Articles
Introduction
By the late 1890s, prominent Ottawa lumberman Frederick Wells Avery had become a member of the Ottawa Golf Club (the area’s first golf club, which was founded in 1891), and he had also recently discovered the pleasures of summer resort life in Aylmer, which was beginning to boom as a resort patronized by well-to-do Ottawa residents who wished to escape the city’s frequently hot, humid weather from June to August.
--November 26, 2021.
The cover photograph for this book, Gatineau Valley Golf Courses, 1903 – 1933, shows Anson Green about to strike a tee shot at the Larrimac Golf Club in 1930, seven years after the first golf shot was struck on these golf grounds. It turns out that today the golf course of the Larrimac Golf and Tennis Club is the last survivor of at least sixteen golf courses laid out in the Gatineau Valley between 1903 and 1933.
There were four different golf courses laid out at Kingsmere between 1903 and the 1920s.
--February 21, 2019.
1. c. His sister in law, the wife of Denis-Benjamin Papineau. Her name was Angélique-Louise Cornud, and she had donated land on which the parish church and rectory were built.
2. a. Denis-Benjamin Papineau. Though it was his father who had originally purchased the “Petite Nation” seigneurie, Denis-Benjamin Papineau administered the region from 1808 to 1845. He would go on to become the joint Premier of the Province of Canada for Canada East from 1846 to 1848.
--February 20, 2019.
1. The Parish municipality of Saint-Angélique, from which Papineauville would separate in 1894 for 104 years, was formed in 1855 and was named after which member of Louis-Joseph Papineau’s family?
a. His mother
b. His youngest sister
c. His sister in law, the wife of Denis-Benjamin Papineau
d. His oldest daughter
--November 22, 2016.
1) b
2) a
3) b (after George Bryson)
4) c
5) a
6) b
7) a
8) c
9) b
10) d
--November 22, 2016.
1) This famous turn-of-the-century yacht club occupied a stretch of Ottawa River waterfront in what town?
a) Hull
b) Aylmer
c) Shawville
d) Quyon
--January 8, 2016.
“Low Municipality - Reflections of the Past,” by Don Kealey.
About the Book:
Take a step back in time to the mid 1800s and read about how the Municipality of Low, Quebec, progressed from a logging outpost, to a colonization settlement, to finally an intriguing, vibrant township which included the regions of Brennan's Hill, Venosta, Low, Fieldville and the Manitou.
Did you know that maple syrup is the oldest agricultural product in Quebec? It all began with the Indigenous peoples who called it “Sweet Water.” When spring returned and the maple sap was running the Indigenous peoples offered the boiled thickened syrup as a sacrifice to the Great Spirit. “Sugaring off” was largely a woman’s function in Iroquois communities. The men cut notches into tree trunks and small wooden troughs were stuck into the bark.
A tourist steam train runs between the city of Gatineau and the village of Wakefield for about eight months of the year, bringing visitors through the wooded hills and along the scenic Gatineau River.
Written in honour of the pioneers of Aylwin Township (now Kazabazua Township), Celebrating 150 Years begins in the 1830s with the lumber industries of Hamilton and Gilmour and official advice to settlers from His Majesty’s Agent at Quebec.
The young boy was standing in front of a small wooden table on which laid a birthday cake with four lit candles. You could see the gleam in the little guy’s face, and his underlying smile of knowing that this was his day to be celebrated, and his day alone. Dressed in a clean white shirt, dark slacks, and a clip-on bow tie, we could sense what he was thinking as he continued his bright-eyed stare into the candles. We could almost feel his wonder at what other miracles life would bring, and that this birthday was certainly one of them.
The historical development of the Outaouais has often found its origin in the Pontiac. It is within the Pontiac where the oldest traces of human artefacts were discovered, shortly after the retreat of the Champlain Sea. Archaeological discoveries found on Morrison Island revealed that the river in the Pontiac had become “the copper route”, starting from the Great Lakes and leading up to Eastern Quebec.
In Canada, heritage sites may be designated nationally, provincially and municipally. The level of designation depends on the level of significance of the site. National Historic Sites must be judged to be of national significance; provincial, of provincial significance, and so on.
Les Publications du Québec has just released a new book, titled Les ponts couverts du Québec. Produced in association with Quebec’s Ministry of Transport, the book is the first comprehensive study of the covered bridge phenomenon in the province.
1) In 1873, Shawville became a separate municipality. Out of which township was it created?
a) Carleton.
b) Clarendon.
c) Clarence.
d) Shaw.
2) Which group was the first to settle in the Shawville area?
a) Irish Catholics from County Wexford.
b) Irish Protestants from County Tipperary.
c) Scottish Presbyterians from Lowland Scotland.
d) German Loyalists from Upstate New York..
1) b)
2) b)
3) b)
4) c)
5) c)
6) d)
7) c)
8) a)
9) a)
10) c)
Christ Church Aylmer is Aylmer's oldest original church building. The church's foundation stone was laid in 1843. Our long history reflects the history of Aylmer itself. This page outlines the history of Aylmer and the church, starting in the 17th century.
The Ottawa Valley (Eastern Ontario and Western Québec, commonly called l’Outaouais) was an important trading route in the history of the development of Canada. Fur traders used the Ottawa River to get into the hinterland to trade for fur goods.
Originally this was an inn and stopping place for Ottawa River travellers. It is believed to have been originally owned by André Galipeau, who was active in parish, school and municipal affairs. Indeed, the inn served as a meeting place for the local village council until other public buildings became available.
In stories about death, funerals and wakes have a special place. Georges Newberry of Calumet Island heard this story from his old parents:
The Wake of Dan O’Brien
The Irish tradition of the wake is not only a special family reunion in honour of the dead: it is also a period of transition. Those who died are not quite out of this world, and not quite in the next. Clifford Robillard described one such wake: