Archives: Digital Resources

In addition to our online exhibits, many other digital resources are also available on the Trent University Archives web site.

Diaries
Letters
Court Records
Public Records
Oral History
Art and Photography
Trent University
City of Peterborough
Internet Archive open access

Diaries

1. A transcription of the diary of Hugh Caldwell, postmaster at Clydsdale P.O., Chandos Township. Diary spans 1888-1889.

2. A transcription of the diaries written by William Standen, a farmer who lived near Barrie Ontario and wrote a daily journal from 1879 until 1895.

3. A transcription of the diary written by Edwin Zimmerman Xerex, a storeowner and postmaster who lived in Little Britain, Ontario and wrote a daily diary from 1901 to 1921.

4. A transcription of the diaries of Isabella Fulton (Miller) Campbell of Keene, Ontario, 1911 and 1915-1918. Plus, the letters of her mother Isabella Brownlie Miller who came to Otonabee Township as a serving girl early in the nineteenth century.

5. A transcription of the Journal of a Factor at the Eastmain Hudson's Bay Company post, 1929-1930.

6. A transcription of the Diary of Lieut. L.V. Shier, 20th Battalion Canadians, B.E.F. 1917-1918.

7. A transcription of a diary written by Mary Tuer of Port Hope, Ontario, while on tour in Europe when World War I broke out, 1914.

8.  A transcription of the diary of Harriet Brock Pengelley  March 1835 to April 1836.  She died June 4, 1836. 

9.  Many letters from the various  Frances Stewart fonds have been transcribed.

Letters

1. A transcription of the letters of Dr. Thomas Poole, written between 1854 and 1864 while he was living and practicing medicine in Norwood, Ontario before moving to Peterborough.

2. A transcription of the diaries of Isabella Fulton (Miller) Campbell of Keene, Ontario, 1911 and 1915-1918. Plus, the letters of her mother Isabella Brownlie Miller who came to Otonabee Township as a serving girl early in the nineteenth century.

3. The letters of Frances Stewart, Peterborough, (Upper Canada) Canada West. 1757-1890.

4. A transcription of Our Forest Home (Second Edition, 1902) by Frances Stewart, which is a substantively different and enlarged version of her edited letters from the first edition.

5. Medd family letters: transcriptions include early 19th century letters written between family members living in Smith's Creek (now Port Hope, Ontario) and England. Also, WWI letters written by S.T. Medd to his wife Estella Medd.
Note: a letter in Box 12 Folder 4 dated 23 June 1819 makes reference to encounters with the Indigenous Peoples of the Rice Lake area.

Court Records

1. Inquests held by coroners' juries, United Counties of Northumberland and Durham, 1830-1914 and subsequent case records to 1918.

2. Calendar of Prisoners: Cobourg Gaol, 1840s to 1918.

Public Records and Vital Statistics

1. A transcription of a unique 1839 religious panegyric produced by the Cramahe and Haldimand Female Tract Society.

2. Births, marriages and deaths in the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham, 1810-1873 transcribed in full.

3. Assessment and census records, 1802-1843 for townships in the District of Newcastle transcribed in full.

4. A transcription of the Katchewanooka Herald, a handwritten manuscript newspaper, written by the agricultural students of Samuel Strickland, Lakefield, Ontario, 1855-1859.

Oral History

1. Transcriptions of interviews with senior Curve Lake residents, conducted by George Cobb in 1966.

2. Transcriptions of interviews with women from the Peterborough area reminiscing about early 20thC days.

Art and Photography

1. The drawings of a Canadian soldier, Jim Lauder, from a German prisoner-of-war camp, 1944.

Trent University

1. First student register for Trent University, 1964. (a .pdf file)

2. Trent University photographs and slides.

3. Selected volumes of the student newspaper Arthur

4. First Trent University Calendar, 1964-1965 (a .pdf file).

5. A list of published books and articles based on research conducted at Trent University Archives.

City of Peterborough digitized resources

Internet Archive open access initiative

Seven items from our holdings were digitized through the Internet Archive open access initiative for public domain material:

  1. Katchewanooka Herald, 1855-1859. (A handwritten newspaper published in Lakefield, Ontario).
    See: https://archive.org/details/katchewanookaher00agri and https://archive.org/details/katchewanookacar00agri .
    See Finding Aid 83-004 to access information about the original newspaper.
  2. Journal of the British Parliament from February 1620 to December 1621, reign of James I. (Archival fonds 02-1004).
    See: Finding Aid 02-1004 to access information about the original manuscript.
  3. An Autobiographical Sketch / by Captain Charles Rubidge. 1870. (Pamphlet Collection #178).
  4. The consolidated by-laws of the Municipal Council of the County of Peterborough / compiled by order of Council by a Special Committee composed of Mr. J.B. Pearce, Chairman, and Messrs. W.H. Casement... [et al.]. Peterborough (Ont. : County) Municipal Council. 1900. (F5545 .P4 A1518 1900 TC).
  5. Prize list of the Central Exhibition 1875, under the auspices of the riding societies of east and west Peterborough, South Victoria, East Durham and West Northumberland, and of the Peterborough Horticultural Society, and of the Dummer, Smith, &c., Manvers, Hope and Hamilton Branch Agricultural Societies to be held in the town of Peterborough on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, September 29th and 30th and October 1st. 1875. (T 393 .P7 TC).
  6. Prize list of the central exhibition 1876, under the auspices of the riding societies of East and West Peterborough, South Victoria, East and West Durham and West Northumberland, and of the Peterborough and Port Hope horticultural societies and of the Smith, & Co., Manvers, Hope, and Hamilton branch agricultural societies. To be held in the Town of Port Hope on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, September 26th, 27th and 28th... [1876?]. (F 5547 .P7 P7 TC).
  7. Debenture prospectus of the Peterborough Real Estate Investment Company (Limited) Canada... Peterborough Real Estate Investment Company (Limited) Canada. [1879?] (HD 319 .P4 P4 TC).

Many published items held in our Special Collections and Rare Book Collections have been digitized and are available in the Internet Archive