WWI

5 posts

Leeds & Grenville Branch – November 2025 Presentation: The Untold Stories on Cenotaphs

Meetings
Photo Credit: Lest We Forget – Canada.ca

Join us on Monday, November 3rd at 7:00 pm via Zoom for a presentation by Blake Seward. His topic is The Unknown Stories on Cenotaphs.

Starting with a name on your town’s cenotaph and working through evidence files to produce a detailed summary of a soldier or nursing sister, Blake Seward will take you on an interesting historical journey through the Great War and Second World War.  Join Blake as he shares some of the hidden stories collected from over 25 years of working with First and Second World War service personnel files, war diaries, and circumstances of death cards held at Library and Archives Canada as a part of the Lest We Forget project.  The recipient of numerous awards for education programming, Blake will discuss the importance of getting students to develop the skills to work as a historian when conducting similar research, the challenges of working with documents that are one hundred years old, and the connections that exist with contemporary issues. To register for this presentation, click here

Leeds & Grenville Branch – November 2024 Presentation – Mike More’s Grandfather’s Experience in the British Army in the First World War

Meetings
Salonika Front 1916
Salonika Front 1916. Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.

Join us on Monday, November 4th at 7:00 pm to learn about the service of a British soldier in World War 1.  Branch member Mike More will give a presentation about his grandfather’s experience in the British Army in the First World War.  Mike says “to many Canadians, The Great War was fought in the trenches of France. But my grandfather spent almost five years in India and the Middle East. This was truly a global war and, although few Canadians served on other fronts, there was a great deal of fighting outside of France, and ‘Soldiers of the King’ were involved in all of them, along with many other nations. I’ll give a brief summary of what happened in the other areas of the conflict.”

Mike More retired from the Canadian Forces after 32 years service, and is an active Ontario Genealogical Society Volunteer, with the Society as the provincial coordinator of The Ontario Name Index (TONI), with Ottawa Branch in many roles, and as the Technical Host of Zoom webinars for the Leeds & Grenville Branch.  Mike has been tracing his roots for about forty years. To register for this presentation, click here .

November 2019 Meeting

Meetings

Joint Meeting with the Colonel Edward Jessup Branch of the United Empire Loyalists.

Speaker Brian Tackaberry will be presenting ‘The Last 100 Days Campaign of the first 1918‘. It will be a PowerPoint presentation with Brian in WWI attire.

Brian Tackaberry is a retired secondary school teacher from Almonte, Ontario. He is very involved in community activities in and around Almonte. He has been president of the Perth Citizens’ Band, serving as bandmaster of the group since 1986. He has also served as a director with the North Lanark Highland Games in Almonte since 1984 and is a member of the North Lanark Historical Society. Brian began his own genealogical research in 1980. As a descendant of United Empire Loyalists he served as President of the Bay of Quinte Branch, UELAC from 2003 to 2013 and as Newsletter Editor since 1991. He is currently Volunteer Manager and Financial Officer for the UEL Heritage Centre and Park in Adolphustown, which are operated by the Branch. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, and the Ontario Genealogical Society. He has published several books, and has conducted workshops on genealogy, with particular focus on the Loyalists. He has documented evidence and obtained certificates for 16 of his UEL ancestors.

March 2017 Meeting

Meetings

Credit: LAC R112 2008-0377 box 265 PL-39933

Date: March 13, 2017
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Brockville Museum
Speaker: Pascale Guindon

On March 13th, Pascale Guindon, a Parks Canada historian, will tell us the remarkable story of Lieutenant William Sharpe of Prescott, and his career as an aviator during the First World War.  The talk looks at his early life and training, Canada’s first attempt at an aviation corps, his overseas service and concludes with some thoughts on his aviation legacy.

From 2014 until 2018, Canada is commemorating the centennial of the First World War, a global event that left lasting effects on generations of Canadians. During this commemorative period, Parks Canada has been recognizing and honouring the memory of Hometown Heroes across the country who contributed each in their own way to the war effort.  Lt. Sharpe is one such hero.

Pascale Guindon is an historian with Parks Canada. With a passion for history since childhood, she studied in architectural history and Canadian Studies and began her career in heritage conservation as a student interpreter at Fort Wellington National Historic Site in Prescott. She is currently in the role of National Programs Coordinator for Parks Canada’s National Celebrations Branch helping to commemorate and celebrate with Canadians significant anniversaries of people, places and events that have helped shape the Canada of today.

Please join us at the Brockville Museum at 7:30 pm to hear this presentation and learn more about genealogy in Leeds & Grenville.  Refreshments and an opportunity for discussion will follow the presentation.

Books Notice
If you have any books hanging around your house that others might like to read, the Brockville Museum is accepting donations for its upcoming annual Book Sale.  There will be a cart in the Museum lobby where you can drop off donations.

February 2016 Meeting

Meetings

Meeting, Monday, February 8th, 2016, 7:30 PM

Mike More will speak on “The First World War Beyond the Western Front” about the rest of the world war. This presentation is aimed at those who may not be aware that there was fighting outside of France. Mike is an accomplished genealogist and researcher. This is a program you will not want to miss.