Members of Historical Society of St. Catharines may be available to assist with historical research requests within reason. In depth genealogical queries are better answered by a local genealogical group. If you have a question, please submit it to this page. Please ensure that your questions are very clearly stated, that you provide us with any supporting information possible and that you leave us with some contact information.
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The Historical Society of St. Catharines 
In October I attended a family reunion in Cumbria, England. One of the attendees asked me if I would help look for her grandfather’s brother & wife, Rowland Snowdon & Ruth Tallman who were married in St. Catharines on 4 Sep 1915. They had two sons, Joseph William b1919 and Barnard b1927.
I live in Burlington, ON and am willing to make the trip to check microfilm records of the St. Catharines Standard that might have any notices of the above marriage and/or births. However, before making the drive, does anyone know if there are microfilm records of the newspaper available and if so is there an index or any way of checking whether the names show up?
Thanks so much.
Hello. The St. Catharines Public library downtown has searchable microfiche-today I was going through the St. Catharines Standard film for the year 1917.
1) I am looking for the date of death for Jane Eliza (King) Chace who married Dr. William Clossom Chace on June 5, 1844 at St. George’s Anglican Church in Grantham Twp. He remarried in 1860. I have found an internet listing without dates for a Jane Chace buried in Old Section C of Victoria Lawn Cemetary, Grantham. For Dr Chace (1795-1876) I have two burial locations, one at St. George’s Anglican Church with his first wife Celina (d. 1837) and the second in Mayville NY with his third wife Susan Shippee (d 1880).
2) I would like to know if Jane Chace had any children, and if possible their names and dates.
When going to Thorold High School I dated a girl from Window Village.i was wondering where exactly was that located.
Windle Village
named for the builder was in Thorold South
stil exists but mostly in memories
Kathleen
the following from St Catharines Standard;
Q: In 1915, when my grandfather came from England as a young man, he went to work for the Thorold glassworks. I’m not even sure
where that was located, somewhere around Beaverdams, perhaps. I never thought to ask him about it, but my curiosity is piqued and I wonder if you could tell me something about it?
A: The company was called Pilkington Glassworks and the plant was in south Thorold in Allanburg on the site of the more recent Hayes-Dana complex.
Randy Barnes, president of the Thorold and Beaverdams Historical Society, said the company was started by two brothers in England who ended up creating the largest glass manufacturing firm in the world. Their operation employed around 10,000 people in England.
The Pilkington brothers, William Windle and Richard, established their operation in Thorold in late 1915 and purchased about 200 acres of land.
Barnes said interestingly, only about 40 acres was used for the plant, while the remainder was used to establish a village for employees.
The company eventually built 200 houses as part of Windle Village — a name that’s still used by some Thoroldites when they refer to the area today.
They also built a recreation hall so employees would work in the plant and then socialize in their after hours.
“They had a Windle orchestra, a Windle dramatic society. It was a whole little community,” Barnes said.
Barnes said they chose the site because there was a Grand Trunk Railway station on the property and it was next to the canal and a road.
Hello – I am an architectural historian working out of Buffalo. I have been working on a presentation on George J. Metzger, a Buffalo architect around the turn of the twentieth century. Imagine my surprise when visiting St Catherines, I discovered a building at 88 St Paul Street East which has “Geo. J. Metzger, Architect” molded into the cast iron facade, coupled with the mark of a Buffalo iron works company. I found a date for the building online as 1869, but this seems too early as George Metzger was born in 1855 – he would have been the remarkable age of 14 when this building was built! Can anyone help me identify when this building was constructed? Thanks so much!
My mother recently passed away and we have been cleaning out her house. We came across an old pipe wrench. I’m curious to know how old it is the the story of the company that made it. On one side of the wrench it says, “E.T.E. LTD. PIPE WRENCH” and on the other side it says, “ST. CATHARINES ONTARIO CANADA”
Thanks,
Stephen
I think you probably have a wrench made by E.T.F. Tools – see this website for some brief information on the company. http://www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/companyinformationcanada/ccc-cdnwarren.htm
Engineering Tool and Forgings
On Clayburn St. I think, but in St. Catharines for sure
Stephen,
Are you sure that the initials aren’t E.T.F. ? My friend Peter B. Hill owned that company for many years. He passed away some time ago.
Does anyone remember the Home Dairy &* Bakery in Zellers on St. Paul St. back inthe 1950’s. I would love to know what the secret was to their delicious salads.
Anthony Burns was a slave from Falmouth, Virginia, US. He escaped to Boston where he was arrested and tried under the Fugutive Slave Law of 1850. His case caused a riot in Boston. Later his freedom was purchased by Boston sympathizers. He was a Baptist preacher in Upper Canada. He died July 17, 1862 and was buried in St, Catharines–where? Can anyone provide a photo of his grave? Thanks, Norman, Falmouth, VA, USA.
http://ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Niagara47.html He is buried at Victoria Lawn Cemetery on Queenston Street, St. Catharines. The cemetery office would give you the location. Perhaps the person who manages the aforementioned page would have a photo of the grave.
The 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking is next yeear. Does the society have any plans to commemorate this? The attached url is for an article that says that a Titanic survivor – Neshan Krekorian – who had lived in St. Catherines for much of his life, died there in 1978. Presumably he is buried in St. Catherines.
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/surviving-the-titanic-the-saga-of-davit-vartanian-1303239741.html This article was from the Armenian Weekly of August 10, 2009.
Kevin McNamara
I am wondering if anyone has any information about a ship that sailed the Great Lakes and travelled the 1st Welland Canal.
The ships name was The Chickaloney ( spelling could be off) My husbands Great-Great Grandfather sailed on it.
One possibility: Janet Carnochan’s 1914 “History of Niagara” records a steamer “Chicora”, originally built in Liverpool in 1864 for the Confederates as a blockade runner but afterwards refitted to accommodate the locks of the Welland Canal, in service between Toronto and Niagara until 1913.
Hello,
While looking through my book collection I found one personally addressed to a Mrs. and Miss Burgoyne, and signed from 1893. I cannot tell the signature of the guests. Coming from St. Catharines and having grown up on Yates St. this has made me curious. If you could give me any lead on who the Mrs. and Miss Burgoyne would be from 1893 that would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Sarah
sarah, the burgoynes are an old st catharines family who had an estate near hainer street not far from the old welland canal.The estate is now and art gallery i believe.You could also try vernons city diretory online or at the library,carol.