More coverage of the story that first emerged over a year ago, about one of the earliest examples of a birch bark canoe, owned by a family in Cornwall, who decided to return it to Canada.

From:
Vancouver Sun

Rare birchbark canoe repatriated from U.K. to Peterborough museum
By Mike Fuhrmann, The Canadian Press August 17, 2012

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The latest arrival at the Canadian Canoe Museum, a six-metre-long birchbark craft, is in poor shape. Ribs poke out from the sides and much of the frame has disintegrated.

But the vessel’s remarkable history — and the fact that it has survived at all, becoming one of oldest birchbark canoes in the world — make it a “stunning find,” says museum curator Jeremy Ward.
Read the rest of this entry »

A Canadian birchbark canoe dating to the eighteenth century, that was unexpectedly discovered in Cornwall will be returned to Canada. It is thought to be the oldest surviving example of its type. Unusually, the documentation from its acquisition is surprisingly clear & detailed, giving more information about the provenance of it.

From:
Canada.com

Birchbark canoe from 18th century returning to Canada.
By Randy Boswell, Postmedia News December 27, 2010

It’s being described as the world’s oldest canoe, a one-of-a-kind relic from 18th-century Canada rediscovered in a storage shed in Britain and bound for repatriation to this country next year.

Earlier this month, the National Maritime Museum in Cornwall announced the “incredible find” at an estate in Penryn, England. Curators said the canoe – found in two pieces but remarkably well preserved given the passage of time – would be stabilized by conservators and exhibited in the U.K. before shipment overseas for permanent display at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ont.
Read the rest of this entry »