Elsie Jury

Elsie McLeod Murray Jury (11 October 1910 – 31 March 1993) was a Canadian archaeologist and historian known for her pioneering work on the historical archaeology of Ontario, especially her work on the excavations at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. She worked with her husband playing a key role in establishing the Fanshawe Pioneer Village and Museum of Ontario Archaeology.

Education and early career Mary Alice McLeod Murray, who went by the first name Elsie, was born in Perth, Ontario, in 1910. Of Scottish and Irish descent, her father was David Cameron Murray (1873–1938), a doctor, and her mother was Lucy L. Robinson. The family later relocated from Perth to Toronto, where Elsie attended the Riverdale Collegiate Institute.

In 1942, Jury moved to London, Ontario, to take a position at the library of the University of Western Ontario under Fred Landon, whom she had met earlier through the Ontario Historical Society. She also published in two periodicals started by Landon, Western Ontario Historical Notes and Western Ontario Historical Nuggets. and he initially hired Elsie to conduct historical research relating to his excavations of the Fairfield Mission. This site demonstrated the westernmost edge of Iroquoian sites in southwestern Ontario and it was dated to the Middle Iroquoian period (1300-1350 A.D.). Thereafter the Jurys collaborated on almost all of their subsequent excavations starting with the Burley Site, followed by Sainte Marie 1 followed by the military and naval establishments at Penetanguishene. Penetanguishene contained one of a number of sites that exist in the region between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay which archaeologists working in Ontario call "Huronia". The sites in this region were occupied by Iroquoian-speaking Huron indigenous peoples between the 15th and the 17th century. At Sainte-Marie, she and her husband recognised the importance of the Catholic identity of the inhabitants to the interpretation of the site. Both Elsie and Wilfred worked on the excavation and reconstruction of the Penetanguishine Military and Naval establishments for many years. They had a long relationship with the Society of Jesus due to their work in Sainte Marie I. Both Elsie and Wilfred envisaged Fanshaw Pioneer Village, in London Ontario, as an educational facility to preserve local heritage during the 1940s but it was not until 1959, in conjunction with University of Western Ontario when it finally opened. Wilf Jury died in 1981.

Sites excavated

Crawford Village Site, Bosanquet Township, Lambton County, Ontario Forget, Ontario, Canada – an overland route from the head of Kempenfelt Bay in Lake Simcoe, where Barrie currently exists, to Willow Creek, a tributary of the Nottawasaga River which empties into Georgian Bay at Wasaga Beach; one of the early land routes between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. Fort Willow, Ontario, Canada Burley Site, Ontario, Canada Jury, Elsie M. 1963 Indian village and mission sites of Huronia Canadian Geographical Journal, Volume 67 (3): 94-103. Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Anadabijou in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Batiscan in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Begourat in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Savignon in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Atironta (fl. 1615) in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Atironta, Pierre (d. 1672) in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Aoindaon in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Tessouat (d. 1636) in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Tessouat (fl. 1603-13) in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 Auoindaon in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 SKANUDHAROUA, Geneviève-Agnes, de Tous-les-Saints in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 TEHORENHAEGNON in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 TOTIRI, Étienne in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 CARIGOUAN (Carigonan) in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 2014 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 PIGAROUICH, Étienne in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 TARATOUAN in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 MIRISTOU in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 PIESKARET, Simon in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 TEOUATIRON, Joseph in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 CHOMINA (Choumin)in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 2019 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 IROQUET in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod 1966 ANNAOTAHA, Étienne in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, Year of publication: 1966, revised edition: 1979 Jury, Elsie McLeod Murray 1974 The Neutral Indians of Southwestern Ontario. London: MIA, Bulletin 13 (Reprinted, 1977).

Joint author: Jury, Wilfrid and Elsie M. Jury 1952 The Burley Site. Ontario History 44:57-75. Jury, Wilfrid and Elsie M. Jury 1952 University of Western Ontario. Museum of Indian Archaeology and Pioneer Life. Bulletin No.9 -75 pages illustrations 26 cm. Jury, Wilfrid and Elsie M. Jury 1955 Saint Louis: Huron Village and Jesuit Mission Site. London: MIA, Bulletin 10. Jury, Wilfrid, and Elsie M. Jury 1956 The Nine Mile Portage From Kempenfelt Bay to the Nottawasaga River. Museum Bulletin, 11. London: Museum of Indian Archaeology, The University of Western Ontario.