567 Carnegie Ave, Peterborough, Ontario, K9L 1N1

705-745-4404

Trent Valley Archives was founded in 1988, and incorporated in 1989. It is a public advocacy group promoting the preservation, identification, and care or archives. It has also advocated more liberal access to archival collections, and a recognition that freedom of information laws should be exactly that. In particular it favours the development of public, regional and county archives, or barring that strong municipal archives. It realizes that reorganizations of governments lead to inadvertent destruction of records and offers help in meeting such difficulties. It encourages businesses and organizations to include archiving as part of their records management programs. It assists individuals in keeping archives or finding suitable homes. It has accepted archival documents and fonds when necessary and the move to the Fairview Heritage Centre was partly promoted by the need to make its holdings accessible.  Ask about our Outreach Program if your organization requires assistance from our qualified Archivists.

Microfilm

The Trent Valley Archives has an extensive and growing microfilm collection. Our genealogical holdings include local manuscript censuses from 1851 to 1901, and the Newcastle District census of heads of households, 1800 to 1850. Our birth, marriage and death records on microfilm include those of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough and of St John’s Anglican Church, Peterborough. Our newspaper collection includes over 100 reels of microfilm and includes newspapers outside the area before 1840, as well as Peterborough newspapers (notably the Examiner, the Review and the Times) from their origins to 1920. Our collection of microfilm documents includes those of significant political figures as well as extensive transcripts of published documents related to Upper Canada before 1840. 

The Trent Valley Archives has a growing and extensive collection now totaling 230 archival fonds containing nearly a million documents relating to Peterborough and the surrounding area. The largest collection, the Peterborough Land Records, is now accessible both by property and by name, thanks to a major effort to index the original Registry Office finding aid. Some of our other major collections have been created by local historians including Martha Ann Kidd, Howard Pammett, Gerald Stephenson, Archie Tolmie, Bob Delledonne, Gail Corbett, Ed Arnold, Wilson Craw and J. Alex Edmison, and by local genealogists such as John A. and Mary Young, Doug Miller, Marlow Banks and Walter Dunsford. Other significant research collections include the medical archives assembled by Dr John Martyn, and the personal papers of Stanley A. McBride, Hazel Wilson, Olga and Bruce Dyer. Business papers relating to the area include the papers of the Bradburn and Helm family, the Howson family, and the Peterborough Protestant Home and Anson House. Our collection of original newspapers includes the Havelock Standard, the Peterborough Review, 1930s to 1970s, the several Lakefield and Peterborough weeklies since 1950, as well as random issues of local papers. Our photographic collections include Osgoode Studios, Montgomery Air Photo Services, the Electric City Collection, and the photos of several amateur photographers, including notably G. Hillier Williamson and his family connections. All of our finding aids are not available on this web site, but we are striving to make information about our collections widely known. 

 Trent Valley Archives Library

The Trent Valley Archives Library has recently been recatalogued, and it now boasts some 20,000 volumes relating to all areas touched by our interests in local history, family research, genealogy and archives. The collection is particularly rich in books relating to east central Ontario, but also includes major strength related to Ireland, England, Scotland, and parts of the United States, as well as of books related to architectural and cultural subjects casting insight on local matters. Not all books are catalogued, but there are helpful lists to the private libraries received from Howard Pammett, J. Alex Edmison, Archie Tolmie, Marlow Banks and Stan McBride. The periodicals relating to archives and history are not catalogued, but as with our library titles generally, contain many titles not available from other libraries in the area.

Many of the books in our genealogical research area are limited releases and are conveniently accessible in our ambient research room. Many of these titles will be catalogued as well. Our library catalogues are accessible from the computers in the research room.

Our genealogy collection is enhanced by the easy access to the internet, and notably to significant sites such as Ancestry.com. In house, we have a major genealogical database now containing over 300,000 names built around families with significant area connections.

The Stan McBride collection of Peterborough street directories across the twentieth century is the jewel of our significant collection of directories.

Some of the resources at the Trent Valley Archives include:

Large text collection of regional genealogical and historical resources
Cemetery transcripts covering cemeteries throughout the Trent Valley region
Family histories
Genealogical Research Directory
Peter Robinson immigration of 1825: ships lists and land records
Local newspapers and extracts from local newspapers supported by significant newspaper indexes (to the Peterborough Examiner, Peterborough Review and Dummer News) and by major runs of obituaries in the 19th century and in the 1990s.
Chronologies of significant events in the local area (partially available on this website)
Major collection of resources on the Peterborough Irish
Extensive microfilm collections of census, church, assessment records,
Extensive digital collection of pre-1840 Upper Canada (Ontario) documents.
Many of our archival finding aids and indexes to local histories are available in-house and sometimes on our website.
The Peterborough County land records, 1867-1950.

We are the archivists for North Kawartha Township and some private organizations.

Research Committee

The Trent Valley Archives Research Committee oversees our many ventures in family history, and researching the many queries that we receive. Our Reading Room houses a significant library of local books, cemetery records, family histories, and some of our microfilm collections.

Our growing Genealogy program computer database contains over 210,000 names, mainly connected to original families of the Trent Valley, as well as access to ancestry.com.

Irish Heritage Research Centre

The Irish Heritage Research Centre has a fine and growing collection of pamphlets, magazines and other materials relating to research on Irish migration and family history on both sides of the Atlantic. The Trent Valley Archives now has holdings that relate to child migration as well.

Membership