Thanks to David Melrose of England I have been able to post photographs from an album created in 1871 by his great-grandmother Mary (m.s. ALLAN) Melrose (1850-1936). Mary was a sister of my great-grandmother Margaret (ALLAN) Brownlees (1853-1897).
The link is https://pamelaforsyth.com/mary-allan-melrose-1850-1936s-photo-album/
Recently, I posted a new selection of post cards from my Grandmother, ISABELLA BROWNLEES’ collection. These cards have been sorted by the name of various places along both sides of the Scotland/England border, near Grandma’s home area, the villages of Cornhill-on-Tweed, Wark-on-Tweed, Coldstream and Kelso. The link is:
Post Cards – Isabella Brownlees Collection – page 2 – by place
Today I have started a new page where I will be posting my grandmother Isabella Brownlees (1874-1958)’s post card collection. Most of the images are from Scotland and the English counties of Durham and Northumberland but there are a few from further afield – Paris, Ireland, Buffalo, New York, etc. There are about 270 cards in total and I will be posting them gradually as I get time to scan and transcribe them. Most of the cards are from 1903 -1909 but she continued to add a few to the collection until the 1930s. Some of the cards were mailed to her but others were passed on by family and friends who knew she was collecting post cards. The image on the front of the card was the important thing for her post card album but I have been fascinated by the glimpse into her life and the activities of her family that comes from the notes on the back of the cards. The link is:
Post Cards – Isabella Brownlees collection – Northumberland & Scotland
FINISHED posting all the Revenue and Expenditure Accounts of the Woodnorth (Manitoba) School Board. Now all of the School Board materials that I have located are on the website – all the Minutes of regular Board meetings (1918-1951), the Annual Meetings (1918-1949) and all the account books (1910-1958).
This has been a time consuming project spread out over the last year. It has also been an interesting window into the history of the Woodnorth community as scores of teachers and local residents are shown playing a part in the school’s activities. Local people worked as trustees and auditors for the School Board, drove school vans, did caretaking, cleaning, repairs, hauled wood and coal for the furnace in winter, planned programs, field days and school picnics in concert with the teachers. The Minutes also reflect the great financial difficulties faced by the School and many residents of the communty during the 1930s and early 1940s but they managed to keep the school operating for almost sixty years (1910-1968).
FINALLY, I have completed and posted the transcription of the Woodnorth Consolidated School Board Minutes for meetings held from the opening of the Consolidated School in 1918 to the end of 1951 – almost 42,000 words! More proof-reading is probably required but I am going to take a break for the time being. I have posted the scans of the original pages as well as my transcription so anyone who wants to read the original hand-written records may always do so.
To read any of the Minutes simply go to the “About” page of this website and click on the years of Minutes that you may wish to read.
I still have to re-scan and post a number of pages of Revenue and Expenditure records that accompany the School Board Minutes for this period but that is not as time consuming as transcribing. I hope to have that completed by the end of the month so I can go back to writing and posting more of my own genealogical research.
Since I have posted so much information relating to the town of Woodnorth, Manitoba, I decided to register my site with the Society of One-Place Studies. The organization, based in the U.K., was founded by genealogists in 2013. It has information on places around the world, contributed by individuals researching those places and family in those locations. There are two other places listed in Manitoba, some in five other Canadian provinces, but none yet in Alberta. The link to that site is: https://www.one-place-studies.org
I have completed and posted my transcriptions of the Minutes of the Woodnorth Consolidated School District #1533 Annual Ratepayers’ Meetings.
Woodnorth Consolidated School #1533 RATEPAYERS’ ANNUAL MEETING Minutes 1918 to 1949
In some years there was also a special meeting, usually to fill a Trustee vacancy created by the unexpected death of a Trustee during his/her term of office. The main business of the meetings of the Ratepayers was to elect new Trustees and to hear and discuss the Trustees’ annual report and the Auditor’s annual report.
I am continuing to transcribe the Minutes of the regular meetings of the School Board and have completed the years 1918-1927.
Today I have added the TRANSCRIPTION of the Woodnorth School Board Minutes for 1921-1925. In recent days I have also added a number of photographs to other sections.
Today I have added a new section, mostly photos & postcards, of a vacation trip that a group of young people in their late teens and early twenties, from Woodnorth, Manitoba, took to Carlyle Lake, Saskatchewan, in July 1931. Knowing that over the next decade and a half they will be coping with an economic depression and World War II, it is good to see them having such an enjoyable, carefree time. A Trip to Carlyle Lake, Saskatchewan, July 1931
I have re-arranged the website. To find individual family history segments go to the “ABOUT” section listed above and then click on any heading printed in RED to go through to that section.
Yesterday, I started to scan and post images of the Minutes of the Woodnorth Consolidated School #1533. The first meeting was in July 1918. I will continue posting until I have completed all the Minute Books and Expense Account Ledgers that I have available – going to the late 1950s. (This will take many weeks.) I have transcribed a few pages of the Minutes but will give priority to getting the scanning done and then go back to transcribing. Thanks to Grant Shoemaker for locating these volumes and giving them to me for scanning. Upon completion of my scanning project the original volumes will be deposited with the Manitoba Provincial Archives.
The Minutes give an interesting picture of life in Woodnorth at the time as various citizens volunteer as School Board Trustees and teachers come and go.
Woodnorth (Manitoba) Consolidated School #1533 Board Minutes 1918 to
pamela forsyth 