1822 field notes of Osgoode Township by William McDonald in 1822

1822 Field Notes 

 1822 Field Notes - Transcribed

Surveys, Swamps & Scandals

What type of trees originally grew in this area? Was it always this wet (spoiler alert – seems so!)? In 1822, a survey party set out to work in the unceded lands that had become Osgoode Township. For weeks and weeks, they hacked their way through the original old-growth forest pacing out lots and concessions. At the end of each exhausting day, the men carefully recorded their observations or ‘field notes’ into a small leather notebook - The 1822 Field Notes of Osgoode Township - now stored at the Archives of Ontario. Join this talk to consider the work of the surveyors and the information revealed by their notes, drawn from a 2022 transcription of the notebook. How did surveyors profit from this information in their times, and how we can use this data to successfully reforest our communities? Sarah Cooper Godoy is always interested in old dusty books and small ink scribbles on the page. She spent some considerable time transcribing the original document – and is happy to share her findings with the extended community.

Watch Surveys, Swamps & Scandals Museum Talk on YouTube by clicking here.

Resources to Continue your Research!

Canadian County Atlas Digital Project

Eastern Ontario Model Forest 

Forest History of Eastern Ontario - uses field notebook survey data for research

GeoOttawa - City of Ottawa maps

Ontario Tree Atlas

Ontario Woodlot Association

Rideau Canal - the surveyors 

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority 

Shaw Woods Outdoor Educational Centre - in Eganville

South Nation Conservation Authority

 

Three Years in Canada - 1829 - contemporary descriptions of surveying and trees 

Voyages and Travels - 1791 - contemporary record of the landscape and travel in that time

 

Citations for images & content in Surveys, Swamps & Scandals:

Slides # 5, 7, 17, 21: Field Notes of Osgoode, Archives of Ontario [FNB 378]

Slide # 8: *****

Slide # 9:  Loyalists Drawing Lots For Their Lands 

Slide # 10: Public Domain Media Search

Slide # 11: illustration on left - 1866 Proceedings of the Association of Provincial Land Surveyors of Ontario 

Slide # 11: illustration on right - The Toronto Art Student League 1898

Slide # 12: 1809 Diary of Reuben Sherwood, Deputy Surveyor

Slide # 13: illustration on left - Colonial Sense - Gunter's Chain

Slide # 13: illustration on lower left: The Constructor

Slide # 13: illustration on right -  frontispiece from Samuel Wyld's The Practical Surveyor, 1780

Slide # 14: WikiMedia Commons 

Slide # 15: text: Library and Archives Canada - Land Petitions for Upper Canada 1763-1865

Slide # 15: illustration: Toronto Public Library Digital Archive 

Slide # 16: Google Earth 

Slides # 18: map from  The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project 

Slides # 19, 20: 1822 Map of Osgoode Township, Archives  of Ontario

Slide # 21: illustration on left - Field Notes of Osgoode, Archives of Ontario [FNB 378]

Slide # 21: illustration on right - Library and Archives Canada - Land Petitions for Upper Canada 1763-1865 - March 19, 1821 letter on behalf of Wm McDonald 

Slide # 22: 1822 Map of Osgoode Township, Map 4, Archives of Ontario 

Slides # 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28: www.wordart.com by SMCG

Slides: # 29 - 38: The Ontario Tree Atlas & Field Notes of Osgoode - Archives of Ontario [FNB 378] & Forest Plants of Central Ontario, Chambers, Legasy and Bentley, 1996

Slides # 30, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38: Three Years in Canada - 1829

Slide # 39: Gardening Know how - alder tree image

Slide # 41: Google Earth 

Slide # 43: photo by SMCG