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Only top-level descriptions Limerick, Sterling Alexander New Brunswick WWI & WWII Thematic Guide
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Sterling A. Limerick fonds

  • CA PANB MC467
  • Fonds
  • 1902-1972, predominant 1914-1964

This fonds documents the life, work, and social activities of Sterling Alexander Limerick, of Fredericton, N.B., primarily through his personal diaries, 1914-1964. There are also 2 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings (1917-1963), loose newspaper clippings (1906-1963), 35 photographs and postcards, certificates of membership issued to Sterling A. Limerick by Hiram Lodge No. 6 and Neill's Quarter Century Club, printed material, and a single artefact.

Sterling A. Limerick's personal diaries begin in 1914, when he was 23-years-old, and run consecutively to 1964, a few months before his death, aged 73 years. There are 2 diaries each for 1922 and 1935, and a 5-year diary, for 1945-1949, that overlaps with individual diaries for these years. The brief entries document Sterling Limerick's lengthy career in retail with James S. Neill & Sons, his social activities with family and friends, and community events and newsworthy happenings, such as fires, floods, court cases, criminal activity, elections, parades, celebrations, exhibitions, sporting events (particularly men's and women's hockey, baseball, horse racing, and curling), marriages, and deaths.

Entries recorded during World War I note specific events, such as the declaration of war (August 4), the sinking of the Lusitania (May 1915), fundraising efforts, recruitment drives, and the departure of troops for the Front. His diaries for the 1930s offer little comment on the effects of the Great Depression on Fredericton's economy or its residents. He does note, however, that his wages were reduced several times during that decade, and he includes details of the preparations made for the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Fredericton in 1939. During World War II, he records a limited amount of information about the war effort, most notably, the outbreak of the war, the launch or results of a few key offensives, the declaration of the armistice, and the return of soldiers.

The scrapbooks and loose newspaper clippings contain information about Fredericton social events, local fires, floods, court cases (including the Hamilton murder of Burgoyne, 1949), sports, election results, The Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (1939), the Limerick family and extended family, the masonic lodge, the shriners, marriages, and deaths among other matters.

Included among the photographs are 2 studio portraits of Sterling A. Limerick, photographs of his brothers and other family members, snaps taken of him with his friends while on automobile trips (1914), a single photo of 4 women sitting in an early model automobile (ca. 1914), mock wedding photos in which members of the Algonquin Club probably participated, and several group photos of Sterling Limerick with fellow curlers taken at curling bonspiels. There are also 4 postcards, 3 pertaining to the Algonquin Club and 1 of an automobile decorated for a parade [ca. 1920?].

Printed material includes the city of Fredericton's official programme for the celebration of the coronation of His Majesty King Edward VII, August 9th, 1902; a programme for several activities at the Arctic Rink; 2 dinner menus for banquets held by the Fredericton Curling Club to celebrate its 100th anniversary (1954); A tribute to D. Leo Dolan (booklet), January 1950 (31 pp.); and an advertising flyer for a 4-act, comedy drama entitled, "The Doctor’s Private Secretary,” held at the Opera House, and sponsored by the Fredericton Tennis Club, [19-].

Also included is a single artefact -- a small, wooden curling "stone" commemorating the Fredericton Curling Club's 100th anniversary, 1854-1954.

Limerick, Sterling Alexander