You Were Here

It is only natural that when presented with a map - any map - one will always look for a familiar place name or feature. Being able to place oneself somewhere within the map's borders makes it more relevant. It also makes it more exciting. I recently came across this map of Galt, produced in 1861, in which I can clearly see the property lines for my childhood home.

Tremaine's Map of the County of Waterloo, Canada West. Compiled & Drawn from
 Actual & Original Surveys by the Publishers. Geo. R. & G.M. Tremaine, Toronto, 1861.
 (City of Cambridge Archives)

Davidson Street!

What's in a Name? History

Many are familiar with the place names listed below, but are unaware that each denotes a very specific period in the history of the province of Ontario.

Pays d'en Haut (1500s-1763) From initial discovery to France's loss to the English in the Seven Years' War, Ontario was a wilderness region of New France referred to as "the upper country".

Quebec (1763-1791) After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the British crown took over New France, named it Quebec, and included the large colony into it's already substantial North American holdings.

Upper Canada (1791-1841) The American Revolution, ending in 1883, encouraged thousands of loyalists to move north to Quebec (which remained a part of the Crown). With this new influx of settlers came a demand for English laws and government - as opposed to the French civil system still in operation in the colony. The Constitution Act of 1791 divided Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, and provided Upper Canadians with their own Lieutenant Governor and legal system.

Canada West (1841-1867) Upper and Lower Canada were rejoined in 1841 as the Province of Canada in a political and cultural attempt to overpower the then dominant French population (as well as any potential rebels on both sides). Although the province was now unified, each region remained distinct as Canada West, and Canada East.

Ontario (1867- ) With Confederation came yet another separation as the Province of Canada was divided into roughly the Ontario and Quebec we know today. Ontario's borders were finally established to the north and west by 1912.

Maps depicting borders in 1774 and 1791

Maps depicting borders in 1867 and 1912

Name changes also apply to the smaller scale of villages and cities:

Shade's Mills (1816-1827) Named after Absalom Shade who was hired by founder William Dickson to manage and superintend the new settlement in Dumfries. Shade quickly established a saw and grist mill as well as a shop and home for himself and his family.

Galt (1827-1973) For many settlements, the establishment of a post office is a big deal. It's an opportunity to put your name on the map (and subsequently make it easier for everyone to find you and do business with you). Many settlements stick with the name they've started with, while others take this opportunity to change theirs to something else.* William Dickson decided to change the name of Shade's Mills to Galt after Scottish poet and friend, John Galt.

Cambridge (1973- ) In 1973 the city of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair amalgamated to become Cambridge.

*Some communities didn't have a choice in the matter once they realized that they share the same name as another settlement that already received a post office. You can't have two Burwick, Canada Wests: So the community just north of what is now Toronto changed their name to Woodbridge in 1855.

Sources
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 2014 "Absalom Shade"
Archives of Ontario, 2011 "The Changing Shape of Ontario" (Economic Atlas of Ontario / Atlas Économique de l'OntarioW. G. Dean, Editor/ Directeur; G. J. Mathews, Cartographer/ CartographePrinted 1969 by University of Toronto Press for the Government of Ontario)
City of Vaughan, "A Brief History of Woodbridge"

Further Reading
Canadian Encyclopedia, "Seven Years' War"
Canadian Encyclopedia, "Durham Report"
Canadian Museum of History, 2014 "Virtual Museum of New France"

McDougall Cottage

Last month I had the opportunity to visit McDougall Cottage - a small but lovely historic home located along the shore of the Grand River at Grand Avenue South and Cedar Street.

"McDougall Cottage, ca.1858 granite and limestone labourer's dwelling, is located in downtown Cambridge in the historic factory district. Home for more than a century to two families of hardworking Scots, the McDougalls and the Bairds, this charming traditional cottage with its equally charming pocket-sized gardens, boasts the most spectacular hand-painted friezes (patterns along the top of walls or buildings) and trompe l'oeil ceilings (three dimensional illusions) that Ontario has to offer.
The Cottage serves as an interpretation centre, showcasing its unique interior landscape and presenting mini-exhibits on monthly themes." (Region of Waterloo)

During my visit I was able to see a temporary exhibit on quilting with a Scottish theme, as well as the beautiful friezes described in the quote above. There's a massive kitchen with a conservatory overlooking the gardens to the back of the house. There are apparently monthly teas held in this space which I'd love to attend. The staff are incredibly friendly and easy to talk to - a highly recommended little stop in Cambridge (right across from the Southworks Antique Market!). For more information on the cottage, its hours and calendar of events, see the links below.



Sources
Region of Waterloo, 2010 "McDougall Cottage"
Region of Waterloo, 2014 "Happenings at McDougall Cottage"
McDougall Cottage's Facebook Page
Cambridge Now, 2014 "McDougall Cottage"

Taxes and the Home in Upper Canada

While I was working as an interpreter within an historic home, I was absolutely shocked (on a number of occasions) to hear that visitors believed that taxes were something of a 20th century invention in Canada. Sometimes being an interpreter isn't about sharing new and exciting information with people, it's about trying to correct myths and misconceptions.

When it came to taxes and the home in Upper Canada, three considerations prevailed: the building material of the house, the number of storeys, and the number of fireplaces. In 1807, six categories were created to help determine who owed what to the government. Here they are in order of least to most amount of tax, regardless of the square footage of the house:

- Homes constructed of round logs
- Homes constructed of square timber, one storey
- Homes constructed of square timber, two storeys
- Framed (sawn wood) homes under two storeys
- Homes constructed of brick or stone of one storey with not more than two fireplaces
- Homes constructed of brick or stone of two storeys with not more than two fireplaces

Some good news for settlers in 1811 arrived when the government decided to no longer tax buildings made of round logs (presumably if you're living in a house made of round logs you can't afford to do much else let alone hand over cash to the taxman). Some more cunning families who wished to keep more of their money to themselves built homes that were one and a half storeys - 19th century houses of this height are still littered across Ontario today.

For the average home-owner in the 1830s however, the tax owed on a two storey brick home was about 5 shillings - roughly equivalent to a days' wages for a skilled labourer. It wasn't a prohibitive tax by any means, and the Scots were among the more prolific builders of homes in stone and brick:

"... among non-log houses, Scots used stone (17%) and brick (13%) most often, and frame (70%) the least, whereas about 85% of the Irish, American, German, English, and Ontario-born residents lived in frame houses." (Kalman, 170)

I have a particular fondness for one and a half storey stone houses. Duncan Ferguson house (1856), pictured here, is located at 71 Cowan Boulevard, Cambridge.

Sources
Harold Kalman's 1994, A History of Canadian Architecture, Vol. 1
Brian Coffey's 1985, "Factors Affecting the Use of Construction Materials in Early Ontario" in Ontario History

Further Reading
Historic Places "Duncan Ferguson Homestead"