From the Depth of our Collection

Stephanie Miles has spent the past two months working as a Collections Assistant at Goulbourn Museum. Today marks her last day with us.  During her time here she has spent hours meticulously going through our collection cataloging and photographing artefacts. This is one of her favourite finds:


By Stephanie Miles

While going through a few artefacts I was surprised to uncover a book on the legendary ocean liner the R.M.S Titanic. The book, The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters: Thrilling Stories of Survivors, was donated to the Goulbourn Museum in 2011 by Donna Foster.

Having been published in the year of the historic event, 1912, it is in surprisingly good condition for its age with the exception of its missing spine and the delicate nature of the pages.

This artefact led to many questions in my mind. Why was the artefact donated here to the Goulbourn Museum? Is it possible that a citizen of the former Goulbourn Township was a survivor or a relative of a passenger on the Titanic? If so then what stories might they be able to share about this ill-fated ship?

The Titanic sank approximately 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. Interestingly, 100 years earlier during the War of 1812, many ships carrying Irish soldiers enroute to Canada also sank off the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland when their vessels hit rough seas.

Help Bring Clarence Evelyn Rielly's War Medals Home!

It has recently come to the attention of Goulbourn Museum that a collection of war medals, belonging to Richmond's own Clarence Evelyn Rielly have appeared in an auction hosted on EBay. With the community's help we hope to bring Rielly's medals home to preserve this local hero's story for future generations.

Photo Showcased as Part of Auctioned Collection

Clarence Evelyn Rielly served as a Sapper in the First World War with the Canadian Engineers and continued on to serve in the Second World War with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). When Rielly first enlisted, his attestation papers show he worked as a telegraph operator from Richmond. Rielly was born in 1892 and was 24 years old when he enlisted.

This collection includes Rielly's WWI War Medal and Victory Medal, Second World War Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM) and War Medal, along with his RCAF Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, general service badge and RCAF Reserve service badge. Also included in the collection are two black and white photographs showing Rielly in his RCAF uniform. This auction of Rielly's war medals, pins and photographs will close on August 15, 2013 at 2:56 pm.

The auction was first brought to our attention by Dave Thomson from St. George, Ontario. Thomson's hobby is to find war medals belonging to Canadian veterans and help repatriate them to their family or hometown. The value of this collection to the Museum comes from collection of material as a whole, preserving the story of a war hero from Goulbourn Township. The rarest of the medals in this collection is the RCAF Long Service & Good Conduct Medal. Rielly earned this medal after achieving 18 years of service with the RCAF. These medals were awarded between August 1944 and September 1957. In comparison, there were approximately 1.1 million Canadians who served in the Army, Navy and Air Force during the course of WWII, the majority of whom received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM) and the equivalent Second World War Medal. What makes the RCAF Long Service & Good Conduct Medal so special is there were only 487 of these medals awarded to Canadians.  

In 2014, Canadians will commemorate 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War. The Museum will be launching an exhibition in June of 2014, and this collection could be incorporated into the exhibit if we can rally enough support and raise money to secure the winning bid. 

Cash or cheque donations can be made to the Goulbourn Museum. If we can raise sufficient funds to secure the winning bid, we will purchase the grouping and accession the items into our artifact collection. Otherwise donations will be used toward improving our collection and creating programs and exhibitions at the Museum. Goulbourn Museum is a registered charity and can offer tax receipts for all contributions over $10, so please be sure to leave your contact information with a donation.

The Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday from 1-4 p.m. and is located at 2064 Huntley Road, just south of Stittsville.

Help to spread the word and let's bring Clarence Evelyn Rielly's war medals back to Goulbourn Township!