Kemptville Conscription crisis
The fact that Canada was nearly torn apart through the Conscription Crisis in 1917 can, at least, partly, be traced back to Kemptville! Although...
Robert Leslie: Pioneer public servant
by Doug Macdonald
The signature of Robert Leslie can be found on thousands of documents from Oxford Township and the village of Kemptville between the...
Riverside Park, 1908
In 1902, the Kemptville Council bought Riverside Park from the Bottom family, who had owned it for decades. It was decided that the Village...
Mightier than the sword: Newspapers in North Grenville
The rulers of New France had a very strong rule about the society that they wanted to see in Canada. For that reason, they...
Elizabeth Bell Ferguson
Life in Canada was not very easy in the nineteenth century, if you were an intelligent and ambitious woman. Traditional social and family structures...
Our photographic artists: the Pelton Brothers
by Larry Loke
Daniel Edson Pelton, born November 9, 1868, and Charles Cook Pelton, born July 12, 1876, found success in business by embracing the...
Echoes of Kemptville Past update
by Melanie Low
As a follow up to my original post concerning my antique book The Popular Art Instructor, inscribed "Maggie C. Banks Kemptville 1887",...
John Fannin: an extraordinary life
North Grenville has produced many amazing characters, but there can be few who measured up to the life of John Fannin. Born in Kemptville...
Henry Patton Pioneer Missionary of St. James
by Doug MacDonald
The distinguished older gentleman in the portrait is the Venerable Henry Patton, Archdeacon of the Diocese of Ontario.
In 1826, the Church of...
Robert Bell: Politics, Railways and Newspapers
Robert Bell had a huge influence on the development of North Grenville in the nineteenth century. Born in Strabane, Ireland, in 1821, his family...