The Archival Collection & Libraries:

The Society has an extensive collection covering various aspects of the history of Oakville and the former Trafalgar Township. It includes original documents, pictures, newspapers, maps, albums, ephemera, letters, diaries and both archival and reference books. Our main reference library contains over 1500 works dealing with arts and crafts, costumes, Oakville history, family histories and genealogies, municipal directories, cookbooks, Trafalgar Township and numerous others. A separate section includes aids to genealogical research.

In addition to the main reference library, particularly noteworthy are:

  • A collection of over 4,000 photographs portraying the buildings and life of the community and many of its families since the mid-nineteenth century. Many of these images will become available on-line during 2008;


  • Forty diaries kept by George Sumner from 1867 to 1909 (and typed transcripts thereof) which provide insight into everyday happenings of that period (see The Sumner Diaries);


  • The R.W. (Bob) Davis Marine Library containing a wide-ranging book collection which covers Canadian and world history (& technical matters) pertaining to ships and sailing; and


  • An extensive collection of other material relating to the history of Oakville, such as the 1841 census of Trafalgar Township and the notes thereto compiled by Hazel Chisholm Mathews dated 28 September 1965.
Our climate controlled archival storage area has been inspected and approved by the Archives Association of Ontario of which the Society is a member. We continue to expand our collection through donations.

If you have papers, photographs, or Aunt Betsy's diaries that you think might possibly be of historical interest, please let us know - better yet bring them in and we'll advise you on them - perhaps we have additional information to share.
Sumner Diaries 1869 Aug. 2 - 7. A Charge of Bigamy, an Eclipse of the Sun, and a Reclaimed Bull!
The George Sumner Diaries:
Aug 6-7, 1869: a Charge of Bigamy,
Eclipse of the Sun, & a Reclaimed Bull!
Click above image to read all about it.
The Bob Davis Marine Collection
R.W. (Bob) Davis Marine Collection
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