A History of Upper Canada’s Early Naturalist – Charles Fothergill

UXBRIDGE: North Durham Nature Club is hosting guest speaker John Sabean on Tuesday, April 22nd at 7 p.m. Mr. Sabean will be speaking on Charles Fothergill, a history of Upper Canada's early naturalist.

Charles Fothergill came to Canada in 1816 with the express purpose of compiling a complete natural history of the British Empire. To that end, during the 23 years he spent in Upper Canada he compiled extensive notes on the flora and fauna and created a museum of stuffed animals, artifacts, and artwork. Had he succeeded in publishing his work he would be known today as the Audubon of Canada. Alas, life intervened.

John Sabean will bring to life the natural history work of Charles Fothergill which took place over two hundred years ago. John Sabean is a cultural historian with interests in natural history and Canadian art. Trained in medieval and early modern British and European history at the Universities of Chicago and Guelph, he is now a retired professional book editor and spends most of his time writing about local history.

He is a co-founder of both the Pickering Township Historical Society and the Durham West Arts Centre. His published works include: A Boy All Spirit: Thoreau MacDonald in the 1920s (2002); Time Present and Time Past: A Pictorial History of Pickering (2000); and The Travel Journals and Correspondence of Charles Fothergill 1816-1840 (2023).

All are welcome to this presentation to be held at the Uxbridge Seniors Centre, 75 Marietta Street in Uxbridge. Visit www.northdurhamnature.com for information about our outings and other talks.