The Sunderland & District Historical Society
Home of The Sunderland Museum
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In 1909 when the Vroomanton United Church brick building was built a time capsule was placed in the cornerstone. In 2026 after the sale of the church the capsule was removed and it’s contents will be on display at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival April 11 and 12 in the Sunderland Museum.
While he did not make ‘three score and ten”, G. Arthur Welsh’s accomplishments during his 68 years are most remarkable. Born in Sunderland, Welsh attended the local public school, Lindsay Vocational Institute and the University of Toronto where he graduated from the Faculty of Education. After a brief teaching career, in 1915 Welsh headed overseas … Read more
James Vrooman was born in the Niagara region in 1796 to a family of Dutch descent with deeply rooted United Empire Loyalist sentiments. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, this family hostility toward the Americans motivated a young James Vrooman to join the Glengarry Fencibles and defend British territory. Vrooman proved an exceptional … Read more
Philip St. John was born in Limerick, Ireland, his parents members of the Protestant Palatine community. (The Palatines were a people who moved from France to Germany and then to Ireland seeking freedom to practice their Protestant beliefs.) Philip St. John and his family immigrated to the United States in 1816, but their loyalist leanings … Read more
Walter Herbert “Mike” Sheridan (25 Nov 1921 – 6 Jul 2002) Mike Sheridan was born in Toronto in 1921. With the tragic illness of his father, Mike moved with his mother to live with his grandparents in Port Perry where grew up and attended school. Mike Sheridan enlisted in the Canadian Army on April 30, … Read more
Keith Rynard undoubtedly learned the importance of being resourceful and innovative from his parents, who in 1902, purchased the property now known as Rynbrock Farms located at lot 4,concession 5 in Brock Township. The Rynards were one of the first Brock families to install electricity in the barn and later to adopt the use of … Read more
James Ruddy came to Brock Township about 1822 from County Tyrone in Ireland. Ruddy, blessed with exceptional mechanical aptitude, built the first saw mill in Brock township on lot 6 concession 7 in Vroomanton. Such water powered mills produced sawn lumber allowing pioneers a means to convert log houses into more livable frame structures. Ruddy … Read more
An inductee in the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, Dr. James Clarence Rennie always saw the possibilities in new ideas. Born near Blackwater in 1926, he left home at the age of 16 to study at the Ontario Agricultural College, later completing post-graduate studies in livestock genetics at lowa State College. He taught for 22 … Read more
Born and having lived his childhood in China, Newton Reed finished his high school education in Oshawa, after which he enlisted with the Ontario Regiment for the remainder of WW II. After the war, Newton enrolled at the University of Toronto. He graduated in Divinity from Victoria College and Emmanuel College and was ordained in … Read more