Event Date : Wednesday, July 08, 1981
Event Type : Death

Description : Former owner, publisher, and editor of The Bradford Witness, Ina McKenzie, died last Wednesday, July 8, after a lengthy illness. She was 89. Born Ina Galbraith in Paisley, Bruce County, Mrs. McKenzie learned to be independent at an early age after the death of her father at age 29. Her mother, a school teacher, struggled to raise her and younger sister Donalda. "I went into teaching as well because there was nothing else a girl at that time could do except become a nurse" Mrs. McKenzie remarked in an interview before her death. She taught for several years in the tough downtown Toronto core where her students included the famous Conacher brothers. "They were wonderful boys. Perhaps a bit mischievious though" she recalled laughing. After marrying her childhood sweetheart Stewart McKenzie (who died in 1975) she left teaching to move to Detroit with her husband."All that time - it was in the 1920s - Detroit was a boom town. Everyone was playing the stock market and making a great deal of money - on paper at any rate. Stewart got a job on a financial publication called Saturday Night."Mr. McKenzie had an extensive background in the newspaper business. His father had owned the Paisley Advocate.While in Detroit the stock market crashed and Mr. McKenzie because he was a Canadian citizen was in danger of losing his job."I told Stewart 'Let's look for a business now while you've still got a job' so we went on vacation and looked at what appeared to be a very prosperous newspaper in Trenton" Mrs. McKenzie remembered.However being a very astute business woman she noted that the paper printed a great deal of political material that would come to a halt if the government changed. They decided to look elsewhere.Bradford was their next stop."When we arrived in Bradford it was a beautiful day" she recalled. However the condition of The Bradford Witness was something else again."Stewart went in and told me 'The machinery is a disgrace'" she remembered but they loved the little town and decided to stay contributing greatly to its prosperity and growth over the years.In those first years of the Depression Bradford was little more than a main street the lower end shabby the western portion relatively prosperous she recalled. "Everything was booming when we arrived in Bradford." Mrs. McKenzie noted. "But shortly after many people were in dire poverty. If we would have collected what was on our books we could have retired however people gave what they could."During this time they relocated the paper's office from Holland St. to Barrie St. (where the European Bakery is currently located) remaining there until they retired in 1968 selling the paper to Gerry Barker.Before deteriorating eyesight hampered her activities Mrs. McKenzie was extremely active in various organizations in Bradford. During the Second World War she headed the Bradford chapter of the Canadian Red Cross. She was a charter member of the West Gwillimbury chapter of IODE and a past president of the Bradford Women's Institute. She also taught Sunday School at the Bradford United Church. One of the driving forces behind fund-raising efforts for the Bradford Community Centre. Mrs. McKenzie also lent her considerable energies and intelligence to the Hurricane Hazel flood relief program and various other community projects. Ina McKenzie is survived by her sister Donalda Crosbie of Toronto nephew Robert W. Crosbie and good friend Ella Langford of Bradford. She was also great-aunt to Alexander George and Cynthia. Friends called at the Lathangue and Skwarchuk Funeral Home and a service conducted by Rev. G. McFarlane was held in the chapel on Friday July 10. She was buried next to her husband at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.Donations to the West Gwillimbury chapter of IODE would be appreciated.

Contains information relating to the military presence, recruitment, and police force in Bradford. Headings include: 1837 Rebellion Attestation Papers Battalions Served by Canadians Bond Head Armson Crash Boyd Gang Bradford West Gwillimbury Policing Col. Tyrwhitt Earl Bowles Early Militia Fenian Raids Korean War Photographs Royal Canadian Legion Veterans War Effort at Home World War I & World War II
*Military/Policing - Other

Event Date : Wednesday, August 25, 1954
Event Type : Death

Description : Col. William Pate Mulock, grandson of Sir William Mulock and Postmaster-General for six years, and owner of the Newmarket Era and Express newspaper, died Wednesday at his home near Newmarket following a heart attack. He was 57. Ill-health forced him to leave politics in April, 1945, after representing North York as Liberal since 1943. He was in charge of Canada's mails during the Second World War and directed the special operations needed to speed mail to troops overseas. He made his first attempt to enter Federal politics at North York in 1930, but was defeated by the late T. Herbert Lennox. Four years later, however, he contested the seat in the by-election caused by Col. Lennox's death and piled up a majority of 3,678 - the largest in the history of the riding. He retained the seat in the 1935 and 1940 general elections. When he entered Mackenzie King's cabinet at the age of 43 he was the youngest minister. To some extent his political career ran parallel to that of his grandfather, who was Postmaster-General from 1896 to 1905. His maiden speech in the Commons drew wide attention and was heard by Sir William Mulock, probably the first time a grandfather was present when his grandson took the seat originally held by himself. Born into one of North York's best-known families, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Mulock, he was educated at Upper Canada College, the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall. He served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia, read law with Mulock, Milliken, Clark and Redman, and was called to the bar in 1920. He became a King's Counsel the same year he added M.P. to his name - 1934. During his administration, Canada's present air mail system was developed. When he was not at Ottawa, Col. Mulock divided his time between his law practice and his farm between Newmarket and Aurora. He had been in ill health for some months before his death and was confined to his home. Col. Mulock leaves his wife and two sons, William and Thomas.