Women's Institute inventory now available on-line

Interested in local history or family ancestry? Find out how the Bruce County District Women’s Institute records can help you.

The W.I. records tell the story of Bruce County’s history from the perspective of the women living in the communities. Reading through these volumes can provide information on people, places, businesses, schools, churches, community events, farm histories, and more!

Details about the Bruce County District Women’s Institute collection can now be found on the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre's collections website: collections.brucemuseum.ca and can be viewed in the research room at the museum in Southampton.

Many of the county’s W.I. branches have donated their records to the Bruce County Archives in Southampton for preservation under a formal agreement with the Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario. There is a great deal of rich history here, with 70 different W.I. branches in Bruce County dating back as far as 1898; 16 branches are still active and always looking for new members.

The information consists of administrative and historical records reflecting the activities of the various branches of the Women’s Institute across Bruce County. It includes minutes, financial records, Tweedsmuir community histories, and current events scrapbooks.

Sue Schlorff, archival assistant at the museum, and Judy MacKinnon, district W.I. Tweedsmuir co-ordinator, have had a productive year organizing and inventorying these records.

In particular, the Tweedsmuir community histories, named for Lady Tweedsmuir, reflect the history of the communities represented by the different W.I. branches.

Lady Tweedsmuir, wife of Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada from 1935-1940, was an enthusiastic Women’s Institute member in England. In 1940, she suggested that the ladies of the W.I. in Ontario record their community histories.

In the foreword to the Tweedsmuir volumes, she wrote:

“It is a most useful and satisfying task for Women’s Institute members to see that nothing valuable is lost or forgotten, and women should be on the alert always to guard the traditions of their homes,…. The oldest people in the village will tell us fascinating stories of what they remember, which the younger members can write down, thus making a bridge between them and events which happened before they were born. After all, it is the history of humanity which is continually interesting to us, and your village histories will be the basis of accurate facts much valued by historians of the future …”