Skip to main contentDiary - Diary of Elisabeth Posthuma Gwillim entitled 1791-1796 Voyages | McCord Museum
Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was the wife of John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806), who in 1791 was appointed Upper Canada’s first lieutenant governor. For five years, Elizabeth accompanied her husband in the colony under his command. During her stay in North America, which she thoroughly enjoyed, she kept a personal diary and made many sketches and watercolours of Upper and Lower Canada.
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Diary
Diary of Elisabeth Posthuma Gwillim entitled 1791-1796 Voyages
Date
September 17, 1791 - October 14, 1796
Dimensions1 textual record ; 20 x 16.4 cm
Origin
Canada, North America
Object NumberS001/C3.8,3.4
DivisionArchives - Textual Archives
CollectionStewart
Scope and ContentIn the volume of her diary titled 1791-1796 Voyages, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim (1762-1850) describes her transatlantic voyage in 1791 from Weymouth, in England, to Quebec City. She also gives an account of the return voyage, undertaken in 1796.Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was the wife of John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806), who in 1791 was appointed Upper Canada’s first lieutenant governor. For five years, Elizabeth accompanied her husband in the colony under his command. During her stay in North America, which she thoroughly enjoyed, she kept a personal diary and made many sketches and watercolours of Upper and Lower Canada.
NotesSource of title: based on the nature of the document.
Immediate source of acquisition: The documents relating to Elizabeth Simcoe kept at the Museum come from the Vowler family, of Devon, England. David M. Stewart apparently purchased this “fonds” from the family in 1982 through the intermediary of a London antique dealer (apparently a Ms. Hoppen, possibly Stephanie Hoppen). At that time the fonds was placed in the Devon archives under the reference code 1038 M/F/1; it was subsequently divided in two between the Queen’s York Rangers regiment (Toronto) and the Stewart Museum.
General notes: photocopies and documentation available in the Lady Simcoe file.
Immediate source of acquisition: The documents relating to Elizabeth Simcoe kept at the Museum come from the Vowler family, of Devon, England. David M. Stewart apparently purchased this “fonds” from the family in 1982 through the intermediary of a London antique dealer (apparently a Ms. Hoppen, possibly Stephanie Hoppen). At that time the fonds was placed in the Devon archives under the reference code 1038 M/F/1; it was subsequently divided in two between the Queen’s York Rangers regiment (Toronto) and the Stewart Museum.
General notes: photocopies and documentation available in the Lady Simcoe file.
Status
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Diary of Elisabeth Posthuma Gwillim entitled 1796
July 25,1796 - September 8, 1796
S001/C3.8,3.3
Diary of Elisabeth Posthuma Gwillim entitled 1792-1793-1794
July 31, 1792 May 16, 1794
S001/C3.8,3.5
Collected poems of Elisabeth Posthuma Gwillim
May 1, 1797 - February 14, 1801
S001/C3.8,3.6
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, through the continent of North America, to the frozen and Pacific oceans; in the years 1789 and 1793
Alexander MacKenzie
1801
M6649
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, through the continent of North America, to the frozen and Pacific oceans; in the years 1789 and 1793: With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade of that country
Alexander MacKenzie
1801
M2006.73.5
Reglement Par lequel le Roy Ordonne que tous les Negocians qui feront Equiper dans les Ports du Royaume des Vaisseaux pour des Voyages de long cours, dont les Equipages seront de Quarante hommes & au dessus, seront obligez d'y Embarquer des Aumôniers, à peine de Deux cens livres d'Amende.
June 5, 1717 - June 8, 1717
S001/A2.2,5.10
Journal of the Labrador fur trading voyage of William Oliver Kennedy Ross
1909
M986.69.11
Carte du Golfe de St-laurent et Pays Voisins. Pour servir à l'Histoire Générale des Voyages
Jacques Nicolas Bellin
1757
1979.120
Personal diary of Marie-Angélique Hay Des Rivières, Novembre 6, 1847 to Octobre 28, 1848
1847-1848
M2012.63.1.3
This project is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Azrieli Foundation and Canadian Heritage.