Edward Mirynech fonds, 1913-1914, 1946, 1952-1957, 1959-1960, 1965-1982, n.d.

Edward Mirynech joined the faculty at Brock University in 1964 as assistant professor of Geology. Edward Mirynech, the son of John and Katherine Mirynech, grew up in St. Catharines, attended Connaught Public School and received his formal education at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mirynech played several critical roles in the early development of the University. In addition to teaching, Dr. Mirynech was also the acting director of the athletics department, a coach for many of the early rowing, hockey and basketball teams and served the University as marshall for the sod turning ceremony for the new DeCew campus in 1965. Dr. Mirynech was instrumental in the founding of the physical education, geography and geological sciences programs. He served as acting chairman in 1968 when the department of geological sciences enrolled its first students. Part of the unique teaching program was the annual field trips to locations such as the Belleville area, extended summer teaching programs held in Trinidad-Tobago and the following year in Iceland. In 1972, the first graduation ceremony ever to be held in the Arctic, at Pond Inlet, NWT, made national news. Three geology students, on a study trip to the Arctic, received their degrees during a special ceremony. Dr. Mirynech was among the faculty team in Pond Inlet, NWT, representing Brock University. Dr. Mirynech retired from teaching in 1985, and passed away in 2004.

I.O.D.E. Earl Mountbatten Chapter Fonds, 1945-2007

The I.O.D.E. as we currently know it today was founded in 1900 by Margaret Polson Murray of Montreal, who recognized a need for loyal support of Canadians departing to fight in the Boer War with the Empire forces in South Africa. She encouraged the formation of a federation of women to promote patriotism, loyalty and service to others. The first chapter was formed in Fredericton, New Brunswick on January 15th 1900. Primary chapters were formed in quick succession across Canada. In 1901, Edith Boulton Nordheimer was elected the first national president, the location of the head office became Toronto, Ontario and the federation was incorporated as Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire and Children of the Empire Junior Branch. The Earl Mountbatten Chapter was formed in 1947 and is continuing to be a functioning chapter at the time of writing this finding aid. During the 1970’s the name I.O.D.E. was officially adopted. It is a federally chartered not-for-profit, charitable organization. Structured to report under the jurisdiction of the National chapter are the Provincial chapters, the Municipal chapters and the Primary chapters. The I.O.D.E. is associated with the Victory League in England and Daughters of the British Empire in the United States and it is proud of its heritage and traditions. Queen Elizabeth II is the current patron of the organization and although chapters sometimes disband there are always new chapters forming, including e-chapters that meet through 21st century electronics.

Lini Richarda Grol Fonds, 1946-2007

Lini Richarda Grol was originally born in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1913 and immigrated to Canada in 1954 after working as a nurse in South America for three years from 1951 to 1954. She was granted her first Canadian passport in 1961 and worked full-time as nurse at the Welland County Hospital. While nursing she would enroll in writing courses at McMaster University and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, now Ryerson University. Eventually she decided to dedicate herself to her writing and artwork and began to only work as a nurse part-time and then later opened the Fonthill Studio to devote herself to her writing and artwork full-time. Her status as an immigrant and career as a nurse provided inspiration for much of her writing and she frequently tackles the experience of the female immigrant in her works. Her first publication was in 1938 in a small literary and women’s magazines in Holland and Belgium and her first work of poetry was entitled Stive Gedachten. None of these publications exist in this archive. Her most well-known publication, Liberation, centers around her experiences leading up to and after the liberation of Holland during World War II. Grol was, and continues to be a prolific writer in the Niagara Region and has been published in the Welland Tribune, Pelham Herald, Thorold News, Parent Magazine, Dunville Chronicle, and various Christian publications and literary newsletters and journals. Grol also started her own poetry magazine entitled Canadian Poets Pen Club to help aspiring writers get published. Perhaps her most recognized achievement was the inclusion of one of her poems and the recognition of her novel Liberation into the Thank You Canada Day celebration in May 1970. Grol participated in many local writers’ groups such as the Welland Writer’s Club, and the Canadian Author’s Association. Grol was membership secretary for the Canadian Author’s Association in 1984. She also founded a writer’s club in 1995 in her retirement home, Holland Christian Homes where members meet to talk about their poems and short stories either in English or Dutch. Participating in and creating a writers’ community is integral to Grol’s identity as an author and can be related to the feelings of isolation she felt as an immigrant to Canada. Grol also hosted her own television shows entitled Discovery with Lini Grol which featured guests, usually local artists and writers, and Holland en Hollanders a cultural program for Dutch immigrants. Grol’s most recent activities include the publication of a one act play entitled Peppermint Problems [1996] and a short story entitled “When our War started in Rotterdam” [2004]. In 1994, she moved to Brampton, Ontario into a Christian retirement center called Holland Christian Homes. For further biographical information about Grol see two books contained within this collection Women of Action [1976] and Something About the Author [1976].

Rick Bell Family fonds, 1874-1875, 1879, 1884, 1886, 1888-1889, 1896, 1898, 1909-1910, 1939, 1945, n.d.

Lewis Tyrell married Jane Gains on August 31, 1849 in Culpeper Court House, Virginia. Jane Gains was a spinster. Lewis Tyrell died September 25, 1908 at his late residence, Vine St. and Welland Ave., St. Catharines, Ont. at the age of 81 years, 5 months. Jane Tyrell died March 1, 1886, age 64 years. Their son? William C. Tyrell died January 15, 1898, by accident in Albany, NY, age 33 years, 3 months. John William Taylor married Susan Jones were married in St. Catharines, Ont. on August 10, 1851 by William Wilkinson, a Baptist minister. On August 9, 1894 Charles Henry Bell (1871-1916), son of Stephen (1835?-1876) and Susan Bell, married Mary E. Tyrell (b. 1869?) daughter of Lewis and Alice Tyrell, in St. Catharines Ontario. By 1895 the Bell’s were living in Erie, Pennsylvania where children Delbert Otto (b. 1895) and Edna Beatrice (b. 1897) were born. By 1897 the family was back in St. Catharines where children Lewis Tyrell (b. 1899), Gertrude Cora (b. 1901), Bessie Jane (b. 1902), Charles Henry (b. 1906), Richard Nelson (b. 1911) and William Willoughby (b. 1912) were born. Charles Henry Bell operated a coal and ice business on Geneva Street. In the 1901 Census for St. Catharines, the Bell family includes the lodger Charles Henry Hall. Charles Henry Hall was born ca. 1824 in Maryland, he died in St. Catharines on November 11, 1916 at the age of 92. On October 24, 1889 Charles Hall married Susan Bell (1829-1898). The 1911 Census of Canada records Charles Henry Hall residing in the same household as Charles Henry and Mary Bell. The relationship to the householder is step-father. It is likely that after Stephen Bell’s death in 1876, his widow, Susan Bell married Hall. In 1939, Richard Nelson Bell, son of Charles Henry and Mary Tyrell Bell, married Iris Sloman. Iris (b. 22 May 1912 in Biddulph Township, Middlesex, Ontario) was the daughter of Albert (son of Joseph b. 1870 and Elizabeth Sloman, b. 1872) and Josie (Josephine Ellen) Butler Sloman of London, Ont. Josie (b. 1891) was the daughter of Everett Richard and Elizabeth McCarthy (or McCarty) Butler, of Lucan Village, Middlesex North. According to the 1911 Census of Canada, Albert, a Methodist, was a porter on the railroad. His wife, Josephine, was a Roman Catholic. Residing with Albert and Josie were Sanford and Sadie Butler and Sidney Sloman, likely siblings of Albert and Josephine. The Butler family is descended from Peter Butler, a former slave, who had settled in the Wilberforce Colony in the 1830s. Rick Bell b. 1949 in Niagara Falls, Ont. is the son of Richard Nelson Bell. In 1979, after working seven years as an orderly at the St. Catharines General Hospital while also attending night school at Niagara College, Rick Bell was hired by the Thorold Fire Dept. He became the first Black professional firefighter in Niagara. He is a founding member of the St. Catharines Junior Symphony; attended the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1966 and also performed with the Lincoln & Welland Regimental Band and several other popular local groups. Upon the discovery of this rich archive in his mothers’ attic he became passionate about sharing his Black ancestry and the contributions of fugitive slaves to the heritage Niagara with local school children. He currently resides in London, Ont.

Office of the City Clerk, St. Catharines Records, 1928-1974, n.d.

The site of present-day St. Catharines was settled by 3000 United Empire Loyalists at the end of the 18th century. From 1790, the settlement (then known as "The Twelve") grew as an agricultural community. St. Catharines was once referred to Shipman's Corners after Paul Shipman, owner of a tavern that was an important stagecoach transfer point. In 1815, leading businessman William Hamilton Merritt abandoned his wharf at Queenston and set up another at Shipman's Corners. He became involved in the construction and operation of several lumber and gristmills along Twelve Mile Creek. Shipman's Corners soon became the principal milling site of the eastern Niagara Peninsula. At about the same time, Merritt began to develop the salt springs that were discovered along the river which subsequently gave the village a reputation as a health resort. By this time St. Catharines was the official name of the village; the origin of the name remains obscure, but is thought to be named after Catharine Askin Robertson Hamilton, wife of the Hon. Robert Hamilton, a prominent businessman. Merritt devised a canal scheme from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario that would provide a more reliable water supply for the mills while at the same time function as a canal. He formed the Welland Canal Company, and construction took place from 1824 to 1829. The canal and the mills made St. Catharines the most important industrial centre in Niagara. By 1845, St. Catharines was incorporated as a town, with the town limits extending in 1854. Administrative and political functions were added to St. Catharines in 1862 when it became the county seat of Lincoln. In 1871, construction began on the third Welland Canal, which attracted additional population to the town. As a consequence of continual growth, the town limits were again extended. St. Catharines attained city status in 1876 with its larger population and area. Manufacturing became increasingly important in St. Catharines in the early 1900s with the abundance of hydro-electric power, and its location on important land and water routes. The large increase in population after the 1900s was mainly due to the continued industrialization and urbanization of the northern part of the city and the related expansion of business activity. The fourth Welland Canal was opened in 1932 as the third canal could no longer accommodate the larger ships. The post war years and the automobile brought great change to the urban form of St. Catharines. St. Catharines began to spread its boundaries in all directions with land being added five times during the 1950s. The Town of Merritton, Village of Port Dalhousie and Grantham Township were all incorporated as part of St. Catharines in 1961. In 1970 the Province of Ontario implemented a regional approach to deal with such issues as planning, pollution, transportation and services. As a result, Louth Township on the west side of the city was amalgamated, extending the city's boundary to Fifteen Mile Creek. With its current population of 131,989, St. Catharines has become the dominant centre of the Niagara region. Source: City of St. Catharines website http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/governin/HistoryOfTheCity.asp (January 27, 2011)

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1945

On spine : The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario.

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1946

On spine : The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario.

Anne McPherson family fonds, 1852-2011 [non-inclusive]

Frank C. (Case) McCordick (1873-1946) was the son of William Henry (1849-1930) and Emily D. Howell (1851-1927) McCordick. William H. McCordick was in the coal business. The McCordick family included Frank Case, Mabel Gertrude, Ethel Howell and Arthur Stanley. Frank C. McCordick was educated in St. Catharines, and worked with his father in the coal business and eventually opened up a leather tanning operation. McCordick was active in the Lincoln Regiment and in 1906 was promoted to captain and in command of Company A, 19th Regiment. He was promoted to major and at the outbreak of war he was sent overseas as a commander of the 35th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF). Upon arrival in France he was made officer commanding the 15th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). After the war and his return to Canada he continued to play an active role in the local military units in the area as well as in Hamilton. After his retirement from the military in 1927 McCordick served as alderman and then mayor of St. Catharines from 1930 to 1931. He was a member of a large number of civic clubs, including St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce, Y.M.C.A., Lion’s Club, St. Catharines Golf Club, Detroit Boat Club, the St Catharines Club, as well as a member of several Masonic lodges. He continued to operate McCordick Tannery and other local investments. In 1903 Frank C. McCordick married May Beatrice Simson, daughter of Thomas E. Simson of Thorold. They had three children, E. (Edward) Frank McCordick, Bruce McCordick and (Margaret) Doris McCordick (m. Hubert Grigaut, d. 1977). The McCordick family resided at 82 Yates Street, near Adams Street. May Simson McCordick (b. 1873) was the daughter of Thomas Edward (1836-1908) and Julia Headlam (1844-1887) Simson of Thorold. Her siblings included: Edward, Frances, John, Augusta, Georgia and Gertrude. E. (Edward) Frank McCordick (1904-1980) was born in St. Catharines, Ont., attended Lake Lodge School in Grimsby, Ridley College in St. Catharines, Beechmont Preparatory School in England, Upper Canada College in Toronto and graduated from Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont. in 1925. Upon graduation he was made a lieutenant in the 10th (St. Catharines) Field Battery. In 1929 he married Helen Stanley Smith, daughter of Stanley George and Mary Walker Smith of St. Catharines. Col. McCordick, now promoted to Major, played an active role in the 10th (St. Catharines) Field Battery, being officer commanding the battery. In late 1939 McCordick headed to England for artillery tactical training and on December 6, 1939 the battery began the long trek overseas. McCordick saw action in Italy and in Holland. Upon his return to Canada at the end of the war he was the Liberal candidate in the federal election for Lincoln County. He remained active in the local military serving as honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 56th Field Regiment (ARCA) and in 1976 as the honorary colonel of the regiment. Col. McCordick held the Efficiency Decoration, the Order of the British Empire, granted in 1945 and was made an officer in the Order of St. John in 1978. He continued to serve his community in various capacities, including the Unemployment Insurance Canada Board, Royal Trust Company and the St. John Ambulance Society. He remained an active member of the alumni of Royal Military College, editing and compiling a newsletter and organizing reunion weekends. He kept in close contact with many of his classmates. Helen Stanley Smith McCordick lived in St. Catharines, Ont., attended Robertson School, and graduated from the University of Toronto in 1926 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Languages. During the war years (1939-1945) Helen was active in the Transport division of the local branch of the Canadian Red Cross and the Women’s Auxiliary of the 10th Field Battery. In 1932 E. Frank and Helen McCordick welcomed their only child, (Catharine) Anne McCordick. Helen continued to play an active role in her community until her passing in 1997. Stanley George Smith (1865-1960) was born in St. Catharines, Ont., the only child of William Smith (d. June 16, 1876) a native of Edinburgh, Scotland and his wife Hannah Louisa Maria Bulkeley a native of Fairfield, Connecticut. Stanley George Smith married Mary Walker of Guelph, Ont.(d. 1956) Mary was the daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth (d. 1924) Walker. Her siblings included Margaret, Agnes, Jessie, Isabella, Lorne, Ada, Alice, Eva, Alexander and George. Hugh Walker was a prominent fruit and vegetable merchant in Guelph. On 1904 their only child, Helen Stanley Smith was born. He was a post office clerk, and the treasurer for the James D. Tait Co. Ltd., a clothing and dry goods retailer in St. Catharines. The family lived at 39 Church Street in St. Catharines, Ont.

Elliott Wynn fonds, 1893, 1928, 1944-1945

The fonds consists of correspondence, legal documents, a land survey, and newspaper clipping. All items are related to a land dispute concerning lots 15 and 16 in the Township of Niagara, in the County of Lincoln, fronting on the Niagara River at Queenston. This land had been owned by the Wynn family at the time of the dispute.

William B. Rollason fonds, 1930-1934, 1936, 1941-1947, 1950-1952, 1956-1958.

William B. Rollason was a businessman from St. Catharines. His business interests included insurance sales, real estate and housing development. He was an active Rotarian, serving as president from 1945 to 1946. He served on the Niagara Parks Commission Board from 1944 until his death in 1959. Mr. Rollason was the president of the St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce, president of the Lincoln County Conservative Association, a member of the Navy Island Peace Capital Group, vice chairman of the War Savings Committee and part owner of the Welland House Hotel in St. Catharines.

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada at the annual convocation, 1945

Annual Convocation proceedings for the year 1945. The title varies slightly and convocation held at different cities or towns in Canada. Eighty-seventh annual convocation.

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada at the annual convocation, 1946

Annual Convocation proceedings for the year 1946. The title varies slightly and convocation held at different cities or towns in Canada. Eighty-eighth annual convocation.

Agenda for the fifty-third annual meeting of the National Council of Women of Canada, 1946

The National Council of Women of Canada was founded in 1893 in Toronto to address the need for societal reform, such as better education for women and women’s suffrage. The first president was Lady Ishbel Aberdeen, the wife of the Governor General. The group’s early efforts focused on improving conditions for women prisoners, women working in factories, and women immigrants. The efforts of the Council also helped to achieve the passing of the Act to Confer the Electoral Franchise Upon Women in 1918. Members of the Council have advocated for the welfare of children, the family, the community, the environment and equal pay for work of equal value. The Council continues to be concerned with these issues, and presents an annual brief to the Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet, as well as occasionally serving on special advisory committees.

Toward Peace - Spring Concert St. Catharines Public Schools Programme, 1945

A spring concert programme by the St. Catharines Public Schools on May 4, 1945. The concert is titled "Toward Peace" and features the students of the following schools: Alexandra, Cavell, Central, Connaught, Memorial, Robertson, Victoria, Court St., Prince of Wales, St. Andrew's Ward, Glen Ridge, St. Paul's Ward, Queen Elizabeth.

Photograph - Glen Bernard Camp July 1946

A photograph of the female campers of July 1946 at Glen Bernard Camp on Lake Bernard. The group includes a wide range of ages and the girls are outside among the trees. The camp was started in the 1920s and became very popular. The photograph includes Anne McCordick, daughter of E.F. McCordick.