Date/Time
Date(s) - July 5, 2025
12:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Location
Glendower Hall
Categories No Categories
On Saturday, July 5, the Bedford Historical Society is hosting an afternoon with local authors at the Glendower Hall at 1381 Westport Road.
Agenda:
- 12:30 pm – Doors open;
- 1pm – 2pm – Author presentations;
- 2pm – 4pm – Chatting with the authors and book signing;
- 4pm – Doors close
Presentations will be from six local area authors, whose book topics range from Bradshaw’s one-room schoolhouse and its community to Bedford’s Mast Road; from the summer Solitude of an island to the commercial lumbering bustle of the early Bedford Mills; from the experiences of a British Home child of the 1870s to in-depth details of the pioneering families of 1860 Bedford Township as it was being settled.
The books range in price from $15 to $45 (cash).
For more information, please contact: [email protected].
About the Authors
James J. Barrett, a descendant of Bedford Township pioneer Michael Barrett of Barrett Pond, presents his trilogy book Of Survey Stakes and Settlement, the Pioneering Families of Bedford Township, Frontenac County (2025). Based on Putnam and Walling’s 1860 Map of Bedford Township, this book offers a historical overview of the survey and settlement of Bedford Township, and in-depth family details of the first pioneers of the Township and the communities that the pioneers established.
Laurie Ness Gordon. Finding Home is Laurie’s latest novel, co-authored with Ruth Burke Allen, that follows the lives of two young people: an orphaned British servant in the 1870s who seeks her Canadian family, and the disgraced son of an Ontario sawmill owner who must redeem himself. Their paths are connected by a group of Home Children. Laurie’s first novel, The Medal is a coming-of-age story set in Kingston and Afghanistan.
Dr. John Gray, is the great-great-grandson of Benjamin Tett Sr., who started a small sawmill at Bedford Mills in 1831. Over the course of 100 years and three generations of Tetts as well as members of the Chaffey family, Bedford Mills became the centre of several prominent enterprises. Bedford Mills: From Boom Town to Ghost Town in 100 Years – A History of Bedford Mills and the Tett and Chaffey families, is anticipated to be published in 2026.
Barbara and Lloyd Jones have published two earlier books about Bedford Township and its people that were well received and enjoyed. Sticks – From Bedford Township’s Mast Road to the British Navy (2025) is their trilogy book which has been written in cooperation with Dr. John Gray, David Roberts and the Bedford Historical Society. This third book follows the same detailed research and story telling writing style of their earlier books which seeks to answer people’s questions about the history of a current main thoroughfare of Bedford Township.
Carolyn McGrath taught for twenty-five years in the Deptartment of English at Stony Brook University in New York. Her book, Two Faces of the Moon – A Small Island Memoir (2023) narrates the story of her lifetime of summers on Bobs Lake, recalling friendships with early settlers and their stories and remembering the days when her father would shoot creatures she now enjoys living with. She tells us of the summer of 2001, which she spent alone on her small island except for her two dogs and the rich variety of wildlife surrounding her.
Lois Webster, will discuss her book, Reminiscences of Bradshaw Community and the Bradshaw School.