Were the “good old days” really better, or are we just programmed to look back fondly at the past, thinking life was so much better back then? I grew up in the 1950s, and I know I tend to look back nostalgically at that decade, and at times find comfort in that. While the past may seem to…
Month: August 2024
Were We Really Better Off In The ‘Good Old Days’?
Were the “good old days” really better, or are we just programmed to look back fondly at the past, thinking life was so much better back then? I grew up in the 1950s, and I know I tend to look back nostalgically at that decade, and at times find comfort in that. While the past may seem to…
Davis Drive Had A Vital Role in Newmarket History
Quakers Came To Play Central Role In Anti-Slavery Movement
This column is Part 2 of my two-part series on slavery and the Quaker movement. You can read Part 1 here. An ever-increasing number of free Black Christians prompted the slaveholders to create the concept of white supremacy. We begin to see lawmakers write new laws, redefining citizenship to include the word “white” and “Christian.” This was…
Were The Quakers Actually The First Abolitionists?
My next two articles on NewmarketToday will centre on a topic that has intrigued me going back to my early days as a budding historian. I tend not to take what I am told about our history as gospel and frequently have questions. As a child I was intrigued by the Quaker faith and its place within our local…
Oliver Edgar Trench
In this column, I continue documenting the extraordinary lives of Newmarket pioneers of the early 1900s In previous columns, the name Oliver Edgar Tench has surfaced regarding the designing of local schools, buildings and houses, so I felt he was an excellent historical character to examine as part of this series. Oliver Edgar Tench (1859-1941)…
