In the very first story of our second season we listen as powerful men make big plans and pretty speeches and it is left to an elegant lady to do the heavy lifting of creating our town ... practically from nothing! We travel back to January 1, 1855 to witness the arrival of the Lady Elgin and trace the myriad of ways that historic day and its visitor impacted every part of our town’s history right up to today.

After the story we dig a little deeper into a couple of the characters associated with the events detailed. One famous fellow (he has his very own Canada Heritage Minute devoted to his story) has very strong connections to our town and the other person has a very dubious connection to our host. We also give you an update of all the fun and exciting activities happening at the museum (boy are we busy!) so you won’t miss out on the excitement and as always we invite your feedback.

Episode Picture:

The Lady Elgin [Collingwood Museum Collection X976.256.1]

Research:

Isabel Griffin, Enterprise Bulletin March 21, 1984

Isabel Griffin, Enterprise Bulletin May 21, 1980

Walker, Frank. Four Whistles to Wood Up: Stories of the Northern Railway of Canada. Upper Canada Railway Society Inc. Toronto 1953. p 5-13.

Sewell, John. The History of Collingwood. 5 Lectures. 2003

Messenger, William. Building of the First Railway. 1969

The Story of Collingwood. Enterprise Bulletin Presses Ltd. 1958 p 18-22

Links:

“Fair Play” Season 1, Episode 11 https://anchor.fm/cwoodstories/episodes/Fair-Play-e18r8g2

Sir Sanford Flemming Heritage Minute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiTgrhEqw5A