For genealogists seeking information on their ancestors who resided in the Orkney district, 6 miles north west of Yorkton, the book Orkney Stones is an excellent resource. The first settlers of the district were invited in 1882 to come for free homestead lands within the 8 townships acquired by the York Farmers Colonization Company of Toronto, founders of Yorkton. The great majority were from the Orkney Islands of Scotland, and from Ontario and the British Isles. The publication of 1989 compiled by the Orkney Historical Society Book Committee, includes the family histories of these first pioneers and later residents of English, Dutch, German, Polish, Belgian, Scandinavian, Ukrainian, and American origins. The history book committee were: Tom Patterson, Ivy Stout, Jean McKen, Marion Vaughan, Barney Fenske, Doris Hepburn, Helen Norman, Joyce Muir, and Betty Popowich.
The book can be researched at the City of Yorkton Archives Reference Room and at the History Room of the Yorkton Public Library. It is also Online. See OUR ROOTS-NOS RACINES Web site, Canada's Local Histories Online.
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton, Box 400
37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
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