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An interview with Ms. Irene Turner discussing her upbringing, specifically details about her father growing up.

Audio of an interview with Sam Neilly. The interviewer is George Jackson. Sam and George discuss where Sam's friends and family lived in accordance with a map of Gilford they are looking at. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.

Summary of an interview with Sam Neilly. The interviewer is George Jackson. Sam and George discuss where Sam's friends and family lived in accordance with a map of Gilford they are looking at. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.

Description of the annual outdoor service held at Auld Kirk, celebrating the 180th year since it's founding. Also has a brief history on the Scotch Settlement.

"When Jean Keffer asked me to sign her petition to keep Gwillimbury in the Town name, I did so with the following in mind...Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gwillim was an aide-de-camp of General Wolfe. He was with Wolfe when the General died on the Plains of Abraham in 1759. His daughter Elizabeth married John Graves Simcoe; the rest is history. My own connection to the "Gwillburys" began in 1803, when my 5G-Grandfather, John Eves, a Quaker from Pennsylvania, built one of the first settler dwellings, after he was patented with Lot 108 in West Gwillimbury. He is credited with the first industry in the "Gwillimburys", when he built a sawmill on the Holland River soon after. I even found reference to North Gwillimbury in the 1881 census where my Great-Great grandparents Thomas Lamb and Rachel Eves briefly lived. When I wrote on the Millenium Clock Monument, with assistance from George Jackson, I tried to balance the story of the Town and Township, so that one can see the relationship that existed, where we were intertwined socially, economically and emotionally. My wife Julie and I both spent our formative years in West Gwillimbury, and our two sons are the 9th generation in Ontario as descended from those original settlers on Lot 108. The name Bradford West Gwillimbury may be long and unwieldy, but historically and emotionally it is ours alone."

Summary of an interview with John Eek February 17, 1998. He is interviewed by George Jackson. John talks about his days in the Holland Marsh, and the start of Bradford's Co-op storage by his family. See the Related Descriptions below for the audio.

Audio of an interview with John Eek February 17, 1998. He is interviewed by George Jackson. John talks about his days in the Holland Marsh, and the start of Bradford's Co-op storage by his family. See the Related Descriptions below for the summary.

The Wilkinson House is a mid-block building located at 31 Simcoe Road. It was built by Art Saint and/or George Stoddart around 1923 in the Arts and Crafts style. The house was sold to Chris Long, his daughter, and her husband Fred Wilkinson (a printer for the Bradford Witness) and daughter Marjorie. When they moved to Toronto to work at the DeHavill and Aircraft Company during WWII, the house was sold to a market gardener whose family lived here for many years.
The 1½-storey, two-bay ‘bungalow’ has a simple form with an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. A broad, steeply-pitched, gable roof extends down to reduce the scale of the building from the street. It covers the open front porch and is supported on wood half columns on brick piers. There is an off-centre hall entrance from the porch. The porch (entered from the front) is raised and has a simple, wood handrail and baluster. There are wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. A wide band of windows across the front of the dormer emphasizes the horizontal lines and massing of this house. The wide windows are set into rectangular openings. Smaller, second-storey windows in the front dormer are offset from the ground-floor windows and have plain, wood sills and trim. The windows and the second entrance door are not original. A mix of exterior cladding materials is common to this style. The house has returned eaves at the dormer roof. Wood frame construction has brick, masonry cladding and vinyl siding on the dormer. The original cladding would have been wood. There is a painted, concrete foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block building on the north side at 107 John St. East was built around the 1880’s in the Gothic Revival Cottage style. The main house was moved to this site from the saw mill in Amsterdam during the early 1900’s. It was the home of Arthur “Mike” Saint and his wife Alice and children (Russell, Eric, Ralph, Zella, Rita and Archie). He had immigrated to Bradford from London, England in 1871 with his parents (William and Sarah) and siblings (Thomas, Harry, Frank, George, Annie and Maria). William died in 1875. All of his sons were in the building trade. Mike was a well-known brick layer and he also raised and showed chickens. There once was a 1½-storey frame barn at the back of the house that was used to store feed, a horse, and a cow. A chicken house was attached to the barn. A huge, old well was found (beyond the back fence) that was thought to belong to the first hotel (located on the only street) when Bradford was first founded.
The 1½-storey, three-bay house has a rectangular plan, a centre hall, a symmetrical façade with a centre gable over the entrance, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. A porch with a hip roof supported on wood posts and brick pedestals was added after the building was relocated. The enclosed porch was open originally, with only the brick pedestals remaining visible. Small windows have high floor to ceiling heights. Double-hung windows are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. The 2/2 windows are original. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding and there is a parged, stone foundation. Originally, the cladding was stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, the building’s form is unmistakable despite the new cladding. (1, 2, 3)