Lord Jellicoe's 1931 Visit to Parkwood

As an early curatorial Christmas gift to our loyal followers, here is another Parkwood home movie uploaded.

I love watching these and they are a primary resource gem for the historian.
They provide a wonderful glimpse at the life of the McLaughlins, a snapshot of history, but more importantly I like to watch them frame by frame, looking past the action in the foreground and observing items in the background. For example, did you notice when reviewing the images, that the fanlights on each side of the front door had etched glass in 1931? or the grass mat with a series of rectangles lying beneath the screen door? I just noticed the mat today, as I was uploading to the web. Now I am on the hunt for a mat that looks the same, to place at the front door.

Lord Jellicoe was a famous WWI military hero, who, depending on the year, was in and out of favour. He held the Admiral of the Fleet title from 1920 to 1924, and was Governor General in New Zealand for a period in the 1920s.  According to an article that I was able to locate on the web this afternoon, thanks Montreal Gazette, Lord Jellicoe visited Oshawa in August 1931 as part of an official party at the provincial conference of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Montreal Gazette, May 26, 1931

He was in Ontario for the British Empire Service League meeting in Niagara, so a quick visit to Oshawa, and Parkwood would be the thing to do.

At the formal reception, on the grounds of Parkwood, notice the Sunroom has not been added to the south facade of the estate, and the line of marquette tents that dot the landscape, and the obligatory group photo, but I enjoyed the section that follows the reception, the official party in their military dress, having the young McLaughlin grandchildren posing in the official military hats, while chauffeurs wait to commence the departing drive through the gates onto Simcoe Street.

Parkwood Volunteer Outing 2011

For the past few years, Parkwood has recognised the work of our fantastic volunteers with an outing each December to other National Historic Sites in our part of Ontario. Yesterday we ventured to the Sharon Temple NHS and Leaskdale Manse NHS.

The intrepid volunteers negotiated the mud and drizzle to venture through the Sharon Temple site, awe struck by the architecture, investment and dedication of the folk who built the temple c.1825 in the middle of Upper Canada as their sign and commitment to a higher power.

At Leaskdale, the volunteers were engrossed in the story of Lucy Maud Montgomery and her successes as a Canadian author in the early part of the 20th century, having written 11 of her 15 books in the Leaskdale Manse, while also being the minister's wife, and executing her societal duties, along with raising two children, and leading many community programs/projects.

The volunteers of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario provided us with a delightful lunch, prior to us venturing through the church and the manse to view the work that the society has accomplished in just a short while and learning about LMM's endeavours, and life.

In reviewing some of the messages I received this morning from the volunteers on tour yesterday, you will see the impressions that Sharon Temple and the Manse received.

"Wow! What a day!! My head is swimming with facts!!! I've been googling both sites. There are lots of other dedicated volunteers who have made these venues so interesting."

"Both Sharon Temple and Leaskdale were very interesting, and our hosts were great. "

In any volunteer management program, one will hear about the 3 r's of volunteerism; recruitment, recognition and retention. It is the recognition that tends to be the hardest to achieve, and our little outing is one of the many things we try to do, to recognise our volunteers service, and the hours and talents they have committed to the museum, along with their enthusiasm and passion for Parkwood.

This outing provides an opportunity for us to see how other sites operate, get to know the staff and volunteers of our sister sites, but most importantly understand the marvellous historic gems we have within our province, often gems we don't know about, or wouldn't be on our radar to visit. Both the Sharon Temple and Leaskdale have been on the must visit lists of many of the volunteers, but until yesterday, had never made it to Uxbridge or Sharon (aka East Gwilliambury) to see the sites.

So when you are at Parkwood and receive the tour, see someone weeding, have tea, enjoy a program or event, shop in the giftshop or get asked to take a survey, marvel at the lovely polished silver, see the wet paint signs, these are likely our Parkwood Museum Volunteers. Volunteers who we cannot thank enough for their service in our daily operations. 

In one of my messages this morning, in reflection of their recognition day yesterday, the following words struck me,

"When you visit other Historic sites, it certainly makes you appreciate what a treasure we have at Parkwood"