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During and after the First World War, many soldiers returning from the front wounded in mind and body needed assistance to provide for themselves and their families. Social assistance programs were non-existent during this period, so returning veterans who struggled to reintegrate into civilian life faced extreme hardships and destitution, along with their families. The province of Ontario established the Soldiers’ Aid Commission on November 10, 1915, to address this emerging issue and to support the needs of veterans, who had given so much for their country during the war. The early mandate of the Commission was to provide emergency financial assistance to returning soldiers, with a focus on the sick and wounded. As soldiers began to return home it became apparent that their needs included more than just emergency assistance. What started as emergency financial assistance, evolved into various avenues of support that also included retraining, education, rehabilitation, employment assistance, childcare arrangements, and pension advocacy. Due to the large number of returning veterans, the SAC set up various branches across the province to provide local assistance.

The Hamilton branch of the SAC was established on January 15, 1917. The aim of the branch was to support veterans through various initiatives such as hospital visits, providing comfort to dying veterans, visiting soldiers and their dependents in their homes, providing for dependent or orphaned children of the servicemen, providing loans and other financial assistance, retraining and re-educating for new employment, helping veterans secure their former employment, and advocating for fair wages and for pensions. Overall, the SAC and all its branches championed the rights of returning veterans with various needs, and worked to ensure that the general public understood that the help received by the returning soldiers was not charity, but entitlement. The veterans had earned this assistance for their service and sacrifices. Although the various branches of the SAC are no longer in existence, the Soldiers’ Aid Commission continued to provide support throughout the Second World War and the Korean War, and continues to help Ontario veterans to the present day.

Established in 1882 and located at 2½ James Street South at King Street, the Hamilton Business College was Canada’s representative commercial and shorthand school. Courses included book-keeping, commercial law, contracts, business correspondence, penmanship, spelling, telegraphy and shorthand. The objective of the school was to prepare young men and women for a career in business by giving them practical experience in various aspects of commercial education. The teachers were specialists in their fields and the quality of the education and practical skills obtained by the students made them highly sought after by employers, and gave the school an exceptional reputation nationwide.

The Hamilton Naturalists’ Club is a not-for profit organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the natural environment of Hamilton, Ontario and the surrounding areas, through education and activism. The Club was first established in 1918, and was officially incorporated as the Hamilton Bird Protection Society in 1919. The Club’s original function was to protect and preserve birds and bird habitats from extinction. Over time, members of the Club broadened their scope to include all aspects of the natural world, changing their name to the Hamilton Nature Club. This name remained in place until 1959, when they officially became known as the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. Since the early days of the organization, members have been instrumental in raising awareness and securing the protection of the environment such as the 1927 designation of Cootes Paradise as a wildlife sanctuary by a Provincial Government order. In 1961, the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club became the first conservation society and not-for-profit organization in Canada to purchase land in perpetuity for nature and wildlife sanctuaries. For the past century, the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and its members have worked to protect and preserve the environment through their conservation projects and programs, playing an active role in environmental issues that affect the local community.

Captain James Sutherland (1805-1857), was born in Hoy, Orkney Islands, Scotland to a sea-faring family. He began his sailing career at the age of seventeen starting as a low-ranking mate and climbing the ladder to captain. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1831 and sailed the steamboat Queenston, owned by John Hamilton. He married Margaret Robinson in 1833 and moved to a house on Hughson Street in Hamilton, Ontario. During his sailing career, Sutherland commanded some of the newest and most prestigious steamers to sail the Great Lakes such as the Traveller and the Niagara. By partnering with wealthy Hamilton investors, Sutherland who was of modest means, was able to co-own and command a fleet of steamships, including his most notable steamboat the Magnet. He retired from sailing in 1853 to work for the Great Western Railway Company. On March 12, 1857, Captain James Sutherland became the most notable Hamiltonian to lose his life in a train wreck on the Desjardins Canal Bridge.

The Bruce Trail Association, incorporated as a membership organization in 1963, aimed to complete a walking trail along the Niagara Escarpment in time for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. Construction of the trail began in 1963 and opened in June of 1967. The trail runs the length of the Niagara Escarpment from Tobermory to Queenston a distance of 720 kilometres (432 miles). In 2009, the Bruce Trail Association became known as the Bruce Trail Conservancy, which reflects the association's mandate to conserve the land on which the Bruce Trail is situated. The Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club, established in 1963, is one of nine clubs supporting the Bruce Trail Conservancy. The Iroquoia Club is responsible for the section of the Bruce Trail between Grimsby and Kelso. Its responsibilities include the maintenance and stewardship of the land, as well as public education and promotion.

The Municipal Chapter was originally called Fessenden Chapter, from 1900 to 1902, when they petitioned to have their name changed to Municipal Chapter of Hamilton, which was granted. Their first meeting under the new name took place March 3, 1902. The inaugural meeting of the Municipal Chapter at Fonthill was on April 1, 1938. This was the first meeting at the house after it became the headquarters of the Hamilton IODE. The Municipal Chapter was disbanded in 2012.

This chapter began as a COE (Children of the Empire) chapter in 1937 and became a primary chapter in 1943. This chapter was named after Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1867-1947) a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister from 1935-1937, the only premier to have served under three monarchs (George V, Edward VIII and George VI). The chapter's motto was "Love, Loyalty and Zeal."

The Island of Malta Chapter was established as a Junior Chapter on November 17, 1943 under the sponsorship of the Sir Allan MacNab Naval Chapter. It became a full chapter on February 15, 1944 when it received its charter at the Annual Meeting of the Sir Allan MacNab Naval Chapter. The chapter's mottoes include: "Small but Mighty" (Island of Malta); "At My Country’s Call I am Ready" (Lord Louis Mountbatten); and "Faith in Our Work" (Nursing Sister Kenny). The chapter was disbanded in 1956.

In 1909, the electors of Hamilton, following the example of many other Canadian cities which during the proceeding 20 years had adopted new government structures, approved By-law 860 by a vote of 2,786 to 1,213 thereby providing for the establishment of a Board of Control under the Ontario Consolidated Municipal Act, 1905. The new Board was formed under By-laws 899 and 900. The organization of such municipal bodies was part of the reformist zeal of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which saw businessmen campaign to restructure local government along more efficient eand orderly lines, imitating the modern business corporation. In part, their goal was to end civic corruption and favoritism and to reduce the influence of aldermen and the ward system, as well as to govern the city paying special attention to the needs of business.

Previously, mayors such as John S. Hendrie (1901-1902) had appealed to voters on a "business platform," promising better municipal management, and under their stewardship several civic bodies of "experts" had been organized including the Hospital Board (1896), the Board of Cemetery Management (1899), and the Board of Parks Management (1900). The new Board of Control served as the executive committee of Council; indeed, its creation was a move to strengthen the executive branch without sacrificing "the democratic form of an elected body." It was composed of four members, elected at large every two years, and the Mayor who served as Chairman of the Board. The Controller receiving the largest number of votes acted as Deputy Mayor and Vice Chairman of the Board.

In the early 1930s, a suggestion was put forth by Mayor John Peebles "to promote the better business administration of the city" by appointing a chief administrative officer. Such an appointment, it was believed, would foster greater co-operation and coordination between the branches of civic government, thereby encouraging continuity in the development of city policy and eliminating the duplication of effort arising from divided authority. The chief administrative officer would be in charge of personnel and would act as a single, informed source whom Council could consult. Peebles' proposal was examined by Council but was not acted upon. For the next fifty years the question of employing a chief administrative officer was raised periodically, but the position was not established. More particularly, the idea was revived during the mayoralty of Victor Copps (1963-1976), who urged the adoption of a "manager type of government" to free the Board of Control from spending its time on administrative details, thus allowing it to concentrate on formulating and enforcing policy. In 1980, Hamilton appointed a chief administrative officer and the Board of Control was abolished.

The Tower Poetry Society (TPS) was established in 1951 and is one of the oldest poetry workshop groups in North America. The Society is a non-profit organization that promotes poetry and encourages poets. The Society was founded by English poet Ida Sutherland Groom who lectured in the English Department at McMaster University from 1950 to 1960. Groom aimed for bringing together poets in the Hamilton area for the sole purpose to publish members' poems in the publication the "Tower". In the beginning, members would read their own works during meetings, which then became workshops to encourage and strengthen members writings. The name the "Tower" was inspired from the ivy-clad tower at University Hall located at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Since the mid-1970s, the Society has published the "Tower" twice a year with summer and winter editions. The Society receives submissions from around the world. In 1975, the Society published their first anthology of poems entitled "Pine's the Canadian Tree". During the 1980s, the Society promoted poetry through nine half-hour television segments called “Poetry's Alive" through the Hamilton community television station, Cable 4. The Society is also an advocate for the arts and has participated and supported local community events in the Hamilton and Wentworth region, such as the Dundas Arts Weekend, Book Week in Canada, Hamilton's Arts Council Literary Committee's Blue Pencil Rooms and poetry workshops. In addition, members have given readings under the auspice of the Society to festivities and have conducted poetry workshops.

Opera Hamilton was founded in 1980. Prior to its creation in 1976, Italian opera companies were invited to perform for Hamilton's Festitalia, a celebration of Italian culture. Due to the problems and costs associated with importing entire productions from Italy, Festitalia decided to produce its own operas starting in 1979. The following year Opera Hamilton was created with plans to perform two productions annually at Hamilton Place. At the end of their first season, Steven Thomas was appointed artistic director, Boris Brott was musical director, and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra was the resident orchestra. Opera Hamilton also had agreements with CHCH TV to broadcast a television production of one opera each year.

Conductor Daniel Lipton was appointed to the role of artistic director for the 1986-7 season. Under his leadership, the company improved many aspects of its productions and continued to build a strong audience on the foundations of Italian 19th-century opera. In addition to standard repertoire, Lipton introduced the successful 'Popera' concerts in 1987 to showcase leading operatic soloists, including many Canadians, in concert performances of popular operatic excerpts. In 1989, Lipton expanded the Opera Hamilton season to three productions.

In 1995, plans to expand and share resources with the nearby city of Kitchener led to the creation of the operatic partnership known as Opera Ontario. As Opera Ontario, the company began to mount its productions in Hamilton and repeat them in Kitchener. The company announced their claim for bankruptcy in January of 2014 and ceased operations following years of financial struggles.

The Hamilton Musical Arts Society was a musical group that performed classic operatic works, as well as Gilbert & Sullivan pieces. From 1938-1949, they operated under the direction of conductor Leslie Sommerville. In 1949, the group disbanded and many of the members subsequently joined the Hamilton Savoyard Operatic Society.

Theatre Terra Nova was founded in 1988 by Brian Morton as an alternative theatre production. The theatre troupe provided offering such as Billy Bishop Goes to War, Cold Comfort, and The Kingpin. In 1990, after securing a loan from the Hamilton City Council, Theatre Terra Nova moved into the Playhouse Theatre. However, due to financial difficulties, the troupe folded in 1992. The Playhouse Theatre is now currently an independent cinema theatre.

Charles Schriber Cochran, son of William Cochran and Mary Rupert, was born in Paris, West Canada in 1854. He married Cicely Eliza Springer and had two sons. In 1886, he and his family moved to Hamilton, where Cochran opened a photography studio in June of 1886 at 124 King Street East. By the mid-1890's his was one of the most prominent studios in the area, winning awards at conventions of the Photographic Association of Canada, and receiving honours at the Jamaica Convention (1891) and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), also known as the Chicago World's Fair. Around 1899, Cochran was commissioned by W.H. Carre of Montreal to take photographs of the city for Artwork of Hamilton (1899). In 1902, he sold his studio to A.M. Cunningham (Alexander McKenzie Cunningham), who had previously been in his employ. Conchran remaining in Hamilton until 1904 before moving to the United States. He eventually settled in California, where he resided until his death in 1933.

Robert Livingstone was born in Staffa, Ontario on February 4, 1889. He served in World War One as a Private in the 8th Field Ambulance of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. In 1917, Robert was wounded from shell shrapnel during the Battle of Passchendaele, and was deemed medically unfit for service. He was discharged from the military in 1918 and shortly after, he met and married his first wife, Margaret Jane Miller (also of Staffa, Ontario). They moved to Hamilton, Ontario and resided at 235 Sherman Avenue South. Robert was a civil servant (department unknown), for the City of Hamilton and kept time sheets for road and sewer work employees. Robert's wife died in 1936 and he married his second wife, Annie Mary Jones in 1950. Robert died in 1968 and is buried in the Staffa Cemetery in Staffa, Ontario.

Harold Harrison was born 1902 in Chorley, Lancashire, England to Margaret and John Harrison. His musical career began at the age of 5 years old. When Harold was 16, he had his own 16 piece orchestra consisting of his siblings and other musicians where they played at the Winter Gardens in Manchester, England. In 1922, Harold emigrated to Canada. The following year, he became the pit pianist at the Savoy Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario, and eventually became the orchestra leader. In 1927, was unemployed as a result of the popularity of talking movies. During the Depression, Harold worked as a projectionist at different movie theatres throughout the city. In 1939, he joined the Canadian Royal Air Force and toured Canada as their pianist. Upon returning from the air force, Harold returned to Hamilton and worked at the skyway drive-in theatre. He also played piano at various legions, in particular the Lancashire Club in Hamilton. Harold retired from playing music in 1967.

Harold married Ethel (nee Gartside) in 1926 and they had three children: Harold Winston (1929), Ronald Derwyn (1932), and Gene Sherwood (1942).

Thomas Harrison Wilkinson, a watercolour artist, was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England in 1847. He studied art in London. In 1870, Wilkinson immigrated to Canada where he lived in London, Ontario. In 1872, he married Carrie O’Cochrane of Kingston and made a home in Toronto. During his career, Wilkinson traveled and painted throughout Canada from Muskoka, Parry Sound, Georgian Bay, Montreal, Quebec, Lake Louise, the Rocky Mountains and British Colombia. He also traveled to North Carolina, England, Italy and Spain. Wilkinson was best known for his landscapes, seascapes, pastorals and streetscapes, working in watercolor and oil. He spent the last twenty years of his life living in Hamilton. Wilkinson died in 1929.

Margaret Gwendolyn Carley was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa on March 23, 1913. The family returned to Canada shortly after and settled in Kitchener, Ontario, where Gwen later attended the Business School. She married Albert E. Metcalfe (1901-1963) on July 27, 1937, and they had one son John David (J.D.) Metcalfe (1939-2007). Gwen began her career a museum curator at Dundurn Castle in Hamilton, where she started as a receptionist in the 1950s. In May 1955, Gwen was appointed curator with no formal training as a museum specialist. In her role as curator, she advocated for a complete restoration of Dundurn Castle to the period during Allan MacNab’s tenure. The City of Hamilton chose the Dundurn Castle restoration project as their 1967 Centennial Project. While the museum was closed for restorations, Gwen she kept a photographic record of the renovation process. On June 30, 1971, Gwen retired.

Gwen was an active member of the Canadian Museums Association, serving on their council and editing their newsletter. She also served as the chairman of the museums section of the Ontario Historical Society. In June 1972, she was appointed a Fellow of the Canadian Museums Association, an honour as being the first for Hamilton.

Gwen Metcalfe died on July 6, 1997.

Both native to Prince Edward Island, Elaine Hughes (nee Corr) and Bernie Hughes left the province and moved to Hamilton, Ontario. At the age of 18, Elaine moved to Hamilton and began attending the P.E.I. Country Club on the corner of Bay and King Sts, where she later met Bernie Hughes. Bernie Hughes started his country music career in Hamilton on CHCH TV’s Saturday Night Jamboree, playing with a band called the Rhythmaires. He later formed a band of his own called the Mountain City Playboys and frequently performed at the Jockey Club in Hamilton, Merritt Hall in Ancaster, along with other venues in the area, and a featured performance and the Grand Ole Opry in 1961.

Elaine Hughes used to work for the Mountain City Playboys by copying out music for the band, ordering uniforms and performing general management duties. In 1971, Bernie & Elaine Hughes released their first album together, and they ran a live radio broadcast from the Saddle Room at the Jockey Club for 17 years.

Bernie Hughes was a respected member of the Hamilton Musicians’ Guild and was considered by the music community as one of the “fathers of country music” in Hamilton. In 1981, Bernie died after a long battle with cancer. Elaine Hughes continued to sing and play music after his death and formed a musical partnership with Smiling Bill McCormack. Elaine continues to play country music with friends at the Veteran’s Service League in Hamilton.

Captain James Sutherland (1805-1857), was born in Hoy, Orkney Islands, Scotland to a sea-faring family. He began his sailing career at the age of seventeen starting as a low-ranking mate and climbing the ladder to captain. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1831 and sailed the steamboat Queenston, owned by John Hamilton. He married Margaret Robinson in 1833 and moved to a house on Hughson Street in Hamilton, Ontario. During his sailing career, Sutherland commanded some of the newest and most prestigious steamers to sail the Great Lakes such as the Traveller and the Niagara. By partnering with wealthy Hamilton investors, Sutherland who was of modest means, was able to co-own and command a fleet of steamships, including his most notable steamboat the Magnet. He retired from sailing in 1853 to work for the Great Western Railway Company. On March 12, 1857, Captain James Sutherland became the most notable Hamiltonian to lose his life in a train wreck on the Desjardins Canal Bridge.

Hamilton born and raised live music photographer

Bruce “The Mole” Mowat was a prominent member of the Hamilton music scene in the 1990s. Bruce was on the pulse of obscure, new and up-and-coming artists. He was the founder of the defunct record label, Mole Records, which produced three releases, including Cyborg Revisited by Simply Saucer. He was a regular contributor to the EGO section of the Hamilton Spectator throughout the 1990s in addition to other publications in Montreal and Toronto. The focus of his pieces in the Spectator highlighted new band recommendation. He currently resides in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

The Lewis family of Hamilton, Ontario became well-known in the local community through their children. Thomas Lewis, a successful cigar manufacturer, and his wife Ann Arthur, a dramatic reader of Shakespeare, had 14 children, some of whom displayed an aptitude for music and theatre acting. In particular, their daughter Flora became an amateur theatre actress and their daughter Ida Lewis became the famous professional theatre actress known as Julia Arthur. Born in Hamilton in 1869, Julia began acting at the age of eleven, making her hometown debut as Portia in a local amateur theatre company production of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” In 1883, she made her professional debut in Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” Julia studied music and the dramatic arts in both Germany and England for three years and then moved to New York to work as an actress, landing a role in “The Black Masque” to much acclaim from theatre audiences. She returned to England and was invited to join the renowned Sir Henry Irving’s Lyceum Players Company. She returned to Canada in the late 1890s as one of the most popular and successful stage performers of her time. In 1898, Julia Arthur married Benjamin Pierce Cheney, a millionaire and prominent banker and real estate developer from Boston, Massachusetts. She retired from the theatre and began a short career as a film actress in 1908, acting in a few movie pictures, including some war propaganda films. By 1920, her husband’s financial empire had suffered such serious losses that Julia was forced to return to the stage to earn a living. Julia Arthur lived most of her adult life in Boston and died in 1950.

William Bruce (1832-1927) was born at Unst, Shetland Islands on November 7, 1832 and was the eldest son of Magnus Bruce of an old Scottish family. William was brought to Canada at the age of four; attended Dr. Tassie’s school in Hamilton, and at the age of sixteen entered McQuesten and Fisher’s foundry as an apprentice. He later attended Oberlin College in Ohio and from 1858-1867 was a writing master at the Central School in Hamilton. He was skilled in penmanship, illumination of manuscripts, painting and was also an expert photographer, astronomer, lecturer and a keen freemason.
On March 1, 1855 William Bruce married Jennet Blair of Glanford. The Blair family came to Canada from Ayrshire, Scotland around the same time as the Bruce family. Jennet was described as “a lady remarkable for mental and physical activity.” William and Jennet Bruce had two sons and a daughter. Irvie, the elder son, died in adolescence. William Blair the artist, born in 1859, died in Stockholm Sweden. In 1906, Bella Christina, Mrs. John Walkden, died in 1958 at the age of ninety.
About 1869, William bough the ten acres of property on Hamilton Mountain which is now Bruce Park, between Queensdale and Brucedale Avenues East. Here at “Elmwood” Mrs. Bruce kept a cow and chickens, a vegetable garden and orchard, kept house, brought up the children, and looked after her husband’s comfort. She died on January 27, 1904.
Of all William Bruce’s interests perhaps astronomy was the most outstanding. His observatory in the hayfield behind his house attracted not only the surrounding population but also many noted scientists. Some of his telescopes are at McMaster University, Hamilton. William Bruce died at “Elmwood” 191 Brucedale Avenue, Hamilton, on March 7, 1927 and was buried in Hamilton cemetery with full masonic rites.
William Blair Bruce (1859-1906) was the first artist from Hamilton to gain international status. He was a figure, landscape and marine painter. He studied law and worked as an architectural draftsman before turning to art. Bruce attended the Hamilton Mechanics Institute, 1877, and studied privately under the Hamilton artist, Henry Martin. He attended Academie Julian, Paris 1881 and was also active in Giverny. He married Caroline Benedicks, a Swedish sculptor, in 1888.

Dr. Calvin McQuesten was born in New Hampshire in 1801. He graduated from medical school in 1830 and set up his practice in Brockport, New York in 1832. In 1835, McQuesten partnered with his cousin John Fisher, as well as Priam B. Hill and Joseph S. Jones to establish an iron foundry in Hamilton, thus becoming one of the forerunners of “heavy industry” in the city. Dr. Calvin McQuesten moved to Hamilton in 1839 to take an active role in managing the foundry, known as McQuesten and Co. In 1853, he sold a portion of the firm to his nephews, Luther and Payson Sawyer, and cousin William McQuesten. In 1856, partner John Fisher sold his portion of the foundry business and moved to Batavia, N.Y., leaving Dr. McQuesten sole owner. In 1857, Dr. McQuesten retired and handed the company over to the Sawyer brothers, including another nephew, Samuel Sawyer, an engineer for the foundry. They operated the company under the name of L. D. Sawyer and Co. In 1889, they went into partnership with H.A. Massey of Massey-Harris Co. Ltd. forming Sawyer-Massey Co.

Dr. Calvin McQuesten was on the Board of Directors of the Gore Bank, had shares in Hamilton Water Company, donated to the Wesleyan Ladies College and helped finance the construction of the MacNab Street Presbyterian Church. In 1852, he purchased a house which was first known as Willow Bank. The name was later changed to Whitehern by Isaac and Mary McQuesten. Dr. McQuesten was married three times and he had two children who survived: Calvin Brooks (1837-1912) and Isaac Baldwin (1847–1888). Calvin Brooks graduated from medical school and set up practice in New York. Isaac Baldwin studied law and joined a practice in Hamilton.