BIOGRAPHY / HISTORY
Catharine Parr Traill was born in Rotherhithe near London, England on January 9, 1802 as Catharine Parr Strickland. She was the fifth child of Thomas and Elizabeth Strickland. She was sister to Eliza, Jane Margaret, Susanna (later Susanna Moodie), Samuel and Agnes. In 1832 she married Lt. Thomas Traill. She emigrated with her husband to Upper Canada when the opportunity provided itself and they settled near the Otonabee River near Peterborough, Upper Canada. Together they had nine children. Catharine wrote a number of works on pioneer life in Upper Canada such as "The Backwoods of Canada" (1834), "Canadian Crusoes" (1853), "The Female Emigrants Guide" (1854), "Canadian Wild Flowers" (1868) and "Studies of Plant Life in Canada" (1885). She also kept a journal and in it she wrote down ideas and sketches for future writings. "The Old Doctor" (1985) was probably written between 1835 and 1840 when John Hutchinson, a native of Kirkcaldy, Scotland, was practising medicine in Peterborough, Upper Canada. Before emigrating Catharine had published a number of childrens books and stories in England. Catharine Parr Traill died on August 29, 1899. (Taken from: "Forest and Other Gleanings." Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 1994.)
CUSTODIAL HISTORY
This scrapbook was created by Catharine Parr Traill and given to her friend James Fletcher, a botanist at the Plant Research Institute of the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Ontario. His successor, William G. Dore, found the scrapbook at the Central Experimental Farm. Eventually through her friendship with W.G. Dore, Jean Murray-Cole acquired the scrapbook and in 1971 donated it to the Trent University Archives. (Taken from: Blythe, Mollie. "History as Storytelling: Mrs. Traill's Scrapbook of Stoney Lake Grasses." from "The Peterborough Review." Vol. 1, No. 1. 1994.)
SCOPE AND CONTENT
This item is a scrapbook compiled by Catharine Parr Traill for her friend James Fletcher and given to him January 12, 1894. The inside cover has the following inscriptions: "Grasses from Stony Lake gathered and mounted by Cathe Parr Traill - Aged 92 years." These specimans are from the Island of Minnie Wa-Wa and Otter Island. July-September 1893" and "With Mrs. Traill's kind wishes to her much valued and esteemed friend James Fletcher F.S.L.S. & etc. January 12th, 1894". The scrapbook consists of 20 pages, 18 which have pressed grasses, from the Stoney Lake area of Island of Minne Wa-Wa and Otter Island, glued onto them. Also included in the scrapbook is a speciman list of the grasses and a photocopy of an article, entitled "Grasses from Stony Lake Gathered and Mounted by Cathe Parr Traill - Aged 92 Years". The article was written by William G. Dore and published in "The Ontario Naturalist" in 1966.
Another scrap book assembled by Catharine Parr Traill was donated to Trent University in 1965 and placed in the archives alongside the grasses scrapbook in 2008. It shows mosses gathered in the Stoney Lake area. At some point, the pages were taken apart, mounted and framed in two large frames each containing three pages of mosses; one medium frame containing "Sedges & grass, with mosses, from the bank below the garden at Westove. Gathered and arranged for Katie. With Grandmother's dear love. Oct. 24th, 1889"; and one small frame with Traill's autograph.
NOTES
The grasses scrapbook is very fragile and has been dismantled. The pages of the scrapbook have been ecapsulated in mylar. Before the scrapbook was dismantled it was photographed by Jane Boyko, research assistant. The prints and negatives are housed in the Archivist's office.
This item was donated by Jean Murray Cole.
Restrictions: N
Associated material located at the National Archives of Canada, the Bodleian Library in Oxfordshire, England; the Ipswich Branch of the Suffolk Record Office in Suffolk, England and the Scottish Records Office in Lothian, Scotland.
For related records see: 69-001, 74-003, 77-010, 82-022, 86-011, 83-1021, 86-1000, 93-1004, 93-1013, 94-007, 95-004 and 96-008.