May 29, 30, & 31 at 7:30 PM Saturday, May 31 at 2 PM
Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Peter Robinson settlers from Ireland to our district in 1825, ‘Crossing Over’ is a fictionalized account of the voyage of the emigrant transport ship, John Barry.
Get your ticket, step back in time, and set sail with the Hagertys, Nagles, Owens, Regans, Ryans, Slatterys, Sullivans, and Youngs on their perilous, six-week journey across the Atlantic. This story of tremendous courage in the face of the unknown is narrated by John Keleher, an experienced seaman and Peter Robinson settler.
Prepare yourself for the ride of your life: storms, seasickness, scarlet fever, family feuds, petty larceny, plots and counterplots, rotting potatoes, mutiny, and the lash.
(More information.)
Tickets are $30 or $40 for cabaret table seating.
Tickets can be purchased from the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre box office, Monday to Friday, noon to 5 PM, by phoning (705)-749-1146 or by emailing boxoffice@markethall.com.
Join Us for Our Annual General Meeting
Thursday, May 22 at 7pm Highland Park Cemetery Visitor Centre
Presentation by guest speaker Dennis Carter-Edwards.
Dennis Carter-Edwards is a local historian and the author of the recent Peterborough Historical Society Occasional Paper “From Tap to Toilet: The Introduction of Water Works and Sewers to Peterborough” about the development of Peterborough’s water and sewage systems. Though taken for granted today, the supply of safe water and the treatment of human and industrial waste had a major impact on the quality of life for Peterborough citizens and the progressive development of our community.
Although essential, these improvements were frequently the subject of endless debate at city council where community leaders argued about whether or not these services should be public or private. In the end, Peterborough acquired a sewage and water system that put it at the forefront of municipal development, but not without some contention. Using new images and documentary sources, Dennis will tell the full story of how these systems arrived in (and completely transformed) our community. Register for this free event
Have you seen the updated Heritage Gazette?
We are pleased to continue and expand on the pioneering work of archivist Elwood Jones and Steve Gavard as we explore the near and distant past in this full colour publication. View the current and past issues
Your long weekend plans just got a little more historic, because our first local history tour of the season is THIS SUNDAY, May 18th at 2pm! Led by local historian and Trent Valley Archives archivist Elwood Jones, "The Irish Arrive, 1825" chronicles the arrival of 2,024 Irish emigrants on the shores of Little Lake in October of 1825. A part of the Peter Robinson assisted emigration, these men, women and children would spend their first few months in the burgeoning community of Peterborough before making their way to the farm lands that had been allocated to them in the surrounding townships. On this downtown walking tour, you'll learn about what life was like for the emigrants immediately after their arrival, and get to see the former locations of places that would have been familiar to them, like the depot and Peter Robinson's headquarters.Tickets cost $20 each and can be purchased on Eventbrite, here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-irish-arrive-1825-tickets-1347293363719?aff=oddtdtcreator. If you are unable to make it out to the tour this weekend, don't worry! We'll be running it again next Sunday, May 25.[Image Caption: A float in the Homecoming 75 Parade, from our Elaine Goselin fonds]. ... See MoreSee Less
Our Annual General Meeting is quickly approaching! Come out to the Highland Park Visitor Centre next Thursday, May 22 at 7pm to hear local historian and author Dennis Carter-Edwards speak about his recent Peterborough Historical Society Occasional Paper "From Tap to Toilet: The Introduction of Water Works and Sewers to Peterborough," about the development of Peterborough's water and sewage systems. While being able to flush your toilet and wash your hands with running water from a tap seem second-nature today, both were novel concepts in turn-of-the-century Peterborough and our water and sewage systems took time to implement. In his presentation, Dennis will explain the challenges faced by City Council as they worked through the details of both municipal expansion projects and tried to reach a consensus on how these services should be administered after countless debate at council meetings.More information about the presentation can be found in our Eventbrite listing, here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/annual-general-meeting-with-guest-speaker-dennis-carter-edwards-tickets-13473.... Advance registration is not required, but we encourage you to register so we can get a sense of how many people will be attending. The presentation is free to attend and open to the public, but it will be followed by our Annual General Meeting, which is only open to Trent Valley Archives members. If you are a TVA member, please check your inbox for an email from us with the agenda for the meeting. ... See MoreSee Less
The Bicentennial of the Peter Robinson Irish Emigration is well underway, and we are proud to take part! Whether it's through helping people in our community make connections to their Irish ancestors through genealogical research, documenting the history behind the emigration in our publications and our Heritage Gazette, or bringing the story of the emigrants to life on the stage and in the street with our theatrical productions and walking tours, the story of the Peter Robinson Irish Emigration is top of mind at TVA this year. Although we're welcoming researchers from all over the world to our archives building to conduct research using our collection of 1,200 archival fonds and our extensive research library, most of our Bicentennial themed events are concentrated in May and August (when we are takinNine Ships 1825Ships 1825's official bicentennial commemoration week of August 1-10). This month, our main focus is our Trent Valley Archives Theatre production of Crossing Over, which dramatizes the voyage of the John Barry, the last emigrant transport ship to leave Ireland in May of 1825. It will be performed at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in Peterborough on May 29, 30 and 31 at 7:30pm and May 31 at 2pm. Tickets cost $30-$40 and can be purchased on the Market Hall website, here: tickets.markethall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=433Also in May, on the 18 and 25 at 2pm, local historian and TVA Archivist Elwood Jones will transport you back to October of 1825 on his downtown walking tour The Irish Arrive: 1825, when 2,024 men, women and children arrived on the shores of Little Lake in Peterborough after a long journey from Ireland to Upper Canada as part of the Peter Robinson Emigration. Tickets cost $20 each and can be purchased on Eventbrite, here: www.eventbrite.ca/o/trent-valley-archives-9633726313Our Bicentennial themed walking tours will continue during the official Bicentennial Commemoration Week of August 1-10, when we'll be running not one, not two, but THREE different walking tours: Peter Robinson's Peterborough and Peterborough's Pioneer (First) Cemetery in the downtown core, and Beyond the Ships' Lists: The Peter Robinson Settlers and Their Descendants in St. Peter's Cemetery. Tickets to each of these tours cost $20 each and are ticketed separately on the Nine Ships Eventbrite, here: www.eventbrite.ca/o/nine-ships-1825-106499497281To inquire about our resources or any of the events we have organized to commemorate the bicentennial, please email us at admin@trentvalleyarchives.com or call us at 705-745-4404. ... See MoreSee Less
Our first tour of our 2025 tour season is this Sunday, May 18 at 2pm! On The Irish Arrive: 1825, local historian and Trent Valley Archives archivist Elwood Jones will transport you back to October of 1825, when 2,024 men, women and children arrived on the shores of Little Lake in Peterborough after a long journey from Ireland to Upper Canada as part of the Peter Robinson Emigration. Before proceeding to the farm lands that had been allotted to them as part of this government assisted emigration scheme, they set up camp in Peterborough. This downtown walking tour will paint a picture of what life was like for the emigrants during their first few months in their new home. Along the way, you'll get to see the area where the 1825 depot was, as well as Peter Robinson's headquarters. Tickets cost $20 each and can be purchased on Eventbrite, here: www.eventbrite.ca/o/trent-valley-archives-9633726313. If you are unable to make it out to the tour this weekend, don't worry! We'll be running it again next Sunday, May 25. ... See MoreSee Less
