Anne Ethel (Brown) Johnstone was the daughter of Richard Henry Brown and Barbara (Davison) Brown. She was married to Dr. L.W. Johnstone.
Richard Henry Brown was born 13 November 1837 at London, England, the son of Richard and Sibella Margaret (Barrington) Brown. R.H. married Barbara Davison (1842-1898) on 23 November 1864 and the couple had five children: Margaret Sibella, Elizabeth Purves, Anne Ethel, Richard Charles, and Lillian Seward. The family resided in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia where Brown worked as manger of the General Mining Association (later the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company), and served as the mayor of the town of Sydney Mines. Daughter Margaret (1866-1961) became an artist and served on the directorate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Richard Charles (1872-1928) studied engineering and worked with his father at the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company.
Richard Henry Brown was born 13 November 1837 at London, England, the son of Richard and Sibella Margaret (Barrington) Brown. Brown married Barbara Davison (1842-1898) on 23 November 1864 and the couple had five children: Margaret Sibella, Elizabeth Purves, Anne Ethel, Richard Charles, and Lillian Seward. The family resided in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia where Brown worked as manger of the General Mining Association (later the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company), and served as the mayor of the town of Sydney Mines. Daughter Margaret (1866-1961) became an artist and served on the directorate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Richard Charles (1872-1928) studied engineering and worked with his father at the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company.
Barbara Davison married Richard Henry Brown on the 23 of November, 1864. She had five children, Margaret Sibella, Elizabeth Purves, Anne Ethel, Richard Charles, and Lillian Seward.
"The Gaelic College was founded in St. Ann’s, Nova Scotia, in 1938, by people from the local community who wanted to create a memorial for the Gaelic speaking pioneers of Cape Breton. Efforts were spearheaded by Angus William Rugg MacKenzie, the minister at the Knox Presbyterian Church in nearby Baddeck. That year, the Cape Breton Island Gaelic Foundation began the work of raising funds to establish the Gaelic College. A committee toured the United States and Canada, raising money through $5 subscriptions. The first building at the site on the Bay of St. Ann’s was a log cabin raised in 1939. Classes in the early years included Gaelic language, Gaelic grammar, Gaelic song, bagpiping, the history of the Gaelic in Scotland, in Nova Scotia and in the rest of North America, as well as social economics. Classes in weaving, folklore and highland dancing were soon added. From its humble beginnings, this unique institution has expanded and gained an international reputation for its contribution to the maintenance and preservation of the language and culture."
Samuel Plant was a United Empire Loyalist who came from New York after the close of the American Revolution. He started a business which became one of the most prosperous mercantile ventures on the island. The Plant family's stone house in North Sydney remained in the family until 1937.
Eddie Parris was a former Alderman for Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Sid Kerner was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920. As a young man of 17 joined a Photo League where, with other photographers, attempted to reflect the times they lived in and to document what was wrong as well as what was good about our society. He also studied Modern Dance and was associated with a Theater/Dance group appearing on TV in 1939. During World War II, he served with the 28th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in the Pacific winding up on Okinawa. After the war, he became a documentary film camera operator. In 1953, he worked at NBC-TV as a lighting director and with the advent of videotape, left and joined ABC-TV again as a lighting director. He retired in 1991 though after retirement was an active worker on a photographic series entitled "Chelsea Document." He also taught two classes of photography in the local community centre in Chelsea, New York.
The Beaton Institute, and its predecessor Cape Bretoniana, has served as the regional archives for Cape Breton Island for the past 59 years. The Beaton Institute collects and preserves the social, economic, political and cultural history of the Island and through this mandate supports and fosters research related to Cape Breton – its people, its industry, its history, and its rich cultural heritage.
Fifty years ago, prior to digital technology, the information landscape was quite different; however, it was not without its challenges. Mother St. Margaret of Scotland (Sister Margaret Beaton), in her role as Librarian at Xavier Junior College, recognized that many documents of historical and literary significance to Cape Breton Island were being lost due to neglect and the lack of an appropriate repository. In a pro-active response to this challenge Sr. Beaton began collecting Cape Breton related documents and artifacts with the objective of preserving materials of historic significance for future scholars.
It all began in 1957 with the acquisition of the first manuscript – The Minutes of the First Agricultural Meeting in Cape Breton. Today, the Beaton Institute is recognized in the archival community as having a rich regional collection.
This collecting, in the beginning, was sporadic and unplanned – more serendipitous in nature, but fruitful all the same. By 1966, Sister Margaret turned her attention to building Cape Bretoniana and the College of Cape Breton Archives on a full-time basis. Cape Bretoniana grew substantially during these years with several appeals to the local community for donations of archival material. As a result there was the on-going need for additional space for the archives, first housed within the library then in the MacDonald Arts Building on George Street in Sydney, followed by a move to the MacLeod Building on Nepean Street in 1967 and then to the Logue Building at George and Pitt Streets in 1970.
In 1975, Cape Bretoniana was expanded to include two main divisions: the Archives and Institute Library, and the division of Ethnic Studies, Folklore and the Social and Cultural History of Cape Breton Island. In the same year the Archives was struck a blow with the sudden death of Sr. Beaton as a result of a car accident. The direction of the Archives was taken on by Dr. Malcolm MacLellan as an interim measure until the appointment of Dr. Robert Morgan as the permanent director and archivist. The Archives was renamed, the Beaton Institute, in honour of its foundress and as a pledge that the work of this outstanding woman would continue.
In 1979, the Institute, along with the rest of the Sydney Campus, moved to its new location on the Grand Lake Road. The Institute was located in the Information and Communications Centre near the Library and Art Gallery. The expanded quarters and improved facilities were the culmination of many years of planning and made the Institute one of Canada’s important regional archives.
Today the Beaton Institute is housed in a 17,000 square foot complex within the Student, Culture and Heritage Centre at Cape Breton University. The modern facility houses a reading room, the vault, several specialized collections rooms, offices and work room. The foundation of the Beaton Institute is its collection. The manuscript collection is particularly strong in the industrial, labour, and political history of Cape Breton. The audio visual holdings include an oral history collection, a wealth of material relating to Cape Breton social life, songs and ballads. The Celtic Music Collection includes hundreds of recordings of Cape Breton’s best fiddlers and pianists playing tunes, which are in many cases, one of a kind. The photographic holdings include over 60,000 images dating from the mid-nineteenth century and dealing with every phase of life on the Island.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the Archives is its special collections of ethno cultural materials. The collection reflects the many cultural groups present in Cape Breton including the Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotian, Jewish, Acadian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Polish and Italian communities. A great source of pride is the quality of Gaelic material including original manuscripts, tapes, a small reference library and a complete file of the Gaelic newspaper MacTalla, published for many years in Cape Breton.
It is through this collection that the Beaton Institute serves those who quest for knowledge – the student, the teacher, the filmmaker, the author, the genealogist, the community. The collection offers researchers a window through which to understand, compare, analyze and educate today by understanding and knowing our past. The goal of the archives is to collect and make available historically significant records in a manner that conveys the processes and contexts through which the record was created. The Beaton Institute has endeavored to preserve and make available those materials that have enduring value to our society. Today the Beaton Institute’s staff of five receives and responds to over 4000 enquiries a year from around the world.
Captain John MacDonald wasn't a fisherman but ran the schooners, the Apaco and the Molly to the Caribbean, Boston, and up and down the shore of Nova Scotia. He shared a story with his family about one especially eager passenger. In 1902, the community of Gabarus had a number of Roman Catholic families but no Roman Catholic Church, so the families collected money and charged one man, Joe, with accompanying Captain MacDonald to Halifax to buy the goods and to seek out donations from Halifax merchants and businessmen. After the journey to Halifax was completed and the goods were loaded on the vessel, the Captain found that his Joe was missing so the crew left the ship to search for him. After a little while, Joe was found, but without any donations. One crew member explained the circumstances simply, stating that they "found him in a cat house - money all gone!"
Margaret Sibella was the daughter of Richard Henry Brown and Barbara (Davison) Brown. Margaret became an artist and served on the directorate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Lillian Seward Brown was the daughter of Richard Henry Brown and Barbara (Davison) Brown.
Elizabeth Purves Brown was the daughter of Richard Henry Brown and Barbara (Davison) Brown.
Richard Charles Brown was the son of Richard Henry Brown and Barbara (Davison) Brown. Richard studied engineering and worked with his father at the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company.
The steamship Marion provided service from Sydney to towns and villages throughout the Island as well as to some destinations on the mainland. It operated for 40 years before it was destroyed by fire in 1922.
The Congregation of Notre Dame (CND) began the tradition of women's education on Cape Breton Island at the beginning of the 18th century at Fortress Louisbourg. The CND operated Holy Angels school for 126 years. Holy Angels is now the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation located on George Street.