Series 6 - Events

Series consists of two visitor registration books dated 1908-1929 and 1929-1958. The books record the names of individuals and organizations that visited (or rented), Battlefield House for luncheons, parties, reunions, church picnics, family picnics, meetings, presentations and lectures, and other events. Examples of visiting groups include the IODE, Hamilton Ladies College, various clubs, societies, associations such as the United Empire Loyalists, guilds, schools and choirs. The visitor registers also record when various members of the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society entertained members of the public and other societies for teas, luncheons causeries, bridge parties, tours and for special occasions, such as the anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek. The book records the type of event, the names of visitors and where they were visiting from. Many of the guests were locals, but there were also a number from all over Ontario, Canada and even the United States and overseas. The series also contains a copy of the House Regulations and Fees at Battlefield House, which lists the rules and fees for renting Battlefield House for events such as parties, teas and luncheons. One of the rules mentions that all guests must sign the visitors’ book. There is a house tariff document listing the fee rates for the type of event held at Battlefield House during the summer and winter seasons, a list of members involved in a social tea, notes regarding a Dundurn Castle Tour and Luncheon, a program for the first annual banquet and ball at Stoney Creek Battlefield, dated December 18, 1900, a program for the musical “Queen Zephra” produced under the auspices of the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society, a Town of Stoney Creek official schedule of events taking place at Battlefield House on the anniversary of the battle, dated June 8, 1963, notes and information on the architectural features of the houses promoted on a house tour, dated June 8, 1974, a memo and training program schedule to train participants on the various programs and events to be held at Battlefield House, dated April 12, 1976, and an itinerary for autumn day trips through Heritage Trails heritage outings services for the fall of 1978. The series also has documentation for various historic plaque unveilings including a notice regarding the tablet being erected by the Society in memory of Sara Calder, founder and first President (1899-1914), unveiled at Battlefield House, March 18, 1918, as well as an account of the unveiling of the Honour Roll and tablet to the memory of the men from the County of Wentworth and Hamilton who gave their lives in the Great War. The account was documented and a copy was being sent to the Public Archives of Canada (now Library and Archives Canada), containing a Society invitation to the event, a black and white photograph of Battlefield House and monument, a program of the event, copies of prayers and dedications read, quotations and inscriptions on the tablet, as well as a few newspaper clippings of the unveiling dated October 19, 1920. The series also contains a notice regarding the unveiling of a tablet in memory of the men who fell in battle at Stoney Creek, June 6, 1813, presented by the Society October 11, 1940, and two copies of a program for the unveiling of a historical plaque erected by the Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board, for the Hamilton Mountain, sponsored by the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society, dated October 21, 1964. The series also contains speeches by members of the Society on various topics including guest speaker introductions, the Gage family, the Gage homestead and the battlefield grounds and monument, the Loyalists, Christie Manor, the Niagara Escarpment, the formation of the Ladies’ Committee of the Wentworth Historical Society, the formation of the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society, and their work on preserving Battlefield House, as well as the history of Stoney Creek, Ontario