Presentation by Dan Buchannon
7:30-9pm
Peterborough Lions Community Centre
347 Burnham St
Admission is free (Donations welcome)
Known as the ‘History Guy’ of Brighton, Dan Buchannon spent his career in IT with a side love, turned full time hobby of genealogy and history. His first book ‘Murder in the Family; the Dr. King Story’ combined the two, telling the story of a grand uncle who poisoned his wife and became the only person ever to be hung in Northumberland (1859). His second book ’38 Hours to Montreal’ tells the story of Governor General Charles Poulett Thomson and his need to get to Montreal quickly. In response to the Rebellion of 1837-38, he has been urgently tasked by his masters in England to modernize and improve the governments in the Canadian colonies. In just three months in Toronto, the governor general has managed to pass all the legislation he wants, but with politics heating up in Quebec and his bosses in England dangling a peerage over his head, now he must get to Montreal as fast as he can to do the same thing there. Enter “The Stagecoach King,” William Weller, who is famous for operating the Royal Mail Line of stages between Toronto and Montreal. Weller utilizes a complex system of stage stops staffed with experienced workers and is confident he can take the governor general to Montreal in under thirty-eight hours. Driving a very unique sleigh, specially modified for this trip, Weller pilots the governor general and his aid-de-camp Captain Thomas Le Marchant over 370 miles of snowy and muddy roads, avoiding dangerous obstacles and constantly moving forward. Dan Buchanan presents the breathlessly exciting journey that intricately explores Canadian history through the people, places, and buildings that existed along those treacherous roads in 1840.
The Peterborough Historical Society monthly speaker series takes place on the third Tuesday of September, October, November, January, February, March, and May. The meetings are being held at the Lions Club Centre on Burnham Street, starting at 7:30. Members, guests, and the general public are welcome.