Backgound about canoe #155.

My personal interests.

Interests

Vintage canoe research project.

A sister for Dora.

During the course of the research into the background of Dora, I encountered members of the Hicks extended family. The existence of another canoe similar in design to Dora came to light in 2016. Through my family contact, John Hicks, I was provided photos, stories, and facts about the canoe number 155, regarded as O.L. Hicks' personal canoe. Given the close connection, I decided to dedicate a portion of this website to a summary of its hstory.

As presented on the history page, it is most likely Dora was built by O. L. Hicks, quite possibly for use in his canoe rental business on the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario. This version, with the torpedo stem, resembles the design of his personal canoe which one of his grandchildren has donated to the Canadian Canoe Museum, Peterborough, Ontario.

According to John Hicks, who wrote in December 0f 2006,

"The boat now belongs to John Bosworth, a grandson of O. L. Hicks. Before it came into Mr Bosworth's possession it was owned by Pauline Dutton, a granddaughter of O. L. This canoe was O. L.'s personal craft. In has been in the family since O. L.'s death."

"My father told me the canoes were built in the winter in a two storey barn like building on the north side of Lakeshore Road.

"I just remembered that one of my cousins has a half model of a canoe. O. L.' s house was full of half models of boats built. My sister has one of a sail boat."

The story became more exciting when John next wrote in July 2016.

Last week I saw O L Hicks' canoe for the first time. The canoe is now in Collingwood and I hope its next stop is the Canoe Museum in Peterbourgh. It is now in the possession of Margaret Aquilina, last surviving grandchild of O L. It has been her goal to get this boat from her brother's estate and find a home for it at the Canoe Museum. Margaret is a sharp 90 years old and I have been trying to help her get the boat moving towards the museum.

On its trip from the Newmarket area to Collingwood a cousin who was transporting the canoe gave it a dip in the water on Lake Simcoe.

The attached pictures were taken at both Lake Simcoe and Collingwood.

I thought you would enjoy the pictures. It still has the original coaming. Unfortunately the canoe had a vigorous sanding by three cousins in the 1940's. Unlike yours I do not see the manufacture brands. Also unlike yours it is not design for sailing. I have more pictures if you are interested. I also added a picture of O L Hicks and his second wife the widow of Charles Nurse in the canoe. She died in 1924 so that helps date the picture.

In November 2016, John Hicks contacted me once again.

I thought you might like to see the attached photo. My dad's cousin Margaret and her husband recreated a moment from the old photograph of O L Hicks and his wife.
As you can see the canoe in Margaret's possession is a twin for yours. However it is very different from the canoe depicted in the old photograph. The bow and stern are rounded and the spacing of the ribs is much wider in the canoe depicted in the old photograph.
However the decks have some similarity.
I made a wrong assumption in thinking that the canoe in the picture was the same canoe that had been passed down through the family.
I am assisting Margaret in having her canoe donated to the Canoe Museum.

Regarding the photo of the canoe's serial number, John gave some background (August 2017):

I received a call yesterday from Margaret Aquilina who owns the other Hicks canoe. She said a friend was looking at it yesterday and noticed numbers in two places.
I asked her for a photo which is attached. I went to your website and the numbers look similar to the ones you have depicted in your gallery.
I thought this might interest you. Also the Canoe Museum is going to accept Margaret's canoe as a donation.

In late 2024, I sent John Hicks a photo of a Hicks canoe displayed at the Canadian Canoe Museum. He provided some additional information:

"So good to see the picture of the canoe in the museum. This is the canoe donated by Margaret Aquilina (nee Bosworth). Margaret worked tirelessly to get her brother John to donate the canoe. After John's death Margaret did convince his widow to let her get the canoe to the museum. Margaret was a huge character and was my pleasure to help her get this donation to its place in the museum. Sadly Margaret died in December of 2022."

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*My personal interests.*
	Vintage canoe research project. A sister for Dora. During the course of the research into the background of Dora, I encountered members of the Hicks extended family. The existence of another canoe similar in design to Dora came to light in 2016. Through my family contact, John Hicks, I was provided photos, stories, and facts about the canoe number 155, regarded as O.L. Hicks' personal canoe. Given the close connection, I decided to dedicate a portion of this website to a summary of its hstory. As presented on the history page, it is most likely Dora was built by O. L. Hicks, quite possibly for use in his canoe rental business on the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario. This version, with the torpedo stem, resembles the design of his personal canoe which one of his grandchildren has donated to the Canadian Canoe Museum, Peterborough, Ontario. According to John Hicks, who wrote in December 0f 2006, "The boat now belongs to John Bosworth, a grandson of O. L. Hicks. Before it came into Mr Bosworth's possession it was owned by Pauline Dutton, a granddaughter of O. L. This canoe was O. L.'s personal craft. In has been in the family since O. L.'s death." "My father told me the canoes were built in the winter in a two storey barn like building on the north side of Lakeshore Road. "I just remembered that one of my cousins has a half model of a canoe. O. L.' s house was full of half models of boats built. My sister has one of a sail boat." The story became more exciting when John next wrote in July 2016. Last week I saw O L Hicks' canoe for the first time. The canoe is now in Collingwood and I hope its next stop is the Canoe Museum in Peterbourgh. It is now in the possession of Margaret Aquilina, last surviving grandchild of O L. It has been her goal to get this boat from her brother's estate and find a home for it at the Canoe Museum. Margaret is a sharp 90 years old and I have been trying to help her get the boat moving towards the museum. On its trip from the Newmarket area to Collingwood a cousin who was transporting the canoe gave it a dip in the water on Lake Simcoe. The attached pictures were taken at both Lake Simcoe and Collingwood. I thought you would enjoy the pictures. It still has the original coaming. Unfortunately the canoe had a vigorous sanding by three cousins in the 1940's. Unlike yours I do not see the manufacture brands. Also unlike yours it is not design for sailing. I have more pictures if you are interested. I also added a picture of O L Hicks and his second wife the widow of Charles Nurse in the canoe. She died in 1924 so that helps date the picture. In November 2016, John Hicks contacted me once again. I thought you might like to see the attached photo. My dad's cousin Margaret and her husband recreated a moment from the old photograph of O L Hicks and his wife. As you can see the canoe in Margaret's possession is a twin for yours. However it is very different from the canoe depicted in the old photograph. The bow and stern are rounded and the spacing of the ribs is much wider in the canoe depicted in the old photograph. However the decks have some similarity. I made a wrong assumption in thinking that the canoe in the picture was the same canoe that had been passed down through the family. I am assisting Margaret in having her canoe donated to the Canoe Museum. Regarding the photo of the canoe's serial number, John gave some background (August 2017): I received a call yesterday from Margaret Aquilina who owns the other Hicks canoe. She said a friend was looking at it yesterday and noticed numbers in two places. I asked her for a photo which is attached. I went to your website and the numbers look similar to the ones you have depicted in your gallery. I thought this might interest you. Also the Canoe Museum is going to accept Margaret's canoe as a donation. In late 2024, I sent John Hicks a photo of a Hicks canoe displayed at the Canadian Canoe Museum. He provided some additional information: "So good to see the picture of the canoe in the museum. This is the canoe donated by Margaret Aquilina (nee Bosworth). Margaret worked tirelessly to get her brother John to donate the canoe. After John's death Margaret did convince his widow to let her get the canoe to the museum. Margaret was a huge character and was my pleasure to help her get this donation to its place in the museum. Sadly Margaret died in December of 2022."
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Date of last revision: 2024-11-18. Material Copyright © 2024 David Darwin