Series 1 - First World War

Series consists of city records pertaining to the First World War, which were kept and maintained by city staff. The records include Victory Bond purchases made by various city departments and employees that participated in the campaign, including but not limited to, City Hall, Board of Health, Cemetery, Jail, Parks, Library, Fire Department, Police Department, Hydro, Hospital, and Public Works. Most of the entries record the names of the departments, but some entries record the names of individual employee contributions along with the name of the department they represent. The bonds were mostly purchased weekly and monthly and the amounts ranged from $2.00 to $500.00, with the higher amounts coming from the “General Salaries” account. The series also contains an index to casualty books, which alphabetically lists the names of the soldiers killed along with the page number that corresponds to one of 3 volumes that contain more detailed information. The series contains volumes 2 and 3, but volume 1 was not included with the material donation. The casualty books contain newspaper clippings glued to the pages, which pertain to individual Hamilton and area soldiers killed in action, died of war wounds shortly after, or who died of diseases like influenza and pneumonia while on active duty. The articles are short write-ups about the individual soldiers, and contain information such as rank, battalion, manner of death, previous battles or military operations participated in, prior injuries sustained, former workplace, place of residence, the family they left behind, and if they were originally from another country. The series also consists of a few Honour Rolls of the men who died in service, some of which include the soldier’s name, service number, rank, address and place of residence, as well as records pertaining to the Soldiers’ Benefit Fund Committee.