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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-08-05, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1987. PAGE 5. Tweedsmuir Histories Women s Institutes record the history of even smallest communities Brussels Majestic Women’s Institute Branch Curator Marie McTaggart looks over one of the early Tweedsmuir Histories, on permanent display at the Brussels Public Library Branch. BY TOBY RAINEY Although most people have heard of the “Tweedsmuir Histor­ ies,” few outside of the Women’s Institute organizations across Canada are fully aware of their unique place in history, or even recognize them for what they are: an intimate, accurate, detailed and absolutely authentic history of the development of even our smallest communities, written from the point of view of those who actually remember the events recorded, or have been there when that history was in the making. The Tweedsmuir Histories con­ tain all the important details of the development and important mile­ stones of all that matters most to the people of small communities, stories that will never be recorded by professional historians over the course of time, but nevertheless, stories that have shaped the very character of so many of Canada’s - and the world’s - “little people.” Under the Tweedsmuir man­ date, the histories contain the full story of the local Women’s Insti­ tute Branch, general community history, local farm histories, vill­ age history, church and cemetery histories, school and library histor­ ies, the stories of past and present industries and businesses in the community, the story of local clubs, organizations and groups, individual family stories and fam­ ily trees, as well as stories of the area’s notable personalities, the story of the community’s contribu­ tion to war work and to the armed services, and the on-going week- by-week important events which take place in the community, as recorded by local newspapers and other historians. These stories have all been requested of, and written by, the individuals in each community that have been intimately associated with each happening or history; but before becoming part of the final Tweedsmuir History, each is fully checked for authenticity, correct dates and spellings, etc., by comparison with records in county or township offices, court files, local newspaper files, muse­ ums. libraries of historical socie­ ties, and of course with collections ofpersonalfamily possessions, such as diaries and family bibles. As a result, each Tweedsmuir is the truest story ever likely to be recorded about small communi­ ties, places that normally escape the broad sweep of history, or even the notice of the outside world, but stories which are of vital impor­ tance to all of us, because they provide us with the means to trace our very roots. The Histories were first sugges­ ted in 1940, by the wife of Canada’s beloved Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, John Buchan, who served the people of Canada from 1935 to 1940. John Buchan, of course, is known world-wide as a historian and novelist (“The 39 Steps,” “Salute to Adventurers,” “The Massacre of Glencoe,” etc.), but Lady Tweedsmuir, Susan Buchan, was also the author of many plays, children’s books, and collections of reminiscences. The complete Buchan library was bequeathed to Queen’s University in Kingston upon the death of Lord Tweedsmuir on February 11,1940, andstilliscarefully maintained there. Before coming to Canada in 1935, Lady Tweedsmuir was an ardent member of her Women’s Institute in England, and was made an Honorary Life Member of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario upon her arrival in Ottawa in 1935. Realizing the vital importance of recording the histor­ ies of even our smallest communi­ ties, she was a strong advocate of compiling these into the perma­ nent records which quickly became known as the “Tweedsmuir His­ tories,” with work soon beginning on them in hundreds of towns and villages all across Ontario, and later across Canada. The Tweedsmuir History cura­ tor must always be a member of the local branch of the Wome.n’s Institute, since the books are paid for and always financed by the Institute Branch, and MUST AL­ WAYS BE KEPT WITHIN BRANCH OWNERSHIP. The cur­ ator is appointed or re-appointed annually, and while there is no restriction on the length of term in office, she mustbe willing and able to spend whatever time is neces­ sary on the compiling of the History; she must be always watchful of information pertaining to the community and its develop­ ment; and she must attend (or be represented) at all special events of a historical nature in the commun­ ity. Each Tweedsmuir History Book Committee is expected to have at leastthree members, appointed by the Branch and approved by the Curator, but these people need not be members of the Women’s Institute, and they need not be elderly, but rather anyone who has a keen interest in history, and especially in the history of the Branch’s own community. Obviously, the Histories hold a very important place in the work of the Women’s Institute, and the curators (Branch, District and Provincial) must be very special people. One of the duties of the Committee is to plan and hold a meeting at least once a year to show the book to all members, and many Committees plan a “Tweedsmuir Tea’’ within the community, so that the History may be exhibited to the public at large (and, incidently, raise some money for the use of the Institute, as a silver collection is generally taken at these events.) However, few small communi­ ties are as fortunate as the village of Brussels in having their Tweeds­ muir History in full public view at all times, readily available to anyone interested in local history for whatever reason. The Brussels Library Branch has donated space in its large Refer­ ence Room for permanent storage of the History, as well as for a wealth of other materials that has been collected or donated, mostly through the local Women’s Insti­ tute. Over the years, Brussels has had two Women’s Institutes: the first was incorporated in 1910 as the Brussels W.I., but disbanded under the pressure of war work in 1941,whilethe second one, the Majestic Women’s Institute (nam­ ed to commemorate the visit of the King and Queen to Canada that year) was founded in 1939, and is still going strong. As well as the Tweedsmuir History, which was started by the Majestic W.I. in 1971 and continu­ ed faithfully to the present time, the Public Library reference room contains the handwritten, official minute books of every W.I. meeting held in Brussels since the original Institute was first organiz­ ed in 1910; the published Pro­ grammes of all East Huron District Women’s Institutes from 1965 to the present; a number of financial records of the Institute over the years; and several miscellaneous scrapbooks that have been donated over the years, containing clip­ pings and other material on local, national and international events of interest; as well as a large number of priceless old photo­ graphs too large to be included in the individual Tweedsmuir books. The latest addition to the collection is the Ainlay Genealogy and Ainlay Family History, an invaluable addition to the story of Brussels, donated just last week by John A. Ainlay of Evanston, Illinois, the great-grandson of the William Ainlay who founded the village of Ainlayville, which later became the Village of Brussels, so Continued on page 9 The first time / saw Paris BY RAYMOND CANON Have you ever wanted to go to a big city for a visit? If you lived in a relatively small place as I did, such a city has a magnetic attraction on you. For me that city was Paris and I shall never forget the first time that I got off the train at the St. Lazare station and went out into the crowd in front. It was as if one of my fondest dreams had been answer­ ed. Those of you who have studied French at high school can probably recalls as many of the famous landmarks in Paris as I can. Above all there was the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, Arc de Triomphe, Place de 1’Etoile, Notre Dame, Pigalle, in fact the list is almost endless and it would take more than one visit to see them all. If your experiences are the same as mine, you would find some of these places more exciting than you had expected, other would have let you down somewhat while still others would be just exactly as you had imagined them to be. For me the two outstanding places to visit were the Eiffel T ower and the Louvre. Outside of my flying I had never been so high in my life and from the top of the tower I was able to look over the entire city. As far as the Louvre was concerned, it was something else. It had many of the paintings I had only seen in a picture and it was the first great art gallery I had ever been in. I could sit back, look at each picture as long as I wanted and decide just what it was supposed to say. Paris had a few other things for measwell. Itwas thefirstcity in which 1 had ever ridden the underground railway, or the Metro as they call it there. This is a bit more difficult than it seems for it was frequently a question of changing trains at the right station and making sure that I got on the right one. You can imagine how proud I was when somebody asked mefordirectionsin the Metro; I was able to explain it carefully and to the other person’s satisfaction. I bit of confession is in order. I had taken exactly the same trains for the first time only the day before and, as I had been obliged to memorize the whole trip, I was in good shape to tell anybody else about it. I do remember the very first time I saw Paris but I must confess that the exciting times came later when I was back for a return visit to the city. These times wer three in number and are worth relating. The first was when I had flown in from some other city, the name of which escapes me at the present time. I took the bus in from the airport, changed to the Metro and arrived at my destination. Imagine my surprise when I found myself in the middle of a demonstration which the police had just decided to break up. Demonstrators were running in all directions, chased by what I considered to be an inordinate amount of policemen and mayhem appeared to be the order of the da^. One gendarme came to the conclusion that I was decidedly suspicious-looking and singled me outfor his attention. I must confess that I knew enough about French riot police by this time not to stand around to discuss the merits of his chasing me. I took off like a proverbial scared rabbit and man­ aged tooutrun him mainly because I was in very good shape, having played soccer on a regular basis. When I had a good enough lead, I nipped intoa bistro around a corner and, as he went by, I was busy ordering a drink. I needed it. Afewyearslaterlpickedupa brand-new Renault to set off on a trip to Moscow. It had not been driven anywhere and I must confess that I was not really acquainted with it. At any rate, I was topickit up in the morning and drive it to Switzerland. As luck wouldhaveit, itwascloseto5p.m. when I managed to take possession of it and was forced to drive it right through the rush-hour traffic in Paris. ‘Chaos’ I think they call it. Howl ever got through the city, I’ll never know. I was trying to find my route by a road map, cars were missing me by centimeters and the drivers were busy venting their spleen on me. Thanks to my St. Christopher’s medal I made it but it was close. Finally it is to Paris that I owe my presentsojourn inCanada. I wason my way back to Switzerland and one year after having cycled all over the continent. I was working there and was also going to act as a hockey playing coach in the city in which I was working. While I was waiting for a street light in Paris to change, I happened on a RCAF officer who was setting up the NATO AirTrainingPlan. We got to talking, he responded to my interest in flying and managed to persuade me to postpone my return to Switzerland. It was, he said, worth two years of my life to help train NATO pilots and it didn’t matter that I was neither a Canadian citizen nor a British subject. That, he assured me, could be taken care of. The rest is history. I decided to accept the offer and ended up back in Canada, training the NATO flyers as they arrived. It was because of those two years that I decided to stay in Canada. Nor surprisingly Paris is for me something more than just another big city.