A Visit to Archives Lanark

Drummond Centre

(Lanark County, Ontario, Canada)

The facts as presented:

A colleague had completed some ground breaking research for a client, on a number of family lines. It had been determined that the family of primary interest had emigrated from a townland in Wexford, Ireland, to Beckwith Township, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada, in 1832. Other family names began to appear in association with members of the family of primary interest. My colleague suggested to her client that the Archives Lanark facility might hold important records. But, they were situated too far away to reasonably undertake a visit.

The challenge:

Could I visit the Archives Lanark facility in Drummond Centre, near Perth, Ontario, on their behalf, to discover what facts they might hold concerning both the family of primary interest, and the other associated family names?

The results:

A visit to the Archives Lanark facility was quickly arranged. An overview of the family names concerned, and of the general research interests, was communicated to the Archivist. And the visit was made on a day that saw a fair snowfall - to the extent that the individuals at the facility were unsure that I would in fact get there. But get there I did, and I worked with the staff to examine everything that they could find, that they thought might be important. Having become quite familiar with the client's interest, I was also able to identify and examine several other items held at the facility which were of great importance. Almost 170 digital photographs of various items were obtained, including original land title deeds and conveyances. Upon my return to base, all of the images obtained were grouped and organized, and set so that my colleague's client could readily and easily download them directly.