"A window on the past to enrich the future"
December 2019 - ROBERT JAMES HEWSON (1881-1946)-THE GRANDFATHER I NEVER KNEW -- H. David Vuckson
My maternal grandfather Robert James Hewson, a prominent member of the Collingwood business community for forty years, was born in Osprey Township, Grey County, on January 3, 1881 in the dead of an Ontario winter. This was a time when there were no means of communication in rural areas especially in the winter when roads were virtually impassable and therefore he was delivered at home without the aid of an “accoucheur” or midwife. .... Read More
Stories of Collingwood
STORIES OF COLLINGWOOD 2017 - BY H. DAVID VUCKSON
January 2017 - Stephen Leacock and the I.O.D.E. at the Grand Opera House Read More
February 2017 - The Pretty River Oil Scam Read More
March 2017 - The Craigleith Shale Oil Works Read More
April 2017 - The Carnegie Library Revisited Read More
May 2017 - The Message of the Bluebird Staged Read More
June 2017 - Victoria Public School - The Grand Old Lady of Maple Street Read More
July 2017 - Town Hall Monuments of the Past Read More
August 2017 - Death Knell On The Hamilton and North Western Railway Read More
September 2017 - A Depression-Era Collingwood Ship Makes its Final Journey Read More
October 2017 - David A. Manson, Seller of Pianos and Wallpaper Read More
November 2017 - Fred O'Brien Wore Many Hats Read More
December 2017 - Joel Underwood's Creek Read More
Born, raised and educated in Collingwood and at York University, a descendant of one of the town’s pioneer families, David Vuckson has lived in Victoria, B.C. since 1977. His 5X great-grandfather Ferdinand Weber built pipe organs, harpsichords and pianos in Dublin, Ireland in the 1700’s and with an ear for music embedded in his DNA, music has been David’s life work as a piano player, organist, church musician, piano tuner and pipe organ tuner. Other major passions are his wife Pamela, history, writing, and genealogy. Semi-retired, David maintains a keen interest in his hometown and its past with his monthly Stories of Collingwood.
STORIES OF COLLINGWOOD 2019 - BY H. DAVID VUCKSON
January 2019 - FUEL FOR HEATING THROUGHOUT THE YEARS: FROM WOOD TO NUCLEAR ENERGY Read More
February 2019 - NEAR-DISASTER AT THE SHIPYARD Read More
March 2019 - COLLINGWOOD’S ORIGINAL REASON FOR EXISTENCE Read More
April 2019 - DOING THE LAUNDRY IN 1950’S COLLINGWOOD Read More
May 2019 - VETERAN SHIPS OF THE TOBERMORY/MANITOULIN ISLAND RUN—WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Read more
June 2019 - JUNE 22nd, 1959 WAS A BLACK DAY IN COLLINGWOOD Read More
July 2019 - THE ONE-TIME FISHERMAN AND A SNAPSHOT OF BYGONE COLLINGWOOD - Read More
August 2019 - ENTERTAINMENT IN MID-20TH CENTURY COLLINGWOOD - Read More
September 2019 - COLLINGWOOD TERMINALS OPENED 90 YEARS AGO - Read More
October 2019 - THE GLOBE HOTEL WITH A VIEW OF THE MOUNTAIN (1865-2012) - Read More
November 2019 - THE COLLINGWOOD CENOTAPH - Read More
December 2019 - ROBERT JAMES HEWSON (1881-1946)-THE GRANDFATHER I NEVER KNEW - Read More
STORIES OF COLLINGWOOD 2018 - BY H. DAVID VUCKSON
January 2018 - FROM GRAMMAR SCHOOL TO COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE - THE CONTINUING JOURNEY OF THE WISE OLD OWL AND ITS CONNECTION TO SEVERAL SCHOOL BUILDINGS Read More
February 2018 - THE UNSOLVED 1903 MURDER OF GLORY WHALEN Read More
March 2018 - THE ADVENTURES OF AN OFFICE BOY/MESSENGER IN THE COLLINGWOOD SHIPYARD WITH REFLECTIONS ON LAND USE ALONG THE WATERFRONT Read More
April 2018 - SCHOOL SPIRIT AT C.C.I. (WITH APOLOGIES TO THE HAMLET OF BOGNOR) Read More
May 2018 - THE S. S. JAMES CARRUTHERS—COLLINGWOOD’S TITANIC-STYLE DISASTER Read More
June 2018 - HEALTH CARE IN THE 1950’S, SMALL TOWN STYLE WITH DOCTOR BOB Read More
July 2018 - SCHOOL DAYS FIRST AID TRAINING, 1950’s STYLE Read More
August 2018 - THE REMINISCENCES OF A GRAVE DIGGER Read More
September 2018 - FOUNTAIN PENS, INK WELLS, BLOTTERS AND THE CHANGING FACE OF TIME Read More
October 2018 - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROBERT WEBER O’BRIEN—PIONEER COLLINGWOOD MERCHANT Read More
November 2018 - VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN ERA PASSENGER SHIPS AND THE EXTENSIVE USE OF WOOD BY BOAT BUILDERS Read More
December 2018 - REFLECTIONS ON THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IN MID-20TH CENTURY COLLINGWOOD
STORIES OF COLLINGWOOD 2016 - BY H. DAVID VUCKSON
March 2016 - COLLINGWOOD NEVER HAD A PIANO FACTORY Read More
April 2016 - COLLINGWOOD SHIPYARD DID NOT ALWAYS HAVE CRANES Read More
March 2016 - COLLINGWOOD NEVER HAD A PIANO FACTORY Read More
June 2016 - THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE WAS ONCE THE COMMUNITY GATHERING PLACE Read More
July 2016 - SHOPPING FOR SHOES WITH X-RAYS Read More
August 2016 - GAYETY THEATRE TOOK ITS NAME FROM A TORONTO BURLESQUE THEATRE IN 1928 Read More
September 2016 - A RETROSPECTIVE LOOK AT SOME HURONTARIO STREET FIRES Read More
October 2016 - COLLINGWOOD WAS SPARED FROM A FENIAN RAID 150 YEARS AGO Read More
November 2016 - ICE CREAM CONES, BOWLING PINS & BICYCLES Read More
December 2016 - THE TRAGIC LAUNCHING OF THE TADOUSSAC Read More