Fun Facts – Know How, the blog of the Great Library

The Librarian that Never Left: The Haunting of the Great Library

We’ve spoken at length in the past about the Great Library ghost that former Head Librarian George Johnston reportedly saw in the 1960s. In this blog post, I would like to speculate that the studious ghost may in fact be Hugh Nelson Gwynne, Head Librarian of the Great Library from August 1842 to December 1872. During his tenure as Head Librarian, he also acted as the Secretary and Sub-Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Bizarre Laws: They’ve Taken My Horses!

In this new series we are going to investigate some current (and still in force) laws that seem either quite outdated or downright silly in the current era. To do this, we will use our legislative research skills. First, we will trace back the law and see if we find any clear sense of legislative intent. Then we will note up the statute to see if any case law can shed some light onto why it might still be in force.

19th Century Winter Wonderland

While it certainly felt like winter a few weeks ago when we had a huge fall of snow for some in Ontario, and a few centimetres closer to Toronto (though Toronto itself barely saw any), the current rainy weather is making it feel more like spring. We thought this would be a perfect time to conjure up some winter scenery from the past that you can read while you cozy up near a fire with a warm beverage of your choice.