We've been busy digitizing the historic photographs and images from our London Room local history collection and we're inviting you to help us solve some mysteries.

African Methodist Episcopal Church
275 Thames Street
London

This is the site of the first church of the Black community in London, Upper Canada (now Ontario). This church, however, existed in a much wider historical context.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been interested in his family's history since his father showed him a photograph of his great-great grandmother, an ex-slave named Jane Gates, when he was 10 years old. As an adult, this scholar traced the family trees of 19 African Americans, such as Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou and Whoopi Goldberg, through U.S. history and back to Africa.

     Chilean/Canadian photographer Rafael Goldchain whose parents immigrated to Chile before the start of the Second World War, describes his family history as one "defined by exile".

This originally coloured "patriotic" postcard of the first London Public Library was mailed from London to Mader's Cove, Nova Scotia on February 13, 1905. Postage required: one cent! On that day, according to the note on the card, it was very cold: -15 F or -26.1 C. We rarely have such cold temperatures now.... ~Lisa

275 Thames Street

This is the site of the first church of the Black Community in London, Upper Canada (now Ontario). It is believed that the American orator and Harper's Ferry revolt leader John Brown spoke at the church in the summer of 1858, a gathering to which only those who knew the password were admitted. Reports suggest that Brown's objective was to form a Black military company which would ultimately join with other companies in St. Catherines, Chatham, and Windsor to aid in his planned revolution. This objective was obviously never realized.However, this church existed in a much wider historical context.

"At the Tecumseh House, London, Ont., on the 21st August, 1869, by the Rev. William Briggs, Wesleyan Minister, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, to Miss Frank Armstrong, daughter of Mrs. M.E. and the late Robert Crawford, Esq., of Mobile, Ala."

Blackfriars - London's oldest bridge was officially opened on September 27, 1875. Assembled on the site, the prefabricated bridge was built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. Upon completion, the strength of the bridge was tested using ten teams of oxen to pull forty tons of gravel across the span. This aesthetically pleasing bridge has engaged the attention of historians, artists and photographers. Tucked away in a serene area, Blackfriars bridge is a London treasure.

In My Community

J.J. Talman Regional Collection, The University of Western Ontario
The J.J. Talman Regional Collection carries Probates for a wide range of dates.

Websites

British Columbia Archives' Vital Events
The British Columbia Vital Event indexes contain index information to historical birth, marriage, and death registrations for British Columbia, but not the actual registrations, and are being made available for the purposes of research.

Manitoba Vital Statistics
This searchable database provides unrestricted access to births more than 100 years ago, marri