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Ontario

Remembering Mother Martha von Bunning, 1824 – June 13, 1868

Sr. Ann Marshall, csj

In recognition of the 170 years since the Hamilton foundation, I was asked to reflect on why Mother Martha is so significant to the Hamilton sisters. Her story is poignant and instructive, and its meaning is still unfolding. Her story as a Sister of St. Joseph reflects the pascal mystery of death and resurrection. Martha followed in the footsteps of Jesus who died an apparent failure.

We first heard Martha’s story following Vatican 11 when Rome directed all religious congregations to revisit their founding charism.  On hearing Martha’s story for the first time there was initial shock, surprise and a sense of embarrassment which gave way to anger/resentment.  Remember this was an era of awakening for women containing new truths and insights. We symbolized our support of Martha by the removal of a large picture of the first Bishop of Hamilton, Bishop Farrell, which had been hanging prominently in the Mother House and gifted it to the Chancery Office where it now hangs in the Diocesan library named after him. A more appropriate home for His Grace.

Mother Martha von Bunning
Mother Martha von Bunning

Martha was born in Germany, emigrated to the USA, and entered the Congregation in 1845 at the age of 21. She was missioned from St. Louis Missouri to Toronto and from there to Hamilton in 1852.   At 28 Martha was named the superior of the Hamilton community.  Martha understood that love is expressed in service of the dear neighbour and readily accepted the challenge of caring for the typhus and cholera victims of arriving immigrants but at a cost of the lives of the sisters.  Ten years into the foundation, in 1862, unjustly accused Martha was banished from the community by the Bishop. This resilient and humble woman made a second attempt at reconciliation in 1868 even though her health was failing but was again denied a meeting with the Bishop and made her way to Toronto, walking all the way. The archives are silent on this detail, however, she was warmly received by the Toronto community and died 9 days later.

I said earlier Martha’s story is instructive.  She was courageous in responding to unmet needs, resilient in the face of adversity, humble and forgiving in the dark night of unjust condemnation, and uncompromising in living the charism of unity and reconciliation. It seems to me that Martha’s short life reflects our own congregation’s Chapter Statement: Moving with Love and embracing each moment of possibility as a graced path to Transformation.   

The medical artifacts collection

Since 2016, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Consolidated Archives has participated in the medical artifacts cataloguing project with St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ontario. As part of this project, 17 university students have acquired skills in museum registration, and many artifacts have been cleaned, labelled, photographed, and catalogued.

It’s been a fun project, as we’ve collaborated with the hospital staff, Noelle Tangredi, on two museum exhibits: one at the Provincial Legislature, and the other at Museum London. Noelle does a wonderful job of preparing medical artifact displays in the hospital exhibit space in Zone A, Level 1, off the main corridor closest to Richmond Street. We were so pleased that this space was officially opened by Sister Jane Marie Stock of our Congregation. Sister Jane Marie became the business manager and personnel director at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, serving in this role from 1955-1966. From 1966-1979, she was the Assistant Executive Director of Financial and General Services at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and served as Superior at the hospital from 1975-1976. She also served as a member of many committees and boards including St. Joseph’s Health Centre, London and St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation of London.

Our Congregation donated powder coated steel shelving for artifacts storage, and our Congregational Archivist obtained funding from the Catholic Archives Group for a museum database so that catalogue records of artifacts are easily searchable. She also developed a manual for use in cataloguing the collection. In exchange for our support, the hospital has repatriated archival records from the period during which the Sisters administered the hospital, for safekeeping and long-term preservation in our archives. To us, this project has been a model of collaboration and love for the history of the Sisters.

Because of the pandemic, the medical artifacts cataloguing project has been on hiatus. We look forward to the day we can return to continue this important work.

Please enjoy this article from St. Joseph’s Health Care about this collection of intriguing medical implements and devices, which were used during the period that the Sisters ran the hospital. St. Joseph’s Hospital was founded by the Sisters on October 15, 1888 and administered by them until it became St. Joseph’s Health Centre in 1993.

https://www.sjhc.london.on.ca/news-and-media/our-stories/passion-our-past

Nurses in training, 1905, St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario
Nurses in training
St. Joseph's Training School and residence, London, Ontario
St. Joseph’s training school and residence, London, Ontario
Sister, doctors and nurses in operating room, St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario
Sister, doctors, and nurses in operating room
St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario 1915
St. Joseph’s Hospital, London, Ontario 1915
St. Joseph’s Hospital, London, Ontario

Researching your heritage home in Ontario

By Noelle Tangredi

There are many reasons to like old houses–the architecture, the decorative details and high ceilings. but many old home lovers feel a connection to the history of their old home. Every house has its story. Wouldn’t it be great to uncover those stories and learn about the families that lived there before you? It’s not that difficult to do—and believe me, it can become a little addicting!

Things you can often find out about your old home include: the year it was built, the first owners and or tenants, the original purchase price or historical assessments, information about historic land transactions and subdivision plans. You can also piece together stories of families that lived there and what their lives were like, if any of them went to war, what kind of jobs they may have had, when they were born, married and died and more. Nothing is a sure thing and sometimes information is limited, difficult to find or interpret, but once you find something, it’s hard not to keep going. Below are some tips on how and where to start.

Start with determining the build date

Check with your local architectural preservation society about your house first and see if there’s any information written on it already. If it’s a designated heritage home, there may be a report written on it. If you are interested in the architecture of your home, a good primer on architecture styles in Ontario can be found at this link: http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/index.htm.

The age of your house can be determined pretty closely by using several different resources:

Researching the building


Fire Insurance Plans

These are hand drawn maps that show what buildings were on a particular lot according to the date it was last revised. It provides a visual footprint of the building, what materials it was made from and if there are any outbuildings. These very helpful to pinpoint a timeframe for your house’s construction and even if there might have been another house on the lot that was replaced by the current one. The map provides clues to changes in the structure or house number or even street name changes over the years. These maps are often kept in City or County Archives or Libraries and are sometimes available online.

Fire insurance map
Fire insurance map (Detail from 1881 Revised 1888 Insurance Plan of the City of London, Ontario, Western University Archives)

City Directories

All cities had a directory that functioned as a phone book before there were telephones (and even afterwards). They have two sections. One is organized by street address (street names in alphabetical order, separated by odd and even numbers with cross streets shown). This section will show the name of the head of the household at each address. If you have an idea of when your house might have been built, start with that. If you find it, keep working backwards until you do. This will be the year it was finished and occupied. The previous year will likely be a more accurate build date based on when the information was gathered for the directory and when it was published. If you don’t find your address, keep going ahead until you do. Sometimes you’ll find it listed as “unfinished house” or “new”.

The second part of the directory is alphabetical by last name. Use this to find out the occupation of the head of the household and sometimes others living at the same residence (a wife’s name, for example). If the directory names the householder’s place of business, you can also consult the directory for more information on what kind of work was done there, the address and even sometimes an advertisement.


Directories are usually the easiest way to pin down information on your home’s history. These are usually located either in their original format or on microfiche in your local library or city and county archives. Some are even located online.

Tax assessment rolls, Registered Plans and Property Transactions

Although a little more complicated to get a hold of and understand, these documents can give you very interesting information about who built your house, when and for how much. What the land was assessed at for tax purposes over the years and even strange details like how many dogs, chickens or horses were on the property when it was assessed! It can also answer questions about whether the first occupants of the house were owners or tenants. These records could be located in your local city or county archives or possibly through your city hall.

Researching Occupants’ Lives

Canadian Censuses

Once you know the year of construction and the names of early occupants and possible occupations, you can start pulling out the stories of their lives. A good place to start is the censuses for your area. Library and Archives Canada has a searchable database here: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx. If you don’t come up with your people right away, try various family members and different years. Sometimes transcription or spelling errors happen in digitization. The census will reveal all of the people living in the house when the census taker visited the home. This is a good way to find out children’s names and the birthdates of family members to help with further research. You may also discover that others lived in the home, such as lodgers, other relatives or servants. Ancestry.ca also has census records and if you can’t find your people on the LAC site, you might have luck there.

Ancestry.ca

Armed with what you learned from the census will help you more accurately search in genealogy services such as: https://www.ancestry.ca/. Here you can find out birth, death and marriage dates and sometimes school info, photos and family trees. These details will help pull together various bits of information into stories, such as the lives of new immigrants, the birth of family businesses and the tragedies of early deaths due to local epidemics, war or accidents. Ancestry.ca is usually available for free through your local library.

Military Records

If you suspect that an occupant of your house may have served during wartime, you can search for and read personnel files on the Library and Archives Canada website. Ancestry.ca may have some documents but the LAC website has the complete files:
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/Pages/military-heritage.aspx.

Attestation paper
Attestation paper (Library and Archives Canada)

Local Newspaper Articles

Your local library or archives may have local newspaper articles available but likely not searchable. The website Canadiana.ca houses many digital documents and has a section with local magazines and newspapers. I’ve found that newspaper articles from “back in the day” usually include a lot of personal information, including home addresses. If you search these papers for you address, you may find some pretty interesting stories! Visit: https://www.canadiana.ca/collection-serials.

Newspaper article
Newspaper article (London Advertiser, May 1, 1908, Canadiana.ca)

These are just a few places for you to start. Local librarians, archivists and historians will be able to point you in the direction of more information. Happy researching!

Pembroke centennial

This year marks one hundred years since the Sisters of St. Joseph formed a community in Pembroke, Ontario. This slideshow celebrates their century of service in the Ottawa Valley.

Sisters of St. Joseph – celebrating 100 years in the Pembroke diocese from Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives

A short history of hospitals

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada administered a number of hospitals in Canada, including in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, as well as in Brazil.

The Pembroke Sisters established the Radville Community Hospital in Radville, Saskatchewan, and administered St. Joseph’s Hospital in Barrhead, Alberta and St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry’s Bay, Ontario.

Sisters' residence and first hospital in Radville, Saskatchewan
Sisters’ residence and first hospital in Radville, Saskatchewan

The Peterborough Sisters founded several hospitals in Ontario including St. Joseph’s Hospital in Peterborough as well as St. Joseph’s Hospital in Parry Sound, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in North Bay. They also journeyed to Estevan, Saskatchewan to establish St. Joseph’s Hospital. Travelling even further, they opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Itacoataria, Brazil.

St. Joseph's Hospital, Parry Sound, Ontario
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Parry Sound, Ontario

The London Sisters founded St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sarnia, Ontario. In London, they established St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital. They also set up several western hospitals including Stettler Hospital, Galahad Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital in Rimbey, and Killam General Hospital, all in Alberta.

St. Joseph's Hospital Galahad, Alberta
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Galahad, Alberta

The Hamilton Sisters established St. Joseph’s Hospital in Guelph, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Brantford, Ontario.

St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario

Our archives has records relating to some of these hospitals. We are also engaged in cataloguing medical artifacts from the time the Sisters administered St. Joseph’s Hospital in London.

Please visit: https://medhumanities.mcmaster.ca/index/libraries-archives-museums/c/congregation-of-the-sisters-of-st-joseph-in-canada-archives-(london-ontario)

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