local history

Portraits of the Andersons – 1854

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The Huronia Museum has received on loan two wonderful historic portraits from 1854 of Thomas Gummersall Anderson and his wife Betsy Hamilton Anderson, painted by William Sawyer, portraitist from Kingston, Ontario. The portraits were likely painted in Cobourg. Anderson was hired by the Indian Department of the British Army in 1815 and for the next 50 years was responsible for Indian policy in Upper Canada. He established the first Indian reserve at Coldwater, Ontario in 1830. The HM is assembling a collection of his papers and ephemera related to this period. Among the letters is one describing the events of the 1837 Rebellion.

The paintings are on generous loan from Margot Ann Beaumont Maddison-MacFadyen (nee Hewer) of Victoria, B.C., a relative of Anderson. The Huronia Museum is extremely grateful for this loan and encourages any other members of the Anderson famiy to consider donating their artifacts and materials to the Huronia Museum. 
Betsy Hamilton Anderson

Thomas Gummersall Anderson

BOOK LAUNCH AT HURONIA MUSEUM – Friday February 29, 2008 at 7.00 pm

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You are invitied to join us for the launch of

Midland on Georgian Bay – An Illustrated History of Midland, Ontario

Friday, February 29, 2008 7 – 9 pm

at Huronia Musuem, 549 Little Lake Park Road, off King Street in Midland

A limited, hard cover, first edition will be available February 29, 2008 at a cost of $60.00 ($57.14 plus GST $2.86). Advance orders are being accepted online at www.midlandongeorgianbay.ca or by calling Bill Smith at 705.526.5285. Books will also be available at Huronia Musuem and David Northcott’s Law Office, 488 Dominion Avenue, (just east of King Street) beginning March 3rd, 2008.

Midland On Georgian Bay, has over 620 photographs and illustrations, many of which are full colour. It is beautifully designed and includes a detailed index. The book accurately captures the mood that defines Midland’s unique personality that is so strongly influenced by its location on the shores of Georgian Bay, often call the Sixth Great Lake. It takes the reader on the long journey from the earliest settlement of the Ouendat/Huron Nation to the inauguration of Midland’s Town Council in 2007.

It was a daunting task to distill into 300 pages, the huge amount of research and to choose from over 3,000 collected images to illustrate this book. The task was helped immensely by award-winning book designer, Kurt Schick, whose objectivitiy and creativity really made Midland on Georgian Bay a beautiful book.