Newton McFaul MacTavish (1875-1941) was a Canadian journalist, art critic and early art historian. Born in Staffa, Ontario, he became a reporter at The Toronto Globe in 1896 and was its assistant financial editor until 1900. From then until 1906, he studied English literature at McGill University while working as a correspondent and business representative of The Globe in Montreal. In 1903 he married Kate Johnson. Between 1906 and 1926, MacTavish was the editor of The Canadian Magazine in Toronto. In 1910 he travelled to Europe and visited the Canadian artists J.W. Morrice and John Wentworth Russell in Paris. He subsequently (1922-1933) served as a trustee of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia conferred honorary degrees on Newton MacTavish in 1924 (M.A.) and 1928 (D. Litt.). From 1926 to 1932 he was a member of the Civil Service Commission of Canada. A founder of the Arts and Letters Club (Toronto), he was also on the editorial advisory board of and contributor to the Encyclopedia of Canada (1932-1935). In addition to his articles, essays and short stories, MacTavish was the author of Thrown In (1923), The Fine Arts in Canada (1925, the first full-length history of Canadian art), and Ars Longa (1938). A fourth work, Newton MacTavish’s Canada, was published posthumously in 1963. He died in Toronto in 1941.
Florence Wyle, sculptor, was born in Trenton, Illinois November 24, 1881. While studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905, she met Frances Loring, with whom she later moved to New York. Loring moved to Canada in 1912, where Wyle joined her the following year. They each produced a considerable body of work in their studio, a converted church, in Toronto. A member of the Ontario Society of Artists (1920), Wyle was the first woman sculptor to become a full member of the Royal Canadian Academy. She was also a published writer (Poems, 1958). Among her public sculptures is the relief of Edith Cavell on the grounds of the Toronto General Hospital. Florence Wyle died in Newmarket, Ontario January 13, 1968. Loring & Wyle’s works are in the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian War Museum and in several public and private buildings in Ontario.
Frances Norma Loring, sculptor, was born in Wardner, Idaho October 14, 1887. She studied sculpture in Geneva, Munich and Paris 1901-1905. In 1905 at the Art Institute of Chicago, she met Florence Wyle with whom she subsequently shared studios in New York (1909-1912) and Toronto (1912-1966). A member in 1920 of the Ontario Society of Artists, she was a founding member (1928) of the Sculptors' Society of Canada and a chief organizer of the Federation of Canadian Artists and the National Arts Council. Among her best-known public monuments are the lion of the Queen Elizabeth Monument in Toronto (originally near the entrance to the Queen Elizabeth Way) and war memorials at St Stephen, New Brunswick and Cambridge (formerly Galt), Ontario. Frances Loring died in Newmarket, Ontario February 3, 1968.
Ulrich S. Leupold (1909-1970) was a professor and Dean at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary in Waterloo, Ontario. He obtained his PhD in musicology from the University of Berlin in 1932. He was ordained by the Canada Synod in 1939 and served as a pastor until 1945. He was appointed Principal in 1969. He authored, arranged, and composed numerous works. Wilfrid Laurier University's Leupold Residence is named in his honour.
Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was Canada's eighth Prime Minister, holding office 1896-1911. Laurier was born in St. Lin, Quebec. He received a law degree from McGill University in 1864, and practiced law in Montreal and Arthabaskville from 1864-1896. Wilfrid Laurier was Liberal party leader from 1887 until his death in 1919.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established in 1955 by the Canadian/U.S. Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries. The commission coordinates fisheries research, controls the sea lamprey, and facilitates cooperative fishery management among the state, provincial, tribal, and federal management agencies.
Jack (John Richard) Chambers, artist and experimental filmmaker, was born in London, Ontario in 1931. He studied at the Escuela Central de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid from 1957 to 1959. In Spain he met Olga Sanchez Bustos, whom he married in Canada in 1963. They made their home in London and had two children, John (b. 1964) and Diego (b.1965). Chambers’ style of painting and drawing in the 1960s was characterized by a dreamlike quality. Toward the end of that decade, his work became intensely focused on the depiction of reality, often relating closely to source photographs, most of which were taken by the artist himself. Between 1964 and 1970 Chambers also directed eight films. The subjects of his work were often domestic or regional, focusing on his experience in London. In 1967, Chambers founded Canadian Artists’ Representation to try to establish fee scales for reproduction rights and rental fees for works in public exhibitions, and served as president from 1967 to 1975. In 1969 Chambers published his essay “Perceptual Realism”, and that same year, was diagnosed with leukemia. From 1971 to 1977 he worked on “Red and Green,” a study of art and perception (unpublished). Chambers died in London in 1978. His work is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and numerous other Canadian galleries.
Denis Landry est né à Azilda en Ontario, le 16 mai 1919. Il a commencé l’école à l'âge de sept ans et a gradué de la huitième année de l'École Publique Azilda #2, à l’âge de quatorze ans. Landry n’a pas pu continuer son éducation pour des raisons économiques. Il a commencé à travailler sur la ferme familiale où il s’occupe de la pasteurisation du lait et prend soin des animaux. Landry épouse Thérèse Paquette, le 6 janvier 1945. Sept enfants naissent de ce mariage.
Landry est un catholique dévoué qui aime la musique religieuse. Il est membre de la chorale de la paroisse de Chelmsford et quand la paroisse Sainte-Agnès est formé, il devient le directeur de la chorale pendant vingt ans.
Landry est une figure importante dans le secteur d'éducation dans les régions d'Azilda et de Chelmsford. Il joue un rôle significatif pendant la création de la Commission scolaire séparée du Roman Catholic Separate School Section No.1 [RCS.S No.1] en 1955. Il est nommé commissaire de la Commission scolaire séparée RCS.S No.1 de 1955 à 1956. Grâce aux efforts des commissaires, les écoles catholiques dans le district No.1 et No.2 se fusionné en 1961. Landry est élu président de la Commission scolaire séparée RCS.S No.1 & 2, le 7 janvier 1961. Les assemblés pour la commission sont tenus à l'école Ste-Marie à Azilda. Les commissaires de la Commission scolaire séparée jouent un rôle important dans la création de deux nouvelles écoles séparées; l’école St-Patrick et l’école St-Dominique-Savio. En 1965, Landry est nommé commissaire pour le Chelmsford Valley District High School Board. Il sert six ans comme commissaire pour ce Conseil pour assurer que tous les enfants catholiques de la région puissent poursuivre leurs études au niveau secondaire. En 1968, le Ministère de l'Éducation décide de restructurer l’administration en Ontario. Landry est nommé par le Chelmsford High School Board pour servir sur le comité 'Add-Hoc' pour préparer les documents nécessaires pour la restructuration des conseils scolaires en Ontario. Nommé représentant des écoles séparées de l’Ouest Landry tient ce poste pour douze années. Il dévoue 32 ans de service comme commissaire pour les écoles séparées et donne à une nouvelle génération d'enfants catholique française de la région de Rayside Balfour l’occasion d'apprendre et de grandir dans un système d'éducation convenable.
Lors de sa participation à l'évolution du système d’éducation à Azilda, Landry travaille comme mineur à Inco pour soutenir sa famille. Après 43 ans de service, Landry prend sa retraite et continue à travailler comme un agent d’immobiliers. Il est fier de la culture française. Son enthousiasme pour l'éducation, le village d'Azilda et la culture française l'inspiré à écrire et publier le livre Azilda, comme je l’ai connue.
Landry est aussi membre de la Coopérative funéraire et un membre fondateur du Club d’âge d’or d’Azilda. Denis Landry meurt le 6 mai 2008 à l'âge de 88 ans.
Knox Presbyterian Church in Burlington, Ontario was established in 1845 as Knox Presbyterian Church, Wellington Square. It wasn't until 1873 that the name of the town was changed to Burlington. Land was donated for a new church by Andrew and Martha Gage, and a small log building was constructed in the summer of 1845. The church was governed by a united Session with Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterdown, until 1877. In that year, a new church building was constructed as well. In 1925, the congregation voted to remain with The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Anna Belle Wing Kindlund (later Mrs. Alois Trnka), 1876-1922, was an artist born in Buffalo, New York. She studied with W. Hitchcock in Buffalo, and G. Bridgman in New York. She was a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists and the New York Society of Craftsmen, and is listed in Who Was Who in American Art as a painter and miniaturist.