Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1891 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 album (ca. 51 pages of specimens)
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Catharine Parr Traill was born in Kent 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
The album was created by Catharine Parr Traill for her son, William, in 1891. The inside cover contains a handwritten note bordered with fern branches, that reads: "With your mothers affectionate love to Dear Willie Traill Lakefield / Duoro [sic] 1891/ Ferns Flowers and Mosses from Duoro Woods of Stony [sic] Lake". This album has always remained in the Traill family. After William Traill's death, it was acquired by his grandson, Thomas Rennie McCloy. In 1996, Mr McCloy died and the album was acquired by the donor (Mr McCloy's niece), who then offered it to the City Archives in December 1998. In December 1999 this album was certified as Canadian cultural property of "outstanding significance and national importance" by the Cultural Property Review Board, Department of Canadian Heritage, Ottawa.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of an original album (or herbarium) with a leather cover, containing 51 pages of mounted ferns, grasses, moss and flower specimens, collected from the Douro township and Stoney Lake area in 1891, by Canadian botanist and author, Catharine Parr Traill. Each specimen has a hand-written note identifying it. Some also contain additional notes recording where it was collected, date collected and other characteristics. It is extraordinarily rare to find an intact Traill album containing as many as 50 or more pages of mounted specimens.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Some preservation restrictions apply.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
An inventory of plant specimens is available in the City Archives.
Associated materials
See also the PCMA Museum collection for a maple flower press once owned by Catharine Parr Traill. The Museum also holds a writing desk, clothing and other material owned by Traill and other members of her family.
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.
General note
The album will remain intact with interleaves of acid free tissue.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Traill, William (Subject)