Fredericton Flashbacks: Stories and Photographs from the Past

Richard Wilbur is author of The Rise of French New Brunswick and H.H.
Stevens, 1878–1973, and co-author of Silver Harvest: The Fundy
Weirmen’s Story. His latest book is Horse-Drawn Carriages and Sleighs:
Elegant Vehicles from New England and New Bruns

Creating a book from newspaper columns usually leads to one that is
quickly outdated, but not when the subject matter is history and when
the author is a diligent researcher and on top of his material. Jones, a
retired English teacher, has co-authored an earlier history of
Fredericton as well as scores of articles on this old New Brunswick
town.

Fredericton Flashbacks is a collection of 49 articles (each roughly
five pages long and topped with a pertinent photograph) taken from his
weekly columns in the Daily Gleaner, which have appeared since 2000. The
articles are divided into seven sections (including “Remembering
War,” “Famous Visitors,” “Natural Disasters and Human Folly,”
and “Social Life”) that are designed to reflect Fredericton’s
history over the last two centuries and to remind present-day
Frederictonians of the varied roles their town has played in local as
well as international events.

Readers who have lived in Fredericton will be familiar with the many
references to specific streets and local landmarks, but stories like
“Surviving the Terrible Epidemic of 1918,” “Fredericton’s Link
with the Empress of Ireland,” and “Going to the Movies Many Years
Ago” have a wider context and appeal. Every Canadian community,
regardless of size, has a unique history but few can match some of
Fredericton’s “first” and “oldest” in Canada, including the
University of New Brunswick and Fredericton High School, or its many
events paying homage to British royalty or involving famous figures like
Lord Beaverbrook and the two Kennedy brothers, John and Robert.

The author’s impressive research skills are evident on every page.
While I would not recommend tackling this work in one sitting (Jones’s
approach seems somewhat repetitive), dipping into it can be a diverting
and informative experience.