Current News
Welcome to our website!
The Friends of
the Schoolhouse web site will keep you informed about The Old Britannia Schoolhouse and the
activities and events planned by the Friends' organization. We encourage
you to check this site often. New information will be added monthly.
Winter Olympics
February every four years brings the Winter Olympics. An outgrowth of the Summer Olympics, this has been a tradition since 1924. The original games began in Greece at Olympia in 776 BCE and were only foot races. Summer games were held for a number of years in the late 1800s that involved many countries. They were not officially called Olympics. In 1908 the games were held in London and among the events added was figure skating. This was possible since at that time London had an artificial ice surface. Figure skating lasted only a few years. Then in 1924 Chamonix hosted the first Winter Olympics and figure skating returned and has been part of every Olympics since. It’s unlikely that in the early years the folks of Britannia had much information about the Olympics.
Canada has done well in figure skating. Barbara Ann Scott was the nation’s sweetheart when she won gold in 1947. The city of Ottawa, her home town, honoured her with a yellow convertible and a parade. She was forced to give back the car since as an amateur athlete she couldn’t accept money. How times have changed! For the better.
This year the games are held in four different locations in Italy including Milan and Cortina. Enjoy watching them on TV if you can’t get to Europe.
Canadian Winter Sports
The village of Britannia would have been busy with outdoor activities during the late 1800s winters. People skated, played hockey and curled on frozen ponds or the river. Snowy hills were perfect for sledding and a few tried skiing, though downhill skiing was not as popular as cross country.
Even before hockey was invented, a similar game called Bandy was played with balls and sticks. It was often called Shinny. Canadians insist they invented the game of hockey, but there is debate about where and when. Games similar to hockey were played long ago in England and since very early times by Indigenous people in Canada. The town of Windsor, Nova Scotia claims to be the location of the first game, however, Deline, NWT in the Arctic says Sir John Franklin's crew played the British version of Bandy on the ice there in 1828.
An excellent CBC video, "Who Invented Hockey?", discusses the controversy.
One thing all agree on is that the modern era of hockey began when the first indoor game organized by James Creighton was held in Montreal in 1875.
Coming Events
Open Sundays are the second Sunday of the month from 1 until 4 pm in December, April, May and June.
Time to Renew Your Membership
Our membership year runs from January to December. Membership forms for renewal or new membership are on this website. Click here to get the form.
Echoes of the Past
This book, written and published by Friends of the Schoolhouse, documents the history of all of the
rural one room schools that existed in Peel County.
Full colour, 208 pages, $30
It is available at all our events or from any member of the Friends of the Schoolhouse
Executive.
There is a $10 charge for mailing.
Book Talks
Since the book, Echoes of The Past, was published in May 2016, the
writers have been giving illustrated talks to historical societies and other interested groups. We
talk about the book and tailor each presentation
to suit the audience and the one room schools that were in their local area.
If your group
would be interested in having a presentation, please contact Daryl Cook
dlcook@rogers.com for further information.
Come and Join Us
If you have a couple
of hours a month or only a few hours once or twice a year you could help us support the schoolhouse
and its programs. The executive committee meets on the second
Tuesday of the month from September to June to conduct the business of the Friends of the
Schoolhouse and to plan programs and events. Our meetings are from 4 to 6 in the afternoon at the
schoolhouse. Volunteers help on an occasional basis
with our events and in the gardens. Not only do we support a worthwhile cause, we have a lot of fun
doing it. Email our Executive Director Shirley Hoad at shoad@bell.net, if you have a few hours to spare
and an interest in helping preserve a community treasure for future generations of children.
Mark Your Calendar
To see a list of our year's events go to the Events page.
Researching our Roots
There is still much more to discover about the Old Britannia Schoolhouse and other early one room schools. Read below for a wish list of "Wanted" items that will help us learn more about our historic schoolhouse.
For use in a book on one-room schools in Peel County:
- Minute Books
- Cash Books
- Class Photos
- Report Cards
- Prize Ribbons
- Medals
- Certificates
- Shields
- Contracts
- Trustee Memorabilia
- Teacher Memorabilia
- Newspaper Clippings
- School Registers
Your contribution will be acknowledged. Materials supplied will either be returned to you or donated to the Peel County Archives on your behalf.
SLATE Group
SLATE stands for So Let's All Talk Education (in a one room school), or as one witty person suggested, being truly Canadian, So Let's All Talk Eh! Each year for a day in the spring people involved in working or volunteering in living history one room schoolhouses get together to exchange ideas and learn from each other. We meet at a different schoolhouse location each year which gives everyone the opportunity to experience how living history is presented in a setting different from their own.