Canada 150 - Fish and Game Clubs

During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

Fishing Clubs

The Caledon Mountain Trout Club

The Caledon Mountain Trout Club was established as a private club in 1901 in the Region of Peel, Ontario. See back for list of members.

Lac Raquette Fishing Club

Relevant Links

Directors' report, first season, the Caledon Mountain Trout Club, 1903

Lac Raquette Fishing Club, 1894

Fish and Game Club Montreal, 1882

List of Fish and Game Clubs in the Province of Quebec, 1914 pdf

Fishing and hunting resorts in the vicinity of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, 1890

Canada 150 - Nova Scotia Yacht Clubs

During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron

1896 Report

"The objectives of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron are to promote yacht building and sailing in the province, and to encourage its members to become proficient in navigation, in the personal management, control and handling of their yachts, and in all other matters pertaining to seamanship."

1899 Racing Record

Relevant Links

Reports of Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, Halifax

Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron History - Website

Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club 

Canada 150 - Curling in Canada

During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

Curling in Canada

Curling on the St Lawrence, 1878 (McCord Museum Collection)

The game of curling originated in medieval Scotland.
The Tim Horton's Men's Brier final is today (March 12, 2017) in St. John's NL. If you enjoy curling here is the schedule for upcoming championships.

In 1902-1903 the Scottish Curling Team came to Canada and have been playing against each other every five years since, alternately in Scotland and in Canada. In 1912-13 it was Canada's turn to host.

Check for other curling club publications at your local library.

I imagine you have seen the segment on CBC about the new game everyone is talking about..

Crokicurl in Winnipeg: CBC 

Canadians do love their winter sports, and this cross between curling and crockinole looks like fun, eh?

Relevant Links

The Curler's Guide

Bonspiel? The History of Curling in Canada

Curling Clubs Canada (Ottawa, Montreal, Three Rivers, and more...)

Scotch Curlers visit the Kingston Curling Club

Curling in Canada and the United States: a record of the tour of the Scottish Team, 1902-1903, and of the game in the Dominion and Republic.

Photos of curling at McCord Museum website

List of Curlers from Canada

Serendipity Sunday - Riposte

ri·poste (rəˈpōst/)

1. a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism.
2. a quick return thrust following a parry in fencing

I came across this book when I was researching schools....

Schools and Masters of Fence

It caught my interest because I have Fencers in my family... do you?

Relevant Links

Schools and masters of fence, from the middle ages to the eighteenth century

Escrimeurs Contemporains - Contemporary Fencers Vol 1 - 1899

Escrimeurs Contemporains - Contemporary Fencers Vol 1 - 1900

The Riposte (magazine for American Fencers)

US Fencing Museum Roll of Honor

Canadian Fencers (wikipedia)

Australian Fencers

New Zealand Fencers

Fencers of Great Britain

Irish Fencers

American Fencers

Profiles - US Fencing news and training tips

Related Posts:  Sports

The Police Gazette - On the Lam or in the Game?

The Police Gazette was a newspaper in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia issued by the police department giving descriptions of crimes and criminals, lists of deserters, etc. Unfortunately I didn't find all to view for free, but they have some at Ancestry and Find My Past. There are digital issues that can be viewed online free at Tasmania Government Archives. UK and Ireland gazettes can be viewed with a subscription to British Newspapers or pay-per-page at Last Chance to Read, who has over 700 issues. You can also go to the National Archives, UK or to other countries' government archives or state libraries.

Some issues of the National Police Gazette, NY published in New York since 1845 can be found online.

Then you have the Police Gazette which was a popular American men's magazine. It published articles with wonderful illustrations about American Boxing and biographies, world sporting events, sports calendars and records, crime stories, and full page Pin-up Girls!  

Perhaps you will find one of your ancestors... either on the lam or in the game!

Relevant Links

Police Gazette at British Newspaper Archives

Police Gazette at State Library of Southern Australia

Police Gazette at State Library of NSW

Police Gazette at State Library of Victoria, AU

Police Gazette at Tasmania Government Archives online

Police Gazette at New Zealand Archives

Police Gazette at last Chance to Read

National Police Gazette, NY April 1865

National Police Gazette, NY May 1865

National Police Gazette NY various years

Police Gazette - Sports and athletics, NY various years

Who Will Bring Home the Gold?

In less than two weeks the Olympics will open in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.  There are some sports I like to watch in both the summer and winter olympics, while I wish I was athletic enough to try them.

In days gone by one had to wait for scores and winners to be published in the newspapers. Now not only can we watch the olympics live on TV, we can follow our favourite athletes on the Rio website or on the mobile app.

Following are some interesting Olympic links I found.

Relevant Links

The evolution of the Olympic games 1829 BC to 1914 AD

List of Olympic Games host cities

Olympic Games Programme, St Louis 1904

The Olympic Games at Athens, 1906

The Olympic Games of 1908 in London

Olympic Games Stockholm, 1912

Olympicgames handbook; containing official records of the seventh Olympiad, winners inprevious Olympiads, the 1924 Olympic games, 1921

Olympic Games Antwerp, Belgium 1924

Report of the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, AU (pdf)

Le comitéinternational olympique et les jeux olympiques modernes, 1949

Olympic Games website - (results for every olympic games year and athletes)

Serendipity Sunday - Rural Sports of Britain

In 1851 people did not sit in front of televisions and computers or play games on their devices. They spent most of their days outdoors and devised all manner of sport for amusement.

This week I came across this illustrated "how-to" book:

Manual of British rural sports : comprising shooting, hunting, coursing, fishing, hawking, racing, boating, pedestrianism, and the various rural games and amusements of Great Britain – 1861

It covers not only animal sports, but games like golf and croquet, water sports (looks like they are skinny dipping... oh my!) and skating... teaching some fancy moves and what to wear while doing them. 

Relevant links:

Manual of British Rural Sports - 1861




Related posts: 

Wide World of Sports

The Athletic Club

Boating Clubs

The Day Sweet Daughter Won the Course

Boating Clubs

We sold our 40' sailboat this week, after many years of adventures around the coast, and thinking about boating reminded me...

My maternal grandmother Mavor had tucked among her family photos this 1904 newspaper clipping of the Grand Trunk Boating Club.  I don't know if my grandfather or his brother are in this photo, or in fact members of the club.

 I know his older brother Stanley Mavor was a Senior Member in 1924. 

Grand Trunk Boating Club Review 1875-1924, pg 130

My paternal grandparents went canoeing at the Maple Grove Boating Club, near Chateauguay, Quebec. 

Looking around, searching for information, I came across some yacht club and boating club publications, with lists of members. 

Perhaps your ancestor belonged to a boating club. 

Relevant Links

Grand Trunk Boating Club 

Lloyd's Register of Yachts:  British and Foreign Shipping 1902-1903 

Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Toronto

Corinthian Yacht Club, New York 1800

New York Yacht Club 1971

Report of measurements committee of the NY Yacht Club 1883

History of the Boston Yacht Club 1891

Charter and membership roll of the Chicago Yacht Club c1882

17th Annual Regatta, Larchmont Yacht Club 1896

Annuaire du Yacht-club Imperial de Saint-Petersbourg, Russie 1800

Constitution and by-laws of the Quebec Yacht Club 1869

Royal Kennebeccasis Yacht Club, St John, NB

Burlington Bay Boat Club, Ontario 1854

Royal Halifax Yacht Club, Aquatic Carnival 1871 

Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, UK 1902

Canadian Canoe Association Meet 1909

Toronto Canoe Club Winter Program 1917

Toronto Canoe Club 1899

Ottawa Canoe Club 1897

Ottawa Canoe Club 1900

Ottawa Rowing Club 1878

London Rowing and Canoe Club 1893

Argonaut Rowing Club, Toronto 1914



The Athletic Club

Like the old Gentlemen's Clubs, the formal Athletic Club was for men only, some taking rooms there.  There were billiard and card rooms, a dining room, and perhaps a parlor for women to take refuge on Ladies' Night, as well as bedrooms or suites for the young men.

Other sports clubs had their own "Club House" while still others met at a venue central to its members, like the Montreal Snow Shoe club met at the McGill gatehouse on Sherbrooke Street. The Clubs were for amateur athletes only.

Montreal Snow Shoe Club at the Gatehouse, 1889 

The Athletic Clubs offered all manner of sports - lacrosse, cricket or croquet, tennis, squash or hand ball, bowling, bicycling or swimming, or perhaps skating, curling or snowshoeing.

High Wheel Bicycle Club Group Photo - circa 1885

credit ''The Stock Solution Photo Agency''



Search others using keywords [name of sport] + club, association, etc then try adding town or state. Check local libraries and archives for information on local clubs.

Did your ancestor belong to an athletic club?



Relevant Links


The Gatehouse at McGill

An Athletic Club House - Thesis, 1900

Boston Athletic Assoc year Book 1890

London Bicycle Club Gazette, Vol I

The Second Annual Amateur Athletic... Sports (Races), England 1903

Athletic Clubs of America 1915

Sporting and Athletic Records 1897

Columbus Athletic Club 1922

Forty-sixth Games of the New York Athletic Club 1891

Souvenir of the Providence Athletic Assoc, Rhode Island 1899

Roster of the Columbia Athletic Club of Washington DC, 1889

Grand CWA Championship Meet: St John's Bicycle and Athletic Club, NB 1896

Club Book: Crescent Athletic Club of Brooklyn

Vancouver Cycling Club, meet of the Canadian Wheelman's of BC 1894

Voyage du Club le Canadien à New York 1887 (Snow Shoe Club)

New York - Turnvereins in der New York turn-halle, 1900

Annals of the Olympic Club, San Francisco 1914

The Olympian: Olympic Club of SF

List of Subscribers of the Victoria Skating Club of Montreal 1874

Victoria Skating and Curling Association of Toronto: list of members 1887

Schedule of games: British Columbia Amateur Lacrosse Association 1893

Potomac Athletic Club 1890

New Illinois Athletic Club 1906

Year Book and Roster, 1905: Missouri Athletic Club, St Louis

Toronto Athletic Club 1891

Athletic Queensland, 1900

Athletic Games and Reception, Company "I", 47th Regiment, NY 1903

New York Athletic Club, various

Ottawa Bicycle Club 1890

Souvenir and program of the 12th Annual meet of the Canadian Wheelmen's Assoc 1894

The Springfield Wheelmen's Gazette, Mass 1884-1886

Bicycle Club Directory of Massachusetts, 1894

Berlin Lawn Bowling Club, Kitchener Ontario 1905

Register of the Appalachian Mountain Bowling Club 1898

Rules of the Halifax Archery and Croquet Club 1873

Montreal Archery Club 1859

Junior Lacrosse League of Montreal 1889 

Quebec Curling Club, list of members 1869

History of the Staten Island Cricket and Tennis Club 1872-1917

St George's Cricket Club, NY 1859

Victoria Cricket Club, BC - various 

Official Souvenir of Police Athletic Association of Greater New York, 1905

The Edinburgh Skating Club 1865




Related Post:  Wild World of Sports

Wide World of Sports

Grandson fencing - Father #5 on Champion WHHS Rugby Team - Uncle on home ice

Where my daughter lives they hold an All Sport One Day event, where the kids get to choose a couple of sports they would like to try. They have archery, kayaking, fencing, diving, just to name a few on a long list. What a great idea!
Today in Canada families can claim on their tax returns up to $500 per child for registration or membership in an eligible program of fitness. And it sure helps to have the activities offered where you live. Where I grew up there was not much to choose from.

Like many kids growing up in Quebec, for my father and his brothers Hockey was KING!  My Pop scrounged up some wood for boards and made a standard size rink on the vacant lot beside their house every winter, hosing it down at night so the ice would be perfect. There were enough neighbourhood boys to always get up a game, and they would use my grandparent's basement for the changing room.
The old Montreal Forum was built in 1924 for the Montreal Maroons Hockey Team and the whole family were avid fans.  My Dad was 11 when he got the autographs of all the 1932 Maroon team players.

Dad was on the West Hill High School football team 1933 and the senior rugby team 1938, the year they won the City Championship (from WHHS Yearbook 1938). The whole family belonged to the Grand Trunk Boating Club (mentioned on page 247 of the below-mentioned "Outing" Magazine). When they were older my Dad and his brothers also liked to fish and hunt.

My friend's ancestor was Peter Johnson the Diving Champion of England in the late 1800's. While managing baths in Leeds in 1866 he gave swimming lessons for a guinea. He was the first person to hold his breath under water for longer than 4 minutes, entered many swimming competitions, and helped train his brother JB Johnson to be the first to attempt to cross the English Channel. He showed his diving and water talents in variety shows all over Europe as did his daughters, the then famous Johnson Sisters. He and his daughters were frequently mentioned in "The New York Clipper Annual - theatrical, musical and sporting chronologies". 

Johnson Family Swimmers, 1890 ©

(with permission from owner with thanx!)

These stories were compiled through family notes, school yearbooks, hometown newspapers and sport annuals, almanacs or magazines.

Do you have a sporting champion or budding athlete among your ancestors?




Relevant links

The New York Clipper Annuals

The New York Clipper Newspaper

History of women's football (soccer)

Rugby School Register - London 1891

Origin of Hockey ? and Kingston, Ontario Team

The Ontario Hockey Association 1913

Schools and masters of Fence from the Middle Ages to the 18th Century

Australia Athletes (from 1800's +)

List of Wimbledon Champions since 1877

United States Lawn Tennis Association and the World War

Scottish History of Golf - Rules 1744

Davy Crockett's almanac of Wild Sports of the West 1836-1841

The new Sporting Almanack: a manual of instruction and amusement 1844

Prairie and Forest; a guide to the field sports of North America 1881 (hunting)

Pony Racing Association Calendar 1890 USA

National Steeplechase Association Members 1895 New York

Sport and Pleasure in the valley of Ottawa 1898

Constitution and Rules of Lacrosse of the Canadian Lacrosse Assoc 1897

The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association Lacrosse Guide - USA

Constitution by-laws and rules of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Assoc 1881

Montreal Amateur Athletic Association fonds 

Montreal Snow Shoe Club : its history and record 1840-1882

Règlements et Consitution de Club de Raquettes "Le Huron", Quebec 1885

The Aurora Show-shoe Club, Quebec 1885

Oritani Snow-Shoe Club Souvenir, N 1888

The Sporting Almanac 1839 -  London

Spaldings Official Foot Ball Guide 1909

Spaldings Official Rugby Foot Ball Guide 1914

Spaldings Official Soccer Foot Ball Guide 1907

Spaldings Base Ball Guide 1891

Outing: an Illustrated monthly magazine of Sport, Travel and Recreation Vol 18 - 1891

Outing - other volumes

Canadian Canoe Association - 1909

Fourth Annual Scottish Games, River Park, Winnipeg, 1909

Souvenir to Commemorate the Athletic victory of William J Sherring, Hamilton Ontario, honorary Citizen of Marathon, in the great International Marathon Road Race, Athens Greee, 1906

Baily's Magazine of Sports and Pastimes

Spalding's Official Athletic Almanac

Pugilistica: the history of British boxing