AN IRISH HERITAGE: Two Hundred Years of the Kidd and Langstaff Families in Ontario – by Douglas Derry
In the early 1820s two families departed from separate communities in south east Ireland to start new lives in separate parts of south eastern Ontario. This is the story of those families which were ultimately joined in the marriage of the author’s maternal grandparents. After struggling for a living from the fast depleting soil of their new homesteads, the families found greater opportunities in other occupations and lifestyles in their new region and beyond. The story includes a current day pilgrimage of the descendants to the original farm sites and subsequent homes.
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A PASSAGE – by Douglas Derry
A story of a child with one foot in the 19th century but growing up in the mid-20th, maturing in the 2nd half and approaching completion in the 21st. Based on life in southern Ontario, this memoir addresses adventures in the 1950s, adolescent experience through the 60s, and life as an adult through the remainder of the century. The new millennium brings stories of adventures and life experiences over a rich and enjoyable time.
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MINING EXPLORATION: The Life and Times of Duncan R. Derry – by Douglas Derry
The search for minerals was the driving focus behind Duncan Derry’s chosen career. Working with some of the most successful mining men and international companies of the 20th century, he enjoyed a fascinating life.
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Unforgettable Journey : Diary of a trip to Canada of Duncan R. and Hugh G. Derry, 1924 – by Douglas Derry
Unforgettable Journey is diary of two English brothers, chronicling a six-week trip across Canada almost ninety years ago. Their first class trans-Atlantic voyage on the Caronia, life in upper social circles of Toronto, and descriptions of the trip by boat and train to the West and , are complemented observations on nature, the sights seen and the style of life.
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Making it Big in Canada: The Life of William Ramsay of Boland – by Douglas Derry
his the biography of a Scot who arrived with little in Toronto in 1854, became established as a wholesale grocer when wholesalers were central to business in the country, was involved in the development of railways and banks, and retired at less than fifty years of age with a considerable fortune to build another life over thirty years in Scotland.
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