'That valuable is lost or forgotten' - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

“For Home and Country” is the motto of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO). This group was formed in 1897 in Stoney Creek through the efforts of Adelaide Hoodless and Erland Lee. Hoodless was an active promoter of the advancement of the welfare of women. As well as taking many other many leadership roles, she was the organizer and first president of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Lee was a prosperous farmer and the president of the Stoney Creek-Saltfleet Farmers’ Institute. He invited Mrs. Hoodless to speak at the Farmers’ Institute’s annual ladies night banquet. It was from this meeting that the Women’s Institute was formed as a branch of the Farmers’ Institute. 

 

The first branch of the Women’s Institute (W.I.) was in Stoney Creek, but it wasn’t long until other branches were formed across Ontario. The movement spread to other Canadian provinces and eventually to Europe as well. The Women’s Institute in England is particularly strong. 

 

The purpose for this new organization was to spread knowledge for such topics as home sanitation, knowledge about the economic and hygienic value of food, clothing and fuel, as well as the scientific care and training of children. Through the years, the FWIO has advocated for numerous changes that would improve the health and safety of all citizens. Just some of these topics were having bread wrapped, installation of stop signs at all railway crossings and the requirement of giving breathalyzer and blood tests to drivers suspected of drunk driving.

 

By 1924, the formal recording of community history began to be of importance to the W.I. The first provincial convenor and chairman was Miss E. Appelbe. It was her suggestion in 1928 that each branch was to have a complete, authentic history and that each township, village and town have its own museum. She offered that members should “interview the old while it is still possible, search the files of your own local newspaper, church and county registers and municipal minute books”. As well, members were advised to study the headstones in local cemeteries.

 

As followed the custom of the time, in 1935, Scottish writer and intellectual John Buchan was named as the Governor General of Canada (the first Canadian-born Governor General was Vincent Massey, who took on the role in 1952). Buchan had been awarded the title of Lord Tweedsmuir. His wife, Susan Buchan, was also an author as well as an advocate for women’s rights, often writing under the name of Susan Tweedsmuir. This literary couple was quite popular in Canada. 

 

During a cross-Canada train trip by the vice-regal couple, Susan asked people in western Canada how she could help them. Most often requested were books. As a result, she created the Prairie Library Scheme in which over 40,000 books were distributed to remote areas in the west. She also created the first proper library at Rideau Hall.  But it is through her being a frequent visitor to W.I. meetings that she had influence over the collection and preservation of local history. 

 

When she was asked if the local histories being collected at the branches could be called the Tweedsmuir Village Histories, she wrote that it would be a “satisfying task for members to see that nothing valuable be lost or forgotten.” She advocated that regular workshops be held to help members preserve history. Thus, what were unique collections in the various branches became unified in the Tweedsmuir books, large blue-covered tomes with distinctive gold lettering. 

 

Throughout the years W.I. branches have fostered preserving history in many ways. Often roll calls were answered with historical facts, displays of items from pioneer days were held, and Grandmothers’ Teas were celebrated.

 

In this area, Huron County Institutes were divided into three districts, being East, West and South Huron. At one time, there were local branches in Bluevale, Fordwich, Gorrie, Lakelet, Brussels (Majestic), Molesworth, Walton, Cranbrook, Ethel, Moncrieff, Jamestown, Brussels and Wroxeter in the East Division and Auburn, Belgrave, Dungannon, Londesborough, Wingham (Maitland), St. Helens, Wingham, Blyth, Goderich, Kintail, Tiger Dunlop, Clinton, Holmesville and St. Augustine in the West Division. In 1950, there were 33 Huron branches with 1,900 members and, in 1995, there were 410 members who met in 22 branches. 

 

Due to declining numbers through the years, many of these branches have closed or amalgamated with others nearby. Presently, Huron branches are joined with those in Perth County. There are three active branches in Huron: Walton, Brussels (Majestic) and Howick. 

 

The efforts of the members of Women’s Institutes have been a valuable resource for many area history books that have been compiled. Bush Trails to Present Tales in the Dungannon area, Blyth, A Village Portrait,  A History of Auburn and 100 years of Wingham Memories are just a few of the books that have been augmented by the information stored in the Tweedsmuir Books.
A survey of the location of the Tweedsmuir books, compiled in 1995, found that most were held in the homes of the local convenor. Since that time, many of the books or photocopies of them have been stored in local libraries, museums and municipal offices. 

 

With modern technology has come another option for preservation and that is with digitization. If one were to go to the website for the FWIO, they could find a listing of the Tweedsmuir books and related scrapbooks that have already been digitized. Included in that list are histories from Belmore and Lucknow. Many more volumes are in the process of being made available.
Wouldn’t Miss E. Appelbe and Lady Tweedsmuir be proud of the legacy that they and the thousands of Women’s Institute members have created? The wish that nothing valuable be lost or forgotten may just come true.