What are Tweedsmuir History Books?

Tweedsmuir History Books (or Tweedsmuirs as they are commonly known) capture and preserve local community history in a unique way. They vary in form from a simple scrapbook to an elaborate series of volumes bound in leather, wood or the more formal blue-and-gold cover. Tweedsmuirs are comprised of a variety of information; for example, they usually include a history of the:

• local Women's Institute Branch
• earliest settlers in an area
• agricultural practices and individual farms
• industries that formed the basis of the local economy
• social institutions and public buildings, such as churches, schools and community centers
• local personalities, such as war veterans
• and much, much more!

Beginning in 1962, under the direction of the first provincial Tweedsmuir Curator, Mrs. R.C. Walker, the first Tweedsmuir Handbook was printed. The Handbook served as a guide for local curators and outlined how to go about compiling a local history book. This set of practical guidelines provided everything from the official first pages to the table of contents, to details on the type of paper, adhesives and covers to use. Tweedsmuir History Manuals are still compiled by the FWIO Provincial Tweedsmuir Coordinator for use by Branch, District and Area Curators.

The History of Tweedsmuir Books

The idea of WI members writing the histories of farms, buildings and places of interest at the local level had begun in the mid-1920s. In 1925, a special standing committee of the FWIO was formed known as the Committee for Historical Research and Current Events. The Committee suggested that a little more time be given to the study of local history to gain a greater insight into the lives and thoughts of our ancestors.

By the mid-1930s, Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada, took a great interest in the Women's Institutes in this country. While at a meeting of the Athens Women's Institute, Lady Tweedsmuir stressed the need for preserving the history of our Canadian people. She suggested that Ontario Women's Institute Branches keep local history books as the WIs in England did, where she had been a devoted member.

In 1940, a recently widowed Lady Tweedsmuir was delighted to approve that these histories should be named after her late husband, and so originated “The Tweedsmuir Village History Books.”

Because documenting local history was seen as a fitting project to mark the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the Women's Institute movement, a campaign was launched in 1945 encouraging every WI Branch in Ontario to prepare a history of their local community before the 1947 celebrations took place.

This proved a popular project, and these local histories were officially named Tweedsmuir History Books in 1947. A decade later the provincial Board reported that 989 Branches across the province were compiling Tweedsmuir History Books. A great boost to these histories was the appointment of FWIO's first provincial Tweedsmuir History Curator in 1957, Mrs. R.C. Walker. By 1964 she reported that all levels of the organization had begun to take Tweedsmuir Books seriously, with well over 1,100 Branch histories recorded.

Mrs. Walker introduced Tweedsmuir Workshops to the volunteer curators across the province to teach the fundamentals of compiling local history books. To supplement these workshops, she released the first Tweedsmuir Handbook in 1962. “The Women's Institutes,” writes Dr. Linda Ambrose in For Home and Country: The Centennial History of the Women's Institutes in Ontario , “were the undisputed authorities in matters of local history, and in 1967 there was a real appetite for all the history they could serve up.”

The Institutes' expertise in compiling local history was central to the centennial celebrations in most rural communities in 1967. Ethel Chapman, Editor of the Women's Institute publication Home and Country , said: “They are having a wonderful time. And they are teaching the younger generations Canada's history in a painless and delightful way.”

Today, the structure of the Women's Institute is such that Tweedsmuir History Curators at all levels – Branch, District, Area and province – continue to compile Tweedsmuir Books which document WI events and history particular to their community and area. In addition, Curators continue to provide Tweedsmuir workshops and to exhibit the Tweedsmuir History Books at opportune WI and community events for both members and the general public.

Tweedsmuir History Books Receive Recognition

The significance of Tweedsmuir History Books has won them and the Women's Institute accolades over the years:

• Prizes for the best Tweedsmuir History Books had existed since 1947 when Lady Tweedsmuir provided a silver cup to be awarded annually. Academic historians and the members of the Ontario Historical Society acted as judges in the competitions.
• In 1949, Tweedmuirs won a prestigious prize from the American Association for State and Local History.
• The Honourable Vincent Massey included Tweedsmuir histories as part of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences in 1950.
• In 1962, the Canadian Historical Association, Canada's national organization of professional historians, awarded a certificate of merit to the Women's Institute for their efforts in preserving local history.
• Realizing the significance of Tweedsmuir Books, the Archives of Ontario entered into an agreement with the Department of Agriculture and Food in the 1960s to have the Books preserved on microfilm.
• In 2004, the WI Tweedsmuir Curators were awarded the Scadding Award of Excellence by the Ontario Historical Society. This award recognizes a historical or heritage group "which has made an outstanding contribution to the field of history".

Tweedsmuir Histories - "A Veritable Gold Mine"

• Valuing the worth of Tweedsmuirs to researchers, a 1976 Ontario Genealogical Society newsletter published a guide to using the books.
• In more recent years, university researchers have used Tweedsmuir Books as sources for papers on the history of women's organizations and communities.
• The University of Guelph viewed Tweedsmuirs so important that they bought a complete set of the several hundred on microfilm for their collection.
• Laurentian University History Professor Dr. Linda Ambrose stated: “Tweedsmuir History Books are one of the most important resources we have for studying Ontario history at the local level.”

Visit the Wellington County Museum and Archives, housing Tweedsmuir Histories of Wellington County.