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Photo by P199, Wikimedia Commons
David Bruce Ridpath born in 1884 in Lakefield. He was a high scoring right winger of the 1911 Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators.
Ridpath was on his way to a glorious hockey legacy before tragedy struck. On Toronto’s busy Yonge Street an automobile ran into him, fracturing his skull. Though he attempted a comeback, the accident cut his career short in 1912.
Mid-July
Lakefield is known as the “Cradle of Canadian Literature.” In commemoration of Margaret Laurence, Catharine Parr Traill, Susanna Moodie and our community’s ongoing literary heritage, the Lakefield Literary Festival showcases Canadian authors and promotes the joy of reading and writing among children and adults.
The Lakefield Literary Festival celebrates the rich literary heritage of its locale and showcases many current Canadian authors with events scheduled throughout a weekend in mid-July close to Margaret Laurence’s birthday. Events provide an opportunity
Jean Margaret Laurence (born as Jean Margaret Wemys) was one of Canada’s most beloved writers. She is best known for her Manawaka novels — The Stone Angel (1964), A Jest of God (1966), The Fire-dwellers (1969) and The Diviners (1974).
Margaret Laurence was born in the town of Neepawa, Manitoba, the inspiration for the town of Manawaka in her novels. She lived in Neepawa until she was 18.
In 1974 Laurence made her home in Lakefield, Ontario. She also bought a cabin on the Otonabee River near Peterborough.
Catharine Parr Traill, née Strickland, was a pioneer writer and naturalist who wrote about life as a settler in Canada.
In 1832 Traill immigrated to Canada with her husband, half-pay Lieutenant Thomas Traill, and settled on the Otonabee River near Peterborough, Ontario. There Traill wrote her most famous book, The Backwoods of Canada (1836), a factual and scientific account of her first 3 years in the bush.
She died at her residence Westove in Lakefield, Ontario in 1899.
Photo: 19th-century writer Catharine Parr Traill at “Westove”, her home in Lakefield from 1860 until her death in 1899. (Photo: Traill Family Collection, National Archives of Canada)
Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, named their downtown campus after her.
Susanna Moodie, née Strickland, sister of Catharine Parr Traill, was an author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time.
In 1832, Moodie with her husband and daughter immigrated from Suffolk, England to Upper Canada. The family settled on a farm in Douro Township, near Lakefield.
Her increasingly highly regarded book, Roughing it in the Bush (1852), detailing her experiences on the farm in the 1830s, have made her a legendary figure in Canada.
You can find the sign on the place of Susanna Moodie farm at the beginning of Moodie Drive if you turn the right from Stenner Drive.
Moodie’s books and poetry inspired Margaret Atwood’s collection of poetry, The Journals of Susanna Moodie, published in 1970.
Established in 2014, The Canoe & Paddle is an English pub and restaurant located in the historic Hamblin’s building beside the river in the beautiful village of Lakefield, Ontario.
We specialize in freshly made classic pub fare, with Ontario craft beer, top quality local music and amazing daily specials and events. Our dedicated staff and friendly service ensure everyone feels like part of the Exton family!
July
Each summer, on the first Saturday of July, Lakefield hosts the annual Jazz, Art and Craft Festival at Isabel Morris Park, an event featuring open-air jazz concerts and displays from local artists.
The park is beside Lakefield’s scenic Otonabee River.
The museum, which is housed in Christ Church, houses important historical artifacts and displays of Christ Church and the 1855 burial grounds, the Strickland family history, Lakefield’s literary history (Susanna Moodie, Catharine Parr Traill, Isabella Valancy Crawford, Margaret Laurence), and pictorial displays of Lakefield from the late 1800′s.
The Christ Church Burials Records covering a span of thirty years from 1855 to 1886, give us an interesting picture of life–and death–in the small village of Lakefield in the 19th century.
Photo: Google Street View
