This fonds consists of a single land grant document on parchment with a very large wax seal attached. The document, signed on 10 March 1804, grants 314 acres of land from the Province of Upper Canada to “Jean Baptiste Tourneaux.” The land was designated as lot 78 in the first, second, and third concessions of the Parish of L’Assomption (Assumption) in the Township of Sandwich. This lot extended from present-day Salter Avenue in the west to Bruce Avenue in the east, from the Detroit River in the north down to the Roseland Golf Course in the south. Janette Avenue, which runs through the lot, was named for Jean Baptiste Le Tourneaux dit Jeannet, the grantee.

This fonds contains records related to the life and work of 19th century Upper Canadian shipwright Shadrach Jenking. The records are primarily original legal documents related to the sale, acquisition, and boundaries of land in the Township of Sandwich, but also included are original papers relating to Jenking’s training as a shipwright and copies of his descendants’ genealogical research. The fonds is arranged into three series. Series I: Labour Agreements contains documents relating to Jenking’s apprenticeship. Series II: Land Agreements includes deeds and assignments of mortgage, as well as one property sketch and one blueprint. Many are tied to families of Jenking or his wife Margaret Maisonville. Series III: Genealogical Research and Fragments contains bits of unidentified original documents and a variety of correspondence, notes, and photocopied resources relating to the family history of Shadrach Jenking and his descendants.