Books from RTHS
RTHS is proud to publish works on a wide range of topics related to the history and heritage of the former Rideau Township. Collaborating with talented researchers and writers, RTHS helps bring to life the stories of people, places and events that shaped the character of this particular corner of the Ottawa Valley.
PLEASE NOTE: The "Click Here to Purchase" button below each book on this page is ONLY for the purchase of books to be shipped by Canada Post. Most of the books listed here are available locally at:
- Manotick Office Pro, 5541 Manotick Main Street, Manotick (613-692-3269)
- Dickinson House Museum (in season. Check operating hours and COVID restrictions by clicking the Dickinson House tab in the main Menu at the top or bottom of this page.)
- The Rideau Branch of the City of Ottawa Archives in North Gower (on Tuesdays, once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.)
If you have any questions about purchasing books, please contact us using the "Contact Us" button below.
North Gower: A Village History, 1820 - 2020
Authors: Susan McKellar, Ruth Wright, William Tupper, Owen Cooke
Hard cover
Journey through 200 years of history of this eastern Ontario village as it grew from an obscure crossroads in the wilderness. This book traces the trials and tribulations, the joys and sorrowsof the inhabitants, as it became a seat of local government, a thriving, self-contained village of many tradesmen, businesses and organizations serving the surrounding agricultural community, before transforming again into a residential and commuter community within the City of Ottawa.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Steamboats on the Rideau (2023)
Author: Maureen McPhee
Soft cover.
Nestled near the shores of the Rideau Canal - a World Heritage Site - the Dickinson House Museum in Manotick, Ontario was a logical place for the mounting of an exhibit on the steamboats that travelled the waterway for over 100 years. Built from 1826 - 1832, the canal was designed with steamboats in mind.
This publication presents the vessels’ story as told in the museum’s exhibit, which was in place from 2020 to 2023. Readers will learn about the evolution in the canal and steamboats’ roles, from serving as a lynchpin in east-west transport in British North America, to the provision of regional transport in the mid-nineteenth century, to the development of a major tourist trade where elegant palace steamers carried passengers the length of the canal in relative ease and comfort. Changes in vessel design over time to meet these varied needs will also be explored. The steamboat narrative will come to a close with the story of the intrepid little steamer that was the last to serve on the Rideau Canal.
Note: You may wish to check out the "Steamboats on the Rideau" virtual 3D exhibit on the Home page of this website.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Reflections of an Island-Born Woman (2022)
Author: Nyamme Samuels
soft cover.
Nyamme Samuels was born in Jamaica in 1926. This book is a chronicle of her life experiences, told in her own words, of her early life growing up in Jamaica and then her life in Canada where she moved in 1969. Nye spent a lifetime giving to her community and volunteering in many different organizations, demonstrating her belief that no matter what the circumstances, the good you give will always be returned in kind. The book is a testament to her resilience in overcoming challenges and prejudices but still having the capacity to 'carry on'. At the time of publishing in 2022, Nye is 96 years of age and has diminished eyesight but has persevered to tell her remarkable and inspirational life story.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
I am, Gentlemen, Your Obedient Servant: Joseph Merrill Currier (1820-1884) (2019)
Author: Andrew Narraway
Published: Rideau Township Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-9781361-8-5 80 pages, soft cover.
For many years, RTHS has sponsored research on those who built the Manotick community and milling complex: Moss Kent Dickinson, and more recently Joseph M. Currier. In addition to covering his early years in the northeastern U.S. and his subsequent move to Bytown, research undertaken for this book clarified how Currier and Dickinson met, how they developed their business partnership, what brought them to what became Manotick, how they co-built the milling complex and village, and how Currier briefly brought Horace Merrill and Nathaniel Blasdell into the Manotick and Long Island partnership.
While Currier has long been known as the builder of 24 Sussex Drive, the home of Canadian Prime Ministers since 1954. The book reveals the depth of Currier's involvement as a builder of the City of Ottawa: a journey that began as an Ottawa school trustee and ended as a Member of Parliament; from being a member of the Ottawa Association of Lumber Manufacturers to being President of the Rideau Club and owner of the Ottawa Citizen.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Rideau Remembers; North Gower and Marlborough Townships’ Sacrifice in the Great War, 1914-1918 (2018)
Contributors: Owen Cooke, Dave Bullock, Rod Brazier, Stuart Clarkson, Susan McKellar, Georgina Tupper, Ruth Wright.
This work documents the lives of 45 soldiers and one nursing sister with ties to North Gower and Marlborough who perished in the First World War. The book begins with an introduction to the townships and to life there during the war, to civilian war work and an introduction to four infantry battalions that most of these soldiers joined. Biographies of the war dead comprise the bulk of the book, followed by reproductions of letters home by Lance Corporal Clayton Bradley and Lieutenant Caldwell Scobie. A concluding chapter examines victory at home, and the commemoration of the lives of the 46 through to the present day
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
The Dickinson Men of Manotick (2015)
Authors: Bill & Georgina Tupper
Copyright © Bill & Georgina Tupper
ISBN 978-0-9781361-5-4; 121 pages, soft cover
The Dickinson Men of Manotick is a look at aspects of the development of the eastern Ontario – northern New York State area by chronicling the history of several generations of the Dickinson family.
The first Dickinsons emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1634. From there they spread west and north, their descendants eventually reaching northern New York state and eastern Ontario. Along the way they became farmers, operated transportation businesses for people and freight, became mill operators, and even politicians. It was a time when the wilderness was being opened up, when fortunes were routinely made and lost, and when a fledging economy was being established in both New York and Ontario.
The book follows the Dickinson family emigrating from England, and in relocating to upper New York state and Kingston. It follows Moss Kent Dickinson in his career as a forwarder on the St. Lawrence River and on the newly-built Rideau Canal. Chapter 4 describes his coming to Manotick and involvement in political activities that included serving, along with his son George, in the government of Sir John A. Macdonald. Chapter 5 looks into the circumstances of his enterprises in Manotick which included building and operating a sawmill, a carding mill, a grist mill, and a bung mill.
The final chapter addresses the careers of his sons George and William, who played a significant role in the development of Manotick and who were well known in and beyond Manotick.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
The Women of Dickinson House and Their Place in Manotick Village Society, 1870-1930 (2014)
Author: Maureen McPhee
Copyright © Maureen McPhee
ISBN 978-0-9781361-4-7; 53 pages (soft cover)
In 1870, three sisters moved into a large house in the centre of the village of Manotick, along with their two brothers and their father - Moss Kent Dickinson, the founder of Manotick. While Lydia Dickinson was to die tragically two years later, her sisters Charlotte and Elizabeth lived long and full lives in this gracious century home, which has come to be known as Dickinson House.
Details of the lives of women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are generally difficult to uncover; however, Maureen McPhee, a local historian and retired federal civil servant, has used available resources to shed light on the interests and concerns of these women, as well as their interactions with others in helping to shape Manotick village society.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Cheese Factories of Rideau Township, 2nd Edition (2013)
Author: Iona Joy
Copyright © Iona Joy
ISBN 978-0-9781361-3-0; 114 pages; soft cover
In the 1800s and early 1900s cheese factories did not operate in the winter. The cows were allowed to go dry in the fall and freshened in the spring.
Many of our cheese factories processed more than a million pounds of milk in a year producing more than 100,000 pounds of cheese, - a ten percent yield. Some cheesemakers put letters in glass vials in their cheese asking consumers to reply describing the quality of the cheese when it got to market. Replies were received.
In the early days, cheese was in the top three of Canadian exports exceeded only by lumber and fish. Because of the importance of cheese exports to the economy of Canada, the Federal and Provincial Governments took a keen interest in assisting and promoting the production of high quality cheese.
The first edition of Cheese Factories of Rideau Township was published in 1990. At that time we did not have the computer technology and the economies resulting from it that we have today. The Rideau Township Historical Society therefore decided to publish a second edition of the book that would include many pictures, articles, documents and other graphic material that could not be included in the first edition. This has resulted in a book that provides a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the “cheese business” and what it meant to Canada.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Kars on the Rideau, Second Edition (2010)
Author: Coral Lindsay
Copyright ©Kars Branch of the Women's Institute
ISBN 978-0-9781361-2-3; 214 pages; soft cover
Kars on the Rideau has been updated by its original author and well-known local heritage interpreter Coral Lindsay, a lifetime resident of the village on the west bank of the Rideau River south of Ottawa.
Mrs. Lindsay has added more than 300 photographs, images, and maps, recent archaeological findings and additional families and facts to the story of the founders and farms introduced in the first edition, published in 1972. That book was based on the work of the Kars Women's Institute when a nine volume Tweedsmuir History of Kars was compiled at the suggestion of Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of the then Governor General of Canada. Much of the social and economic change over the 38-years since is captured in the book’s additional information and pictures.
The 214-page book covers several themes of Kars history, ranging from the geological to the genealogical, and offers the reader insight into the residents’ feelings, attitudes and concerns of their time. For example when judged from the present, readers might conclude the early villagers – despite facing the vagaries of weather, wars, and an agrarian lifestyle – were much happier and satisfied with their lives than might be expected.
Manotick, Then & Now, Reflections & Memories; Second Edition (2009)
Author: Dora Stamp
Copyright the Rideau Township Historical Society
ISBN 978-0-9781361-1-6; 110 pages; soft cover
Did you know?
-
Manotick once had a 75,000 bushel grain elevator with farmers lining up a half mile in both directions to unload their wagons.
-
The village had a huge hotel located where the Royal Bank is today for travelers and visitors with express service to the trains at Manotick Station.
-
That at one time, in addition to the stone mill, there were three other mills and a cloth factory between the bulkhead dam and Clapp Lane.
-
Steamboat excursions brought Ottawans to Manotick’s Public Square (where Bracken field is today) for picnics, relaxation, and band music.
-
Manotick was very much a self sustaining village at the turn of the 19th century with local business from dressmaking to wagon making, and everything in between.
Well if you didn’t, Dora Stamp did, and much, much more. Dora was recognized as Manotick's historian. Over the years she wrote a series of newspaper columns for the South Carleton Gazette, the Nepean Clarion, and the Manotick Messenger. On the 150th anniversary of Manotick, the Rideau Township Historical Society has updated and published this second edition of Dora's earlier book on the village. It provides an interesting, informative, and humorous account of an Ontario village that over a century-and-a-half went through all the steps of growing up to be a great place to live, work, and enjoy a good life.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Buildings of Old Rideau Township (2006)
Author: Betty Bartlett
Copyright: Betty Bartlett
Published by Rideau Township Historical Society; 67 pages; soft cover
This easy to use driving tour zigzags along former Rideau Township main roads and through the villages of Burritt’s Rapids, North Gower, Carsonby, Kars and Manotick. It includes maps, photographs and descriptions of 25 historic and architecturally significant buildings. Find out which stone farmhouse Sir John A. Macdonald frequently stayed overnight when travelling between Ottawa and his home in Kingston. Learn about the “Ideal Block Machine” and how it was used by the Osgoode Boyd Brothers to create a popular type of construction in the area.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
A History of Long Island (1997)
Authors: Catherine Carroll & Barbara Humphreys
62 pages; Binding stapled; soft cover; format 6½ x 8½ inches
While much has been written about Manotick over the years the history of the island Long Island has been somewhat neglected. This book has taken up the challenge of filling that gap.
The Island's history for the purpose of this book began with the establishment of the Rideau Canal and some water-powered grist and saw mills. The important sites were the Rideau Canal locks and dam near the northern end of the Island and the bulkhead dam near the south end of the Island.
The book describes three phases of development for Long Island.
The first phase covers the construction of the canal between 1827 and 1832 which resulted in a small settlement adjacent to the Long Island locks. The second phase centred around the mills and the bulkhead at Manotick. The third phase began at the end of World War II when home construction on the Island began in earnest.
Over the course of these three phases the island went from 12 farms to over 700 residents by 1990. Enjoy the story of this journey.
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.
Carsonby: A Community History (1969)
Produced and published by the Carsonby Historical Society
In Canada's centennial year, 1967, there was a special incentive for organizations and communities to celebrate the occasion by collecting local history. This was the motive of a small group in Carsonby. Ontario, which undertook to assemble church, school and lodge records , registry office entries, deeds, pictures, personal recollections of institutions now gone and anecdotes and reminiscenses of older citizens.
The Carsonby Historical Society was formed i n September 1967. The officers were: President - Mrs, Helena Craig; Secretary - Mrs. Kathleen James; Treasurer - Mrs. Marian Williams; Mr, Alex Sim gave his support to the above officers throughout the work of this publication.
(From the Preface)
Please Note: At this time, only books to be shipped by mail can be purchased through this Purchase button. If you live in the Ottawa area, and would prefer to pick up your purchase (or have it delivered -- within a prescribed area) please use the "Contact Us" button in the main menu at the top and bottom of this page to tell us which item(s) you would like to purchase, and payment and pickup/delivery arrangements will be made.