The Jack Graham Community Centre was lively on Wednesday morning during the Norway Bay Bristol Historical Society’s coffee party event.
The annual gathering is organized as an opportunity for local history enthusiasts to enjoy an educational morning and a cup of coffee.
This year’s event featured guest speaker Nancy Dale Conroy, a local historian who has written a book about her family and the history of the area.
She began writing the book in 2017 to learn more about her father’s side of the family, the Dales, who had deep roots in the Shawville area.
“I had never really asked my grandfather or my dad much about their early history. And so just before Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2017 I decided [ . . . ] I was going to study my Dale family and then write the story.”
Conroy explained she discovered a lot about her family’s history while researching for her book, including a cultural heritage she did not know she had.
“I always thought Dales were Irish. They came from Ireland, so I’m Irish,” Conroy said. “My ancestors were actually Scottish, and when I did my DNA, I’m over 50 per cent Scottish and not very Irish, really.”
Conroy had discovered she was a descendant of Ulster Scots, a group of Scottish people who settled in Northern Ireland during the 16th and 17th centuries.
She also shared what she had learned about how the Municipality of Bristol had evolved geographically. “Bristol grew differently without one person in charge of its settlement, like Clarendon had. This led to a more natural growth pattern with different influences,” she said.
Other differences between the municipalities that she noted in her presentation were that Bristol’s economy was historically based on mining, unlike Clarendon’s farming focus, and that Bristol had a more diverse religious makeup as land allocation practices were not as exclusive to Catholics as they were in Clarendon.
A large collection of historical photographs, some taken over one hundred years ago, was also on display for browsing at the gathering.
The Norway Bay Bristol Historical Society, founded by Mary Gamble Calvert, has long been committed to preserving local history.
“Her mandate was for every household to keep a binder of their history, including weddings, funerals, and other events,” said Bonnie Beveridge, president of the society.
According to Beveridge, each binder acts as a record of life in the community, preserving stories and milestones from the 600 homes in the area. Some binders date back over a hundred years, and capture the lineage and significant events of families who have lived there for generations.
The initiative helps new residents discover the history of their homes, and understand who lived there before and the roles those families played in the community’s development.
Beveridge explained the binders are not just static collections of documents but dynamic records that grow with each generation. Community members are encouraged to contribute to their binders, adding new chapters to their family’s story.
“History is a mystery because we have to dig into and ask questions and research,” she said. ”And that’s something that we enjoy doing.”
