Georgian Bay

Family History in Britt, Ontario

March 16, 2019 / 72 Comments

Our family history in Britt, Ontario, is rich and goes back to before the town had its name. Britt stretches down one road off Highway 69 along Still River to Lake Magnetewan and out to the mouth of Georgian Bay. 

Mom worked on a population study when she was in high school (in the late 60s) and reported five hundred people lived there then. Approximately, three hundred people live in Britt now.

Britt is a special place for our family.

Mom and dad live there now and I’ve visited for every summer of my life, starting at two weeks old.

Aerial view of the Magnetewan River.

Lamondin Family History in Britt

Lamondins have lived in Britt since the late 1860s. My great-grandfather, Louis Lamondin, was born there in 1877 and his brother George was born there in 1872. Louis Lamondin is verified as Métis. The family name was changed from Normandin to Lamondin in the early 1900s, although my grandfather, William, used both names. Normandin is an old voyageur name.

They told everyone they were French, from Normandy. But they were a Métis family.

Georgian Bay

This is a selection from the Métis Nation of Ontario’s Root Ancestor project for the historic Georgian Bay Community. Christina (Scholastique) Berger and Joseph Lamorandiere are my great-x2-grandparents.

Grandpa William, Florence, Ernest, Nye (Alcide), and Bernice grew up at Gereaux Island Lighthouse.  It marks the entrance to the communities from Georgian Bay. 

Great-Grandpa Louis Lamondin worked as the lighthouse keeper with his wife Cecelia Michaud.

And, his father, Joseph Lamondin worked as the lighthouse keeper before Louis with his wife Christine (Scholastique) Berger. Sixty years of Lamondins living on an island. I am the first generation to grow up away from Georgian Bay.

Old Britt Lighthouse Postcard
Great-grandma Cecelia Lamondin (Michaud) in Sudbury, 1940s.

Before working at the lighthouse, Louis was a Tug Captain for Graves Bigwood during the logging era. He also won a sail ship race and received a silver medal.

Here is a picture of Lamondin Point, named after Louis Lamondin:

Lamondin Point, Georgian Bay, 2018
Great-grandpa Louis Lamondin with his dogs, Whiskey and Wine.

My grandfather worked as a fishing guide at the Lorraine Club and the Duquesne Club taking groups of men out fishing. Here are some pictures shared with our family.

The first one will give you a sense of the size of boat used but this is another Lorraine Club guide in the boat who isn’t related to us.

And the next two include a picture of Grandpa Bill Lamondin and Uncle Ernest Lamondin.

My grandpa Bill Lamondin and great-uncle Ernest were fishing guides for the Lorraine Club.
This is a note from the Karwaski Family about their Uncle Wilfred Perrault, who was also a guide at the Lorraine Club with Grandpa and Uncle Ernest. I liked the details about the food!
Video of the newly rebuilt Duqesne Club from the air–gives a sense of the landscape. The old Duqesne Club burned down a few years ago.

My grandfather had a team of dogs he raced. He loved his dogs.

Grandpa William Lamondin’s Dog Derby Trophy. 48 minutes, 50 seconds. Feb 2, 1932.
Grandpa William Lamondin and great-Uncle Ernest with the Britt Hockey team 1940. Grandpa was the Captain.
Great-aunt Bernice and the Britt baseball team, 1935.
Grandpa William Lamondin with a shore lunch, 1950s.
Uncle Bruce (mom’s brother) with a tourist outside of Grandma and Grandpa’s cabins in Britt, mid-1950s.
Grandpa William and Uncle Ernest proudly holding their first borns, 1940s.
Great-Uncle Nye Alcide Lamondin is sitting behind the dog with the guitar. We have a rich history of family sing-songs. 1927. (Edmond Bechard, Nye Alcide Lamondin, Mary Masicotte, George Behcard, Lucien Ethier. Back of Rooney’s store.) Alcide’s son, Wally Lamondin, led many of our family sing-songs.
Grandpa William and Aunt Pat (mom’s sister) by the Britt CPR Coal Docks. (This was actually a postcard).
Grandpa William, Grandma Laura, and mom with some tourists, posing at a shore lunch, 1960s.

We have a history of Family Picnics out in the Bay and continue to spend time among these islands each summer.

Family Picnic, 1985.
Britt, 2013. The government dock, a popular swimming spot for those who live in town (and when my mom was a child here). The yellow building in behind was once the Britt Hotel which my great-Uncle Ernest was one of the founding co-owners when it was first built in 1946. Then it was recently The Little Britt Inn and now it is a private cottage.

Charron Family in Britt

Nearly five thousand people lived in the Britt and Byng Inlet area because of the coal docks in the 1930s.

Laura Charron moved to Britt from the Sturgeon Falls area when her parents got jobs at the boarding house behind the post office. Her parents were Olivier Charron and Marie Délia Bellefeuille. They spoke French and their family history traces back to the mid-1700s in Quebec.

Great-grandma Marie Délia Bellefeuille (on the right).

The Charron family history in Britt began when they started a boarding house. Grandma worked there as a child. Mom says Grandma and great-Aunt Blanche peeled 100 lbs of potatoes a day in the late 1930s for their dad, the chief cook, Olivier Charron.

Grandma Laura and her sister Blanche, early 1930s

My grandma Laura was a skilled seamstress. She could create anything.

She even made mom’s wedding dress. When Grandpa lost his arm while helping to build a chimney, Grandma worked many jobs to help support the family. She worked as store clerk, decorated cakes, sewing and alterations, and managed the guest cabins in their backyard.

Grandma Laura
Grandma Laura and Grandpa William, 1940s.
Grandma Laura and Grandpa William leaving for their honeymoon. 1942.

Laura and William had four children: Bruce, Pat, Estelle, and Maureen.

Bruce, Pat, and Estelle. 1950s.
Pat, Maureen, and Estelle. 1984

Outram Family in Britt (and area)

In 1909, Great-Grandpa George Outram and his brother Joe came to Sudbury looking for work from England. They got jobs with the Canadian Pacific Railway and married sisters in 1915. Kate and Marie Rasicot from Wanapitei area trace their family story back to Quebec in the early 1800s and were French.

Up until 1960, trains needed water and coal about every fifty kilometres. CPR transferred George to a small station with a water tower in Pakesley in the early 1920s (one stop north of Britt). His responsibilities included track maintenance and cooling the train engines with water. His brother Joe was at the Byng Inlet CPR Station, responsible for filling the trains with coal.

George and Kate lived in a CPR-owned house.

Dad said Pakesley had three CPR houses and a small CPR station with a water tower.  Since Highway 69 hadn’t been built yet, the only way to get in and out of Pakesley was by train.

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma George and Kate Outram

CPR transferred George again. This time George and Kate moved south to Dunlop. They lived in a house near the CPR station on the Still River at the North end of town. Since there was another Dunlop in Ontario, the town was renamed as Britt in 1929. (FYI: There was a large steam pump house that was coal-powered and pumped Still River water into the towers by the track).

Britt brought in coal from the United States by Great Lake Freighter style ships. The trains picked up the coal from the shipyards to bring it to Northern Ontario communities. 

CPR 100 Year Anniversary, 1981

No one owned cars.  Highway 69 wasn’t built until 1952. George and Kate could travel by water or rail. Tracks wound through the centre of town. (Coincidentally, Kate Outram and Laura Lamondin often rode the train together to get groceries.)

Great-grandma Kate Outram (Racicot)–I love this picture of her!

George and Kate had five children. Joe, Charlie, Frank, George Jr., and Emma grew up in Britt in a CPR house on the station side of the Still River. Charlie is my grandfather.

Grandpa Charlie and his brother, my great-Uncle Frank (with their father George Outram), 1940s

In 1939, Grandpa Charlie enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers.

For about five years he built Bailey Bridges. In World War 2, his division rehearsed building and dismantling bridges in the dark. He missed D-Day because he spent most his time in Holland, Belgium, and Germany.

At the end of the war, Grandpa Charlie got an early trip back from Europe to Canada on the Queen Mary. His mother, Kate, was dying.  She died a month after he arrived home.

Grandpa Charles Outram, early 1940s

Since he grew up with steam engines, becoming a Stationary Engineer was natural. He earned the ranking of second class Stationary Engineer.

Charlie worked in steam and heat distribution in large buildings in Toronto.  Charlie met my grandma, Grace, at the bank.  She worked as a teller. Grace Koster’s family has deep roots in Peterborough, Ontario.

Grandma Grace and Grandpa Charlie, 1949.
Grace Outram paddling on the Still River, 1949.

Every summer, they would return to Britt.

My dad remembers going to his Uncle George’s cabin which is two doors down from where dad lives today.

Dad in Britt, mid-1950s (in the bay near our current dock).
Grandma Grace with dad at his Uncle George’s cabin (two doors down from where dad lives today). Mid-1950s.

In 1961, Grandpa Charlie bought a cottage in Britt.

You couldn’t drive to it then and dad remembers having to hike through the bush to get there.

In the late 1960s, they bought a trailer park near the highway on the Magnetewan River and opened Camp Magnetewan (now called River Haven Resort). The family moved from Scarborough and now lived in Britt full time. They sold the camp in the mid-1970s.

Dad and his sister Debbie at Camp Magnetewan, late 1960s.
Camp Magnetewan, 2017. Now called: River Haven Resort

Mom and dad met riding the bus each day from Britt to Parry Sound High School. They have been married for 46 years.

Grandpa Charlie bought another cottage in Britt in 1977, two years after Grandma Grace died. He bought it from the estate of Margaret McDonald, a single school-teacher from Buffalo who would come to Britt each summer. Her family owned a property during the logging era. She bought Crown Land next to her family’s lot and built this cottage on the land in 1950.

Uncle Frank and his son Joe building an addition onto Miss McDonald’s cottage, 1971 (now mom and dad’s house).

Miss McDonald named the cottage Chez la Chat.

Great-Aunt Bernice Lamondin knew her and they were friends. Miss McDonald would bring lots of books and movies to Britt. She would show movies outside in the town in the evenings. Dad met her when he was ten. She had nieces staying in the loft at the cottage. I have some of Miss McDonald’s books. When I was a child, I loved reading all her old school books.

A few of Miss McDonald’s books

In the early 1980s when Grandpa Charlie died, mom and dad inherited the cottage. We spent every summer there as a family. My parents live there now.

Dad and mom, married at Britt Holy Family Church, 1973. Dave Outram and Maureen Lamondin.

I feel such a deep connection to this area.

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72 Comments

    • Lori McFadyen

      April 23, 2021 at 11:52 pm Reply

      I really enjoyed reading this history. I think Celina Michaud, who married into your family, was my great aunt. My mother’s family grew up in Britt. They were the Michauds. My grandparents were Alcid and Celina Michaud. They moved from Lost Channel to Britt in the 1920s, and had a farm outside of town near the rail tracks for many years. My Uncle Fred was killed, by a train long those tracks, while walking home one night. My Uncle Len Michaud returned to Britt after retirement and ran the post office into the late 80s. My Uncle Raymond Michaud lived his entire life in Britt. I used to visit Britt with my mom. I loved her stories and I wished I had written them down. She had wonderful memories of her childhood there, and is buried in the Britt Cemetery, at the foot of her parents’ grave.

  • Pat Skene

    March 16, 2019 at 2:30 pm Reply

    Oh my gosh…what a ride down memory lane! You did a great job Jess…loved all the pictures and commentary. So well done. Thank you for doing this, for all of us. ❤️

    • Andi

      March 17, 2019 at 2:10 pm Reply

      Jess this is amazing! We are all so blessed to have your talent and hardwork at play to capture family history. This story will continue to be read through many more generations! I know one person in particular who would be so delighted with what you’ve worked on!

      • Jessica Outram

        March 17, 2019 at 4:45 pm Reply

        Thanks, Andi! Your mom was always my best genealogy buddy. I have so many great family history memories with her. I was just remembering the other day that she and I went to Archives Canada to search for some good stories about our relatives.

  • Deborah Crawford

    March 17, 2019 at 10:52 am Reply

    Great article – your love and pride of the area and of your family shine through. I love Britt – we had a trailer several years ago and camped up there many weekends in the summer. Several other family members were born up there as well. Lots of cousins and kin in Britt. Thanks for sharing!

      • Banga

        January 16, 2021 at 12:02 am Reply

        Great family history
        I lived in Britt briefly and it was a great little town. Spent about 2/3 years there.
        I went to Britt puplic school and had Mrs Baggs as a teacher

        My father owned
        Still river truck stop just out of town.
        also called New Dearhorn truck stop at the time.

        Lots of great memories in my few years there

    • Larry Cervoni

      September 17, 2020 at 2:19 pm Reply

      Hi Deborah Crawford. My grandmothers maiden name is Crawford and her brother Robert (Bobby) Crawford had a cabin in Britt. His wife was Edith Bush and apparently she is from there. My great uncle use to take us up to Britt when I was quite young. They had a cabin somewhere there. Being so young I don’t know where in Britt. I have some really nice memories from there. Being a young kid from the city and going to Britt was a great treat. Years later I use to vacation in Pointe au Baril and once tried to find where the cabin was. I’m sure it wouldn’t be there anymore. It was a really basic cabin. Not sure if you can or want to help but would you have any idea of where this cabin use to be? It’s for if there’s a next time I’m up that way I would go see the area and for what I remember from being there as a kid.
      Thank you
      Larry Cervoni

      • Carol Boucher

        April 30, 2021 at 7:59 pm Reply

        LARRY CERVONI. I remembered your name from when we were young.
        Bob and Edith had a cottage up the hill from me. Edith was a relative of mine.
        Elizabeth (Liz, Little Bit was their daughter. Both Bob and Edith passwed away, Liz sold the property a couple years ago was on now called Eastside Drive, the property is empty. Liz had a trailer there until she sold.

  • Diana Karwaski

    March 17, 2019 at 9:53 pm Reply

    Dear Jessica!!! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy viewing all your videos!! Thank you for including pictures of my Dad, Uncle Wilfred and PaPere (Mom’s side) in your Duquesne photos in this video!!!. My first memories inscribed in my brain were at the Duequesne Club and Island. When I was a baby, all of my family with Grandpa Perrault were employed at the Duquesne Club including my Mom who was one of the first to cook/cleaner there with her Mom. My Dad guided as well as Uncle Wilfred (Perrault), My Grandpa Perrault hauled ice blocks with his horse to fill the ice house for use in summer months when guests would be there. His horse Paddy’s stable may still be standing, it was just a few short years ago. Anyway, just let me bamble/yamble on and on!!! Thank you for returning my mind to very fond memories!! Diana XXXOOO

  • Mary (Outram) Bertrand

    March 17, 2019 at 11:09 pm Reply

    Well done Jessica. Thank you!
    Though not living there now, Britt will always be my home. Oh so many wonderful memories.

  • John Newell

    March 19, 2019 at 10:10 am Reply

    Jess I love a good story, particularly one that is based on time and passage of family history. Thank you for doing and sharing this with us.

  • Dave Durham

    May 21, 2019 at 6:55 pm Reply

    Your grandparents Charlie & Grace lived at 20 Gable Place, Scarborough, in the early 1970’s. Your father was known to terrorize the neighborhood kids with his BB gun. I know because I lived at 6 Gable Place and was a friend of your Dad’s. I visited Camp Magnetewan with your Dad & Charlie and “King” (their German shepherd-Alsation). We took my motorcycle up there on a box trailer – It was a great weekend. That dog was fast – could keep up with the car. He also liked to fetch and pick up rocks (odd-but who’s going to argue with a dog that big). We also went to the bar in Britt one evening by boat. I guess you can’t get away with that nowadays. Info on your blog was enjoyable reading. The last I had heard of your Dad was when they moved to Manchester, Ont.

  • Gerry Shelswell

    November 2, 2019 at 4:03 pm Reply

    Hi,
    I came across your site when I googled Britt coal yard.
    I had a close friend, Tom Posie, who was raised in Britt and worked at the coal yard as a kid.
    I visited him there a few times and he always had some neat stories about Britt and growing up there.
    he’s gone now but his son, Tom, lives in Lake Dalrymple and is a good friend as well.
    Wondered if you knew of him.

    Gerry

  • Mickey Johnston

    November 29, 2019 at 7:06 pm Reply

    I enjoyed reading this account of your (our) family so much. When I was 9, I went to Britt in 1954 to attend the funeral of my great-grandmother, Basilisse Aglae Brebant (nee Lamoureux). We accompanied her body “up north” on the train from Toronto, and from Britt we had to transport her across the frozen river by horse and sled, to lie in state at her son’s house in Byng Inlet. When the time came, we had to take her across the river again for her funeral. She lies beside her husband in the Britt churchyard cemetery. We stayed in the hotel in Britt. When I asked for milk, they had to make it with condensed milk and water, a brand new experience for a city gal like me. My mom used to take me up to Byng Inlet in the summertime and your account of picking blueberries brought back so many memories to me. I couldn’t believe that bushes grew out of seemingly solid rock! I’m really almost brought to tears of reminiscence reading your prose. My mom died in February of 2018, and she talked all the time about growing up “on the river” in Byng Inlet. Thanks so much for adding this dimension to my life.

    • Jessica Outram

      December 1, 2019 at 8:19 am Reply

      My favourite thing about blogs is that they can connect people. Looks like we are distant cousins. It was a difficult way of life there in those times…it does seem like a miracle that blueberries can grow! Thanks so much for your comment.

  • Mike McClory

    February 18, 2020 at 6:30 pm Reply

    Thanks for sharing the memories of your families history. I wish I had as much information as you do, here’s what I know so far. My mothers maiden name was Latour her father was born in Britt in 1901 his name was Lawrence. His father Raphael (my Great Grandfather) was born in 1867 in Lafontaine and lived in Britt, Byng inlet and passed away in Midland. My Mothers family spoke the Ontario version of French.

  • April McClaskin-Fillmore

    March 23, 2020 at 12:41 am Reply

    I grew up in Britt. I really enjoyed your pictures. Surprised to see some of my relatives in there also like my Uncle Wilfred, my Great Grandfather Alfred Perreault. My Mom’s mother, Bella was Alfred’s daughter and Wilfreds sister and also lived at the Duquesne Club with my great Aunt Rose – Diana Karwaski’s mom and her other sister, my great Aunt Levine. You did such a lovely job of capturing this history I was pleasantly surprised when I came across your page. Thank you so much for taking the time in putting this together. You time and effort are clearly reflected in the quality. Again thank you so much, it was a treat walking down memory lane.

  • Suzanne Pauline (Biasucci) Hope

    July 24, 2020 at 8:13 am Reply

    Would love to connect with Bruce & Patsy + add to the history of the New Magnetawan Hotel that was founded by my dad William (Bill) Biasucci & Ernest Lamondin. Bill eventually bought Ernest out & I lived in the hotel & nearby house for 16 years when Dad eventually sold it & we moved to Sudbury. We have a cottage on the Bay near the light house. Please let us reconnect!!
    Suzanne Biasucci Hope

  • Philip Gevaert

    August 18, 2020 at 5:53 pm Reply

    Recently Britt and Bing inlet has been on my mind as I have gone through old photographs and memories. I am looking to revisiting the beautiful area. And I would like to find a historian to share my story. I worked as an engineer on the oil tanker Imperial Windsor around 1967 -68 and remember rowing across the river to the hotel which I think is now a private home. The fishing was great and some of the boys gave me theirs to mount. Unfortunately not all memories we’re good as we lost a shipmate who drowned getting across.
    I would like to find a contact so when I come I can give some pictures and a full story.

  • Joan Stefaniak

    March 16, 2021 at 8:48 pm Reply

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading your family history and your video on Britt area landscape. I am the niece of Margaret Macdonald the original owner of the cottage where your parents live. We spent two weeks in Britt every
    summer for a number of years. The video brought back many happy memories. I also recall meeting some of your relatives. Thank You for creating a wonderful video.

    • Jessica Outram

      March 17, 2021 at 9:00 pm Reply

      Thank you so much! My dad and other relatives have shared a number of Margaret Macdonald stories over the years. Everyone speaks of her so well. Tonight dad was telling me the story again about her bringing in movies and a projector to Britt in the summers…he doesn’t know how it worked when there was no electricity! My great-Aunt often spoke fondly of this tradition and knew your Aunt well! I loved her books as a child and I have a couple of them at my house. Unfortunately, I’ve lost a few over the years–I remember some wonderful old grammar books I loved that I can’t seem to find. You may have met my dad on one of your visits! I spent many hours when I was young thinking about what she must have been like, this teacher with all the books, and at the time imagined she must be a lot like a grown-up version of Anne of Green Gables! Thanks for reaching out!

  • Sue Fleming

    April 13, 2021 at 3:54 pm Reply

    Dear Jessica,
    What a great job you’ve done with your Britt family history! I have one too. My dad, Len Michaud, one of a family of 12, son of Alcid and Celina (Leroux) was born in Britt in 1923 and lived there till he went to work in Sudbury. He later returned with my mom about 1973 to be the PostMaster there.
    My mother’s mom was Albina Bellefeuiele from Sturgeon. We may be related, I’m not sure. 🙂 I remember Ernest Lamondin; he was really a nice person.
    And, thanks for the photo of Laura Charron and William Lamondin leaving for their honeymoon. I have a copy of it and couln’t figure out who everyone was. I have it noted as July 7, 1942, Sudbury CPR Station. I blieve the lady on the second left is my mom’s sister, Aurore (French) Legault. I was so happy to find all this! Thank you. I live in Ottawa now and may get to Britt as at some future date. It would be nice to meet you. Sue Fleming

    • Jessica Outram

      April 16, 2021 at 9:11 pm Reply

      Thanks so much for reaching out! Did people call your mom Nellie?! I’ve heard your parents were good friends with my grandparents. Mom thinks we have photos in storage too. If you’re ever in the Britt area, let us know.

      • Sue

        April 26, 2021 at 11:16 am Reply

        Yes, she was often called Nellie and they were all good friends and cousins. I will connect with you for sure when we get to Britt. Thanks again. Sue Fleming
        By the way, I made a mistake, my dad, Len Michaud, was born 1921; he would have been 100 on Apr. 23!

          • Gayle Carter

            June 1, 2021 at 10:46 am Reply

            Interesting reading the history about Britt. It is a beautiful part of the country. My mom was Theresa McKillop (Sangelais) and was born in Bying Inlet. Married Al McKillop. Her parents were Flora Sangelais (Prisque) and Ernest Sangelais and her brother was Richard Sangelais. Flora’s Mother was Marie Lavallee and her father was Stephen Prisque. Ernest Sangelais’ mother was Lena Recollet and his father was Joseph Sangelais. All are buried at the Britt Cemetery. I noticed that Sangelais can also be seen as Singelais.

            • Cheyenne Mcneil

              January 13, 2022 at 10:19 pm Reply

              Hi Gale! My name is Cheyenne, my mother and I are looking for my grandpa’s biological father. He was searching for him but sadly he passed last year. My mom and I have continued the search and we believe his dad to have been either Albert/Al/Alfred Sangelias or Ambeau! If you don’t mind we’d really love to talk to you!

              What we do know, is my grandpa was born Leo Therrien, to Ida May Therrien in Britt, Ontario. He had one brother close in age at the time, and both were taken by CAS. Ida had since passed and never mentioned her sons to her other children but ensured to have Therrien listed on her grave stone (we believe so her kids could find her if need be)

              If you think you can help or would like to chat my email is cheyennexmcneil@gmail.com thank you so much!

  • bronwen lamondin

    May 28, 2021 at 12:11 am Reply

    I knew next to nothing about my family history and I truly thank you for the information you have gathered.
    Not sure how exactly were related but im sure were cousins are some sort xD

  • Bobby

    June 10, 2021 at 10:18 pm Reply

    Hi Jessica,

    My grandmother’s maiden name is Baron, she married Duilio De Martin. The first name of my grandmother is Victoria. Her parents, my mamère & papère Baron. My nonno, Duilio De Martin worked about 54 years for the CPR, and then retired in Britt, where he grew up. He died when he was 92 years old, in his home in Britt. My mamère & papère Baron lived in Britt a long time, and that is where they died. I can’t seem to find much history on my mamère & papère Baron. I am wondering if you may be able to help me out here?! I can tell you what I do have, my nanny, Victoria is a twin I was told. They also said that papère migrated up to Quebec from somewhere in the United States, met mamère and ended up in Britt sometime after? I heard the state Lousianna mentioned? I’ll give you some information on my nonno, Duilio De Martin, as it may help you tie in any information that you may have on my mamère & papère Baron. Duilio De Martin migrated from northern Italy as a young teenager and ended up in Britt. I believe his dad was with him, we called him old nonno. I’m not sure if anyone else made that trip, probably but I don’t know for sure? Duilio & Victoria De Martin had 8 children, one of them being my mom of course, Maria (Mary), may her beautiful soul Rest In Peace❤️
    There were 4 girls & 4 boys born to my nanny & nonno! My uncle Richard, aunt Betty & my mom have all passed, may God bless their souls🙏🏽 I have one uncle who is living in Britt, my uncle Ernest (Ernie), who lives in Britt with his wife Charlene, they have a daughter Amanda, who is married now and lives in Toronto.

    Thanks Jessica

    Bobby

  • Stanley Secord

    October 6, 2021 at 1:45 pm Reply

    You mentioned you are from the Clermont Dusome line, so am I , and so is my wife, Marguerite nee Charlebois. So it is possible we are related.

  • Ann Marie Hansen

    December 4, 2021 at 1:38 pm Reply

    I was just recently researching some information on Britt after we had taken a roadtrip there this summer with my mom, when I came across your post I loved looking at the pics and reading your information. She lived in Britt as a young girl across of the church which we also visited. From what she could recall it did not look like the house was still there. Her father (Albert Paradise) worked for the railway and it could have been one of their houses they lived in. I am just looking for any information on their family roots. She remembers going to church at the Holy Family Church and she alsoremembers her dad helping build the community buildingbehind the church. If you have any information on their family I would love to hear about it or if you could point me in the direction to start looking that woul also be great!! Thanks

    Ann Marie Hansen

  • Jennifer Ethier

    April 11, 2022 at 5:42 pm Reply

    Hello Jessica:)

    Lucien Ethier, the man in one of the photo’s, is my great uncle. Do you happen to have any information about him and why he was in Britt?

    Thank you kindly,

    Jen

    • Jessica Outram

      April 14, 2022 at 7:20 am Reply

      Good morning! He is my great-Aunt Muriel’s father. I can ask some cousins about what brought him to Britt. My guess is they came with many others during the late 1800s and the logging boom. The area was bigger than Sudbury at the time and many were drawn to Britt/Byng Inlet for work. The three biggest industries there being: logging, coal, and the rail. My great-Aunt Muriel and great-Uncle Ernest lived in Britt and later in Sudbury (and then back to Britt) during their lifetime.

      • Jennifer Ethier

        July 13, 2022 at 10:15 am Reply

        My apologies for the delay! Thank you for the information:) it would be lovely to know more about him. I have so little information on this side of my family and it means so much to me. Thank you for your time, truly💕

  • Kim Gibson

    May 9, 2022 at 11:11 pm Reply

    Hi Jessica!
    I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of your family in Britt. I have a few questions I was hoping you might be able to answer for me in regards to my fathers adoption. I believe we may be cousins but I need to confirm a few things if you wouldn’t mind sending me an email sometime I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

    kimamygib@gmail.com

  • Rebekah Hunt

    August 30, 2022 at 4:05 pm Reply

    Once knew Jim Outram. Met him and some of his family from what I can remember his mom, dad and a sister, all those years ago. But Jim and our gang ran the waters and roads of Britt, and from Parry Sound to Sudbury and beyond! Every Summer for 4 weeks from circa 1970 to well into the 1990’s. 1994-ish the last time I saw him. He also visited us and my family in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio 3-4 times over the years. Once in a van full of Boy Scouts. The good times and memories we once had are endless. Jim and all the boys in Britt were the best of friends withmy brother Tim, and I got to tag along….. I am now 64 and lately my thoughts are full of those days in one of this worlds most beautiful places. Full of beautiful people, many like family and I will never forget. The Outrams, Zimmers, Lacosse’s, Harry Rudolph…. Deshevy’s, Glenn and Mark Barron, the St. Amants boys, Bouchards, McLeod’s, Beverly and the Prisque’s, the Lawlor’s, too too many just awesome friends and fun to mention….. Never forgotten.
    I look through piles and piles of photo’s of what you show the world in this video. All that I once knew there are now gone. I’m left wondering why life took such beauty from me. Not able to return, all the voices, and love I once knew in that beautiful place now gone. But my heart like yours still sings Praise Above!! For once knowing them all…..Hallelujah!!

  • Morgan

    September 26, 2022 at 11:57 am Reply

    My dad’s family is from Britt. My grandmother, his mother, is in the 1935 Britt Girls Baseball Team, Louise Zanatta. My grandmother married my grandfather, Harold Gay, in Britt.

  • Judy Carter

    October 2, 2022 at 10:06 pm Reply

    Jessica could you please tell me how you got the photos of the guides at the Dusquesne Club and of Wilfred Perrault in the boat at the dock.

  • Noel

    October 26, 2022 at 10:56 pm Reply

    Hi – really interesting stuff – great photos! I had the chance to visit Britt and Byng Inlet for the first time in late Spring this year. My link is that my great-grandfather, Alexandre Therrien moved there from Lafontaine in about 1905, and my great-uncle Jean-Baptiste was born there the following year (the youngest of nine children). My grandfather, Joseph William and his brother Narcisse (Nelson) both joined up and served in France in the First World War. My understanding is that my grandfather farmed land where the old OPP station is in Still River. He married in Byng Inlet North, and he and his wife Grace had nine children – only three born in Byng Inlet and the other six born in Gogama, As far as I can discover, the family left the area for Gogama towards the end of the 1920s. Most of my grandfather’s siblings remained in the area, some of them marrying into the Boucher, Romanuck, and Newton families. I hope to back for another, longer, visit in the Spring.

    • Cheyenne Mcneil

      November 1, 2022 at 6:15 pm Reply

      Hi Noel! The names you mentioned line up with what we know about my grandfather! He’s since passed and we’re looking for information on his mother Ida May/Mae Therrien! I know she has siblings one of which was Nelson Therrien and Nellie as well as Nora! If you are willing to chat I’d love to talk more about this! My email is Cheyennexmcneil@gmail.com

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