Peterborough Examiner Fonds 340

Location TVA

Date of the items:

Physical description:

Title: Peterborough Examiner Fonds 340

Creator: Peterborough Examiner and its staff

Repository: Trent Valley Archives

Reference number: TVA Fonds 340, arranged in several sous fonds, as described.

Scope and contents: Microfilm, 1004 reels; Photographs, 14,000; Negatives, c. 500,000; NYB 15,000; Vertical Files, c. 80 cu ft; Manuscripts, 12 cu ft (and counting); Newspapers, c. 20 cu ft.

This is a large archival fonds that is organized around several sous fonds as follows:

SF A Microfilms, 1847-2008, 1004 reels, see Scope and Contents report

  1. Peterborough Despatch, 1846-1852, weekly, reel 1
  2. Peterborough Weekly Review, 1854-1857, reel 2
  3. Weekly Examiner, 1858-1885, reels 3-10
  4. Daily Examiner, 1885-1887, 3 reels
  5. Examiner, 1888-2008, reels 14-1004, 991 reels

TVA has a set of Examiner microfilms, Fonds 188, with slightly different arrangements. This
fonds also includes microfilms for Peterborough Review and Peterborough Times.

Our microfilms were used with those of the Peterborough Public Library to create a digital copy
that is accessible on Archive.org. Search by newspaper titles.

SF B Photographs, 25 boxes, 12 cu ft, c. 12,500 photos, 1960s to 1980s; see Scope and Contents finding aid.

  1. Photographs 3×5 People
    Busts of people who would appear in the Peterborough Examiner, one column width,
    arranged alphabetically. Listing being prepared.
  2. Photographs 5×7 People
    Busts of people, two-column width, arranged alphabetically. Listing being prepared.
  3. Photographs large format
    There is a very useful finding aid for this series, F340 series B3
    Photographs often featured in tabloids, and covering a wide range of subjects, and widely
    in the Peterborough and Northumberland counties and neighboring areas.

    1. Places, Apsley to Young’s Point
    2. People, includes seniors and winter scenes
    3. Work, often tied to annual Progress Edition of the Examiner, March
    4. Activities, including Arts and Water Festivals to theatre to weather
    5. Sports, including Baseball, Dog Races; Figure skating, hockey, lacrosse,
      yachting and other sports
    6. Distant places
      Includes Royal Family and some world events
    7. More people
      Arranged in rough alphabetical files
  4. Photograph Historical Library, 1158 photos or negatives, 1920s-1977
    There is a detailed listing of the items in F340 series B4.

SF C Negatives, mostly 4×5 and 35 mm negs, See Scope and Contents report.

  1. Yunge-Bateman Photographer 1959-1964, 15 feet, c. 15,000 images
    These are organized by year, month and project. The photographer’s numbering has been retained. One number for year [9=1959; 0=1960; 1=1961; etc.]; two numbers for month; two or three numbers for project.
  2. Examiner Photographers, 1970-2002, c. 500,000 negs.
    The negatives were kept on a daily basis and the photographer generally hinted at the subjects contained within the envelopes. These are either 2×2 or 35 mm negatives and these have been (or are being) placed in print preservers.

    This was the focus of a Trillium Funded project June 15, 2022 to June 15, 2023. See Cut lines summary of photos that appeared in the Examiner, 1970-1971. These items are also accessible by scanned copies of photos, which includes more than those that were published, and often have several shots related to those that were printed. As well, there is an Excel listing of the day by day photographers assignments and a count of negatives. The photographer did not always note his subjects for the day, but some of these have been identified, and we hope that volunteers will be attracted to this project.

    A searchable online listing from October 27, 1970 to October 31, 1971 including the cut line, summary, and one related low resolution photo is available.

SF D Library Vertical Files, mainly clippings kept by the Examiner Librarian, c. 1970s to 1990s

  1. Biographical, c. 7,500 files, 1970s to 1990s, 56 vols., 28 cu ft.
    Files are arranged alphabetically and tend to include local newsmakers and some names
    of international prominence, including for the Royal Family and world leaders
  2. Subject Files, c. 51 cu ft, in some 12,000 files

SF E Newspapers hard copy

  1. Peterborough Examiner, 1965; 1970-1973; 2008-2009
  2. Vintage newspaper files, 14 vols
    1. Examiner weekly, 1882, 1887
    2. Examiner daily, 1885 31 May-Dec, vol 1; 1888 Jan-June
    3. Peterborough Times, 1881
    4. Review, weekly, 1887, 1890, 1892, 1893, 1898
    5. Review daily, Mar-Jun 1895; Apr-June 1897; Jan-March 1904
      TVA has many other hard copies of newspapers in other fonds.

SF F Editorial and reporting files

  1. Municipal Reporting, c. 12 cu ft, 1980-1990, See Scope and Contents report
    Correspondence, reports, clippings, agendas, and other materials related to the Examiner
    coverage of City Hall proceedings. Municipal reporters included Jim Hendry. Organized
    by subjects arranged alphabetically
  2. Sports Desk (in process)
  3. Ed Arnold’s editorial desk (in process)

SF G Outsize items (in process)

Access Conditions: No Restrictions for research; consult with archivist re: publishing

Finding aids: Contained here and with Scope and Content files as noted above.

Accruals: It is hoped that the digital photo collections since 2002 will find an archival home here.

Custodial history: These papers were donated to the Trent Valley Archives in 2011. The early organization of the papers was accomplished by a great team of some 40 volunteers, and the continuing efforts of volunteers continues. The supervision was by the archivist, Elwood Jones. Some volunteers took responsibility for specific sous fonds.

Biographical sketch/ Administrative history: The Peterborough Examiner traces its origins to 1847, as the Peterborough Despatch, renamed in 1858 to the Examiner or variations of the name (Morning Examiner, Evening Examiner, Daily Examiner, etc.)

List of Files: See the separate reports of what is available.