1869 SUPER, ORIGINAL DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A YOUNG BRUCE COUNTY, ONTARIO WOMAN WHO ACTED AS AN ACCOUNT MANAGER FOR THE FAMILY BUSINESS BELONGING TO HER FATHER, ONE OF TARA'S EARLY SETTLERS AND A FOUNDER OF ITS FIRST MANUFACTURING BUSINESS

On offer is a remarkable diary handwritten in 1869 by Mary Ann Richards, who lived in south-western Ontario. Mary Ann, aged 28 at that time, was a daughter of Henry Nicholas Matthias Richards, who arrived in Canada from Wales with his brothers in 1830s, built many stone buildings in Kingston and Toronto, and in 1850s moved to Tara, a small village located between Owen Sound and Southampton where he founded a saw mill which became Tara's first manufacturing business, and who also was Worthy Chief of the Independent Order of Good Templars, and a member of the first Public School Board of Trustees. Mary Ann Richard's diary covers the year of 1869, and though most entries are very brief and businesslike, they create a picture that is far from common stereotypes, showing a young woman who is actively involved in the family business, keeping accounts and business correspondence. Though she makes weather records and mentions sewing, quilting, dying yarn and learning to make lace, and paying social visits, the main part of her diary are thorough records of business operations, payments, debts settlement, expenses, work done by employees, purchases and prices. According to the diary, Henry Richards was a very active businessman, who travelled a lot in the county, making several transactions almost every day, varying from as little as 50 cents to several hundred dollars. Here are some typical entries: "McDonald here, he paid Mr. Allen $100. Mr. Allen gave us $100, we gave him back $10 on act. Thompson had $3.00 worth of butter. Charley had 6 ½ lbs of pork at 10c.", "Father bought a span of horses, harness and sleigh, and gave eighty five dollars for them"; "Mr. Grey rented our house for $36 per year and he is to pay taxes and insurance". Another often subject of her entries are Order of Good Templers lodge meetings that took place at their home, and sermons they attended in church, she often records the number of chapter and verse that were the subject of the sermon: "We all went to meeting in the evening. Father and I went to the English church. Text - "You cannot serve two masters"", "Hiscocks preached text Ephesians 4: 20-21". The diary mentions many names of the first settlers and business owners in Tara, Owen Sound and Port Elgin, including Donald Sutherland, Chesterfield, Armstrong, Vandusen, and many others, which may be of interest to local historians and genealogists, and also portrays local economy of the time, giving details of labor cost and prices, including prices for clothing and food, horses and cattle, and even for dentist's work: "Me and Alley got some teeth filled, cost $2.00. I went out to Couches and got my cap fixed". At the end of the diary there is a list of bills and checks with numbers and dates. Condition: the diary is rather fragile, many pages are getting loose, the cover and bottom edge are chipping, the spine is partly detached; the text is clear and not damaged.; Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, CANADA, SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO, BRUCE COUNTY, PORT ELGIN, TARA, INVERMAY, OWEN SOUND, FARMERS, FIRST SETTLERS, LOCAL BUSINESSES, SAW MILL, AGRICULTURE, ECONOMY, METHODIST CHURCH IN TARA, INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS, LEDGER, BOOK OF ACCOUNTS , BRUCE COUNTY GENEALOGY, 19TH CENTURY HISTORY, 1860S, CANADIANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, AMERICANA, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL