Biographical History

Dr. Herbert Clarence Burleigh, a general practitioner and local historian in Bath, Ontario, was born on 6 October 1893 at Hartington, Ontario and died on 13 September 1980. Dr. Burleigh was descendent of United Empire Loyalists. He attended Sydenham High School, 1910-1913 and during the First World War served with the Number 7 Canadian General (Queen's) Hospital. Following his medical studies at Queen's, (1920 - 1926) Dr. Burleigh practiced medicine in the United States until 1935 when he returned to Canada so that his children might be raised and educated in his homeland. That year he established a private medical practice in Bath, Ontario. In 1937, he became Medical Officer of Health for Lennox and Addington County and the Founder and President of the Bath Historical Society. During the Second World War, he joined the R.C.A.M.C. (1940 - 1946) retiring as Lieutenant Colonel in command of #3 Company. Between 1947 and 1950, he served in the reserve forces as Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Section, No. 5 Manning Depot, Kingston. In 1975, he retired from his medical practice in Bath. From 1922 on Dr. Burleigh had been showing an interest in genealogy and local history. This interest blossomed with his return to Canada in 1935 and he pursued his hobby as a genealogist and historian from that time until his death in 1980. In 1948, he published an article on "Madeleine de Roybon d'Allonne". He was founding and life member of the United Empire Loyalist Association, Bay of Quinte Branch as well as their genealogist. He published a number of books on local history including "Forgotten Leaves of Kingston", "The Romance of Fort Frontenac" and "Tales of Amherst Island", as well as many papers. Over the years, Dr. Burleigh created a huge collection of genealogical files on local families and an even larger set of files on local history.

Custodial history

The original accession of the H.C. Burleigh fonds was donated to the Queen's University Archives by the family of Dr. Burleigh in 1981 shortly after his death. The second accession, which arrived in 1997, consists of the records that were retained by the family. The records were well used by the family, especially by Dr. Burleigh's daughter, the late Diane MacKinnon. Also, Mrs. MacKinnon added her own work to these files so that while the bulk of the material seems to be from her father's work there is a good deal of material of more recent vintage too.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of correspondence, scrapbooks, news clippings, transcripts of local diaries, and alphabetical family and genealogical files. These genealogical files, which relate mainly to Bay of Quinte and Loyalist families, contain correspondence, research from printed sources, newspaper clippings and some photographs. Also included is a set of ordnance survey maps of Kingston and area dated 1869.

For more information about the H.C. Burleigh fonds, please visit the Queen's University Archives at archives.queensu.ca and the full description of the fonds in context at http://db1.archives.queensu.ca/ica-atom/index.php/herbert-clarence-burleigh-fonds;rad

For an alphabetical list of family names included in the collection, click here.