Local historian, writer and speaker, G. William (Bill) Streeter of Southampton, has spent the last 15 years researching and preserving local and military history.
Streeter was instrumental in creating the Commemorative Banner Project in Southampton, Port Elgin and Saugeen First Nation, in addition to researching and providing historic details for the many interpretive plaques found throughout the municipality. He has also received the Municipal Heritage Award for his research and continuing to promote history in a positive and interesting way.
A long-time member of the Bruce County Historical Society, Streeter has also given many talks on Canada’s involvement in WWI and WWII to many organizations and is considered an expert on the subject.
Now, Streeter has uncovered, and will be presenting, his own family history that began in England when his namesake and grandfather, George Streeter, became a Barnardo Boy emigrating to Canada at 10 years of age.
In the 1800s, the Barnardo project in England focused on the resettlement of young boys, who were orphaned or living in poverty, in what were, at the time, the British Colonies. The boys who were sent to Canada and, some such as Streeter to Bruce County, became Home Children assigned to families to work doing chores.
Bill Streeter will present his family story and those of the Barnardo children on September 29th, presented by the Bruce County Genealogical Society at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre. Seating is limited and, therefore, registration is required – 519-797-2080 or by QR code.
