Phil Egan The four Canadian provinces came together to create a new nation on July 1, 1867, and Sarnians were more than ready to celebrate that first “Dominion Day” in style. Weeks before, notices were posted around town calling for a public meeting to discuss the party plans. The mayor, [...]
Phil Egan From its very earliest days Sarnia has looked to the cool, clean waters of the St. Clair River for its daily needs. European settlers would make the short journey to the riverbanks — short, because most villagers lived within walking distance— and dip wooden buckets in and make [...]
George Mathewson The sun rose over Sarnia into a clear, blue sky on the morning of July 1, 1867. It was the day the British North America Act would come into effect, forging Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the new Dominion of Canada. It was the day [...]
Tom Slater & Tom St. Amand The morning of Monday, Nov. 7, 1921 was cloudy and chilly, but hundreds of bystanders waited patiently until the final speaker, Mayor George Crawford, introduced a piece of Sarnia's history. During his brief remarks, Crawford reminded Sarnians “we can never pay off the debt [...]
Tom Slater & Tom St. Amand The timing of William Neil Hanna's death was shocking. The Armistice had been signed, the First World War was over, and Lieutenant Hanna had survived. In Sarnia, his prominent family was preparing for his return from Europe. But in late November his parents received [...]
Tom Slater & Randy Evans Not every Sarnian who enlisted and died as a result of the First World War is recorded on Sarnia’s Cenotaph. Though their names are not etched in granite, we remember them here: BROOKS, ALBERT EDWARD, residing 117 Julia St. at enlistment, 9 Jan. 1918, Canadian [...]
Phil Egan When John James Alexander Nelson woke at London’s Parkwood Hospital the morning of Nov. 11, 2012 there was no sign it would be his last. Remembrance Day is a hallowed occasion at a Veteran’s hospital like Parkwood, and family of the 89-year-old patriarch had decided to honour him [...]
Tom Slater & Tom St. Amand In July of 1917 Sergeant William Chapman confided to his friend back home in Sarnia that the front line was “no place for an old man.” The reality was that Chapman, nearly 41, was 15 years older than the average Canadian soldier in the [...]
The blue St. Clair River gave its name to “lend-lease” destroyer Phil Egan My father, Joe Egan, was always proud of his naval service in the Second World War. His ship, HMCS Prince Rupert, a frigate, sank one of Germany’s deadliest sea wolves, the U-575 – nicknamed Lilliput. Dad often [...]
Randy Evans On Nov. 7, 1921 members of the local Great War Veterans Association attended the graves and memorials of colleagues at Sarnia and Aamjiwnaang cemeteries. One of the graves they visited was that of Private Ivan James Collins. His tale is that of a tragic and possibly preventable death. [...]
