First part of an interview with Tom Fuller & John Wist on October 29, 1996. George Jackson is the interviewer. The men discuss their families and memories of the area (specifically the Holland Marsh). See the Related Descriptions below for the summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into three parts (see related descriptions below for links).
First part of an interview with Art Janse on November 13, year unknown. He is interviewed by George Jackson with Dawn Saunders also present. Art discusses the Holland Marsh, his family and his career (politician, Holland Marsh Drainage Commission). See the Related Descriptions below for summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into two parts (see related descriptions below for links).
First part of Gord Church's first interview on January 28, 1995. He and George Jackson discuss the harvesting and use of Marsh Hay. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into two parts (see related descriptions below for links).
First part of an interview with Ron Coffey on November 13, 1990. George Jackson is the interviewer, the interview discusses Ron Coffey's family history. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into two parts (see related descriptions below for links).
First part of an interview with Bob and June Brown on May 15, 1992. They are interviewed by George Jackson. See the Related Descriptions below for summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into two parts (see related descriptions below for links).
First part of Gord Church's second interview on October 25, 1996. He and George Jackson discuss the Holland Marsh. See the Related Descriptions for summary.
Due to length, the audio is split into two parts (see related descriptions below for links).
The WEGWHIST team has bowed to public demand, and will reprint Governor Simcoe Slept Here, the Legacy of West Gwillimbury. The reprint of the 2-volume set should be available mid-August, 2006. Some factual errors in the first edition will be printed in an addendum to be included with the reprint, and available to all who have already purchased a book. Pre-publication sale of the reprint is underway. The pre-publication price will be $5, the post-publication price $75.
When the WEGWHIST Team launched Governor Simcoe Slept Here last December, we underestimated your response. Hindsight, which always has 20/20 vision, indicates that we should have printed more copies, but by the same token, we didn't anticipate that many of you were going to buy 4 or 5 copies. All 1,023 copies have found a home, and many of you asked if we are going to do a reprint. We have considered this request, and we have decided to do a reprint that will be available about Aug. 15, 2006. Some factual errors have been brought to our attention, so we are preparing a correction addendum that will be included with the reprint, and will be available to all who have already purchased a book. Pre-publication sales of the reprint will begin July 1st. The pre-publication price will be $65, the post-publication price $75.
Description : Following four years of volunteer work by a team of members of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association, Governor Simcoe Slept Here - The Legacy of West Gwillimbury was launched on December 15th. In October, 2001 over forty people responded to the initial invitation to meet and discuss the possibility of writing a history of West Gwillimbury and they choose to call themselves WEGWHIST - West Gwillimbury History. The book was written by a team of 15 Bradford West Gwillimbury residents. Governor Simcoe Slept Here tells the story of the two waves of pioneer settlers to West Gwillimbury - the Scottish, Irish and English, who settled on the highlands during the 1820 - 1830 period and the European settlers who arrived a century later to the Holland Marsh. Churches, schools and hamlets are documented in the two volumes, along a CD which includes "The Many Faces of West Gwillimbury" as photographed by Franz Aschwanden, a listing of the Marsh Land Owners in 1949 and a Genealogical Index of the Families.
"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."
