 17 April 1936. He was educated at Trinty College, Dublin and the University of Leeds.

O'Connor, Frank

  • RC0869
  • Person
  • 1903-1966

Frank O'Connor is the pseudonoym of Michael O'Donovan, born in county Cork, Ireland in 1903, and primarily known as a short story writer. He died in Dublin on 10 March 1966.

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