James Collins, author of The Chronicle of Carlsbad Springs, was the son of Matthew Collins and Elizabeth McKenna - two of the pioneers who settled in the Carlsbad Springs community. Matthew and Elizabeth set up their homestead there in the late 1860s on a Cumberland Township site just across the border with Gloucester Township. Their parents had originally settled in Gloucester near the Rideau Canal’s Black Rapids lock station where the Collins and McKenna families occupied lots next to each other.

James Collins was of third generation Irish ancestry. His grandfather - Timothy Collins - had come to Canada in or around 1828. Timothy and his brother Patrick emigrated together from the Timoleague-Bandon region in County Cork. They are both on the McCabe list - a survey of Bytown residents carried out in February 1829. The brothers very likely worked on the building of the Rideau Canal. They initially acquired land by becoming squatters - occupying Clergy Reserves land at Black Rapids in 1831. They bought their holding from the Canada Land Company in 1857.

The move by James’ father to the Carlsbad Springs area was in all likelihood motivated by the availability of land there. By the 1860s, the Rideau River waterfront area on the Gloucester side between Billings Bridge and Manotick was getting well populated and good land became more difficult to obtain. The land around Carlsbad Springs was virtually ‘up for grabs’ - especially in the eastern end down the Russell Road from the Village. This was completely undeveloped bush land at the time.

James was one of ten children born to Matthew and Elizabeth, including one child who died at 15 months. Born on April 4th 1879, he was the second eldest of the surviving children. He was the ‘educated’ sibling - graduating from the University of Toronto in 1913. The University of Toronto yearbook for that year provided this personal sketch:

“He has a most refined, exquisite and penetrating judgment. All great men are known familiarly by names other than their own; thus, the subject of this sketch is always called ‘John’. A General Course student headed for Osgoode, with an incidental love for Latin and Greek, ‘John’ is one of the few to whom we can turn and discuss rationally matters of historic or of current interest. The library will miss him when he gets his parchment.”

James was many things - a teacher, a poet, a writer, a musician, and an artist. One remembrance of him comes from Sister Rita Collins - James’ niece. She tells us that when she was a young girl a Sunday outing in the car with James was not always a child’s delight. He would invariably ‘treat’ the young ones to a discourse on some historical topic. James Collins then was primarily a teacher - even on a Sunday drive with those who would have been more interested in young people’s games than the intricacies of Greek or Roman history.

The following is from the notice that appeared in the Montreal Herald when he died on February 6th 1936:

“James Collins, B.A., was a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Collins and was born at Carlsbad Springs, Ont., fifty-seven years ago. He had been in poor health for the past eight months and about two months ago his illness took a serious turn. He passed away in Ottawa General Hospital on February 6th 1936. We have heard various expressions of admiration of the many fine qualities of the late James A. Collins. His exemplary character and kindliness won the esteem and friendship of all who learned to know him. He was also well liked and highly respected by the students of Marmora Continuation School during the years he was principal. His kindly interest in his former pupils was shown by the fact he wrote to a number of them congratulating them on their success in their examinations after he had left Marmora. He taught for over twenty years and was principal of Continuation Schools in Russell, Plattsville, Marmora and Beaverton and had also served on the staff of Napanee and other high schools. While he took no active part in politics, he was an ardent Liberal and a faithful member of the Roman Catholic church.”