Ugh, Women Settlers

The following in an excerpt from Anna Brownell Jameson's Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada. First published in 1838, Jameson's travel diary takes readers on a journey through a pre-rebellion Upper Canada. Making stops in Toronto, Niagara, St. Catherine's, London, and up Lake Huron to Manitoulin Island, Jameson writes about her thoughts and interactions with the people and places making up the colony.

"He said he should be quite happy here, were it not for his wife, who fretted and pined continually after her 'home.'
'But,' said I, 'surely wherever you are, is her home, and she ought to be happy where she sees you getting on better, and enjoying more of comfort and independence than you could have hoped to obtain in the old country.'
'Well, yes,' said he, hesitatingly; 'and I can't say but that my wife is a good woman: I've no particular fault to find with her; and it's very natural she should mope, for she has no friend or acquaintance, you see, and she doesn't take to the people, and the ways here; and at home she had her mother and sister to talk to; they lived with us, you see. Then, I'm out all day long, looking after my business, and she feels quite lonely like, and she's crying when I come back - and I'm sure I don't know what to do!'
The case of this poor fellow with his discontented wife is no unfrequent occurrence in Canada; and among the better class of settlers the matter is worse still, the suffering more acute, and of graver consequences.
I have not often in my life met with contented and cheerful-minded women, but I never met with so many repining and discontented women as in Canada. I never met with one woman recently settled here, who considered herself happy in her new home and country: I had heard of one, and doubtless there are others, but they are the exceptions to the general rule. Those born here, or brought here early by their parents and relations, seemed to me very happy, and many of them had adopted a sort of pride in their new country, which I liked very much. There was always a great desire to visit England, and some little airs of self-complacency and superiority in those that had been there, though for a few months only; but all, without a single exception, returned with pleasure, unable to forego the early habitual influences of their native land.
...

Anna Brownell Jameson
calotype 1843-1848 by David Octavius Hill

I have observed that really accomplished women, accustomed to what is called the best society, have more resources here, and manage better, than some women who have no pretensions of any kind, and whose claims to social distnction could not have been great any where, but whom I found lamenting over themselves as if they had been so many exiled princesses"

I found this passage interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Jameson doesn't seem to understand the irony of her opinions. She herself was in an unhappy marriage that only after a few years ended in separation... a separation which allowed her to happily return to England. She critiques any lady who pines for home and family left behind, yet does the same herself in her diaries. She even goes so far as to say that being of the better classes makes the remembrance of home harder, presumably because they have more friends, family members, and luxuries to miss. I also like this passage as it reminds me of countless other (borderline humourous) accounts from this period of women critiquing women. We have always been our own harshest critics, but in the 19th century it really was made into an art form.

Anna had made her journey to the Canadas at the request of her husband, Robert Simpson Jameson, who had recently been appointed chief justice of Upper Canada and who had settled in Toronto. Unhappy in love and life, she travelled the southern portion of the province before returning to England the next year, in 1837.

Sources
Anna Brownell Jameson's 1838, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada.

Lands in Upper Canada

Clicking on the image below with enable you to zoom in on this advertisement for settlement, printed in 1835 in London, England.

Some excerpts from the advertisement include:

"The ordinary baggage of Emigrants consists of their wearing apparel, with such bedding, and utensils for cooking, as may be required on the voyage, and any articles of clothing, not intended to be used at sea, ought to be packed in water-tight cases or trunks, not exceeding eighty or ninety pounds in weight."

"The class of persons chiefly required in Upper Canada, and who, of course, will find it best suited to their purposes, are small Capitalists, Farmers, Mechanics, and Labourers."

Sources
Toronto Public Library Digital Archive 2014, "Lands in Upper Canada"

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto is for me one of the most anticipated events of the year. While I'm not personally involved in any of the competitions, I can certainly appreciate good husbandry and perfect grooming when I see it. I can also appreciate any opportunity to get up close and personal with so many sheep and goats that I can't keep count.


Feeding the goats is definitely a
highlight for me each year

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair was given its Royal designation by King George V in 1920, and since 1922 it has been attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Over 300,000 people visited last year alone. The fair is home to a number of Agriculture Competitions, Horse Shows, and opportunities for people to learn about local agriculture through exhibitors, activities, and presentations. There are also a number of vendors selling everything from locally made cheeses and skeins of hand spun alpaca yarns to leather goods and gourmet honey. Many of the vendors come to the Royal each year, and I've made a habit of calling on my favourites each time I visit. My perennial favourites include The Upper Canada Cheese Company, Bouchard's Poutinery, and Tandy Leather.



2009 ad for The Royal (One of my favourites)

I will admit that with all the wonderful exhibits and vendors, I still make a bee-line to the petting zoo. I love visiting the goats and sheep and getting to interact with them. For a couple dollars you can buy a cup of food for them to nibble out of your hand. Some of the larger goats can get a bit pushy, but they're hungry too, and I try to make sure to spread the wealth. The petting zoo area is also home of some gorgeous rare breed show birds, such as Cayuga Ducks, African Geese, and Sebastopol Geese.

Admission can be a bit high for some ($24 per adult), but there is a way around it. It isn't advertised on their website, but if you visit the Royal after 4:00pm, admission is 2-for-1. Most of the competitions and horse riding events happen during the day, so you will miss out on those, but you will also miss out on the 18,000+ school children that visit each year (they're usually back on their busses by 3:00pm).

This year the Royal runs from November 7-16, so check it out!

Sources
The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair 2014 Website

Further Reading
Farmers Feed Cities 2014 Website
Ontario Beekeeper's Association 2014 Website

John Galt and the Elgin Marbles

This is an example of one of those times when I've very audibly (and embarrassingly) shouted "NO way!" while doing research. This is also an example which proves just how small and interconnected our world really is. It's the story of how many of the Elgin Marbles came incredibly close to being known to us today as the Galt Marbles.

Portion of the east side of the Parthenon pediment,
on display at the British Museum

John Galt was doing what any 19th century man of his means would do when under the weather, or otherwise evading creditors or looking for distraction; tour the continent. He left London in 1809, and by 1811 had found himself in Italy and in Greece. The Mediterranean was a popular place at the time, especially for Romantic poets and writers eager for inspiration from the "East". Lord Byron, one of Galt's contemporaries and sometimes travel companion, was also in Greece at this time. It is Galt's connection to Byron that introduces him to the world of opportunistic art sales.

In his book Byron and Scotland: Radical or Dandy, Angus Calder describes Byron's friendship with Signore Luseri, an Italian Agent and artist-in-residence in Athens for Lord Elgin. Luseri had been working with Elgin for almost a decade in Greece on the documentation and eventual removal of the Parthenon sculptures to Britain. Despite Byron's protests that such removals of ancient artefacts were tantamount to rape,  he continued his friendship with Luseri.


It is during the second shipment of the marble statues out of Athens that John Galt becomes involved to the point where his morals are set firmly aside.  He learns from Luseri that Elgin is having financial issues, and may be unable to pay the freight (the cost of the ship, etc.) when it arrives in Malta. The ship would then of course confiscate its cargo in lieu of payment, and deal with the sculptures as the captain sees fit. Galt is not the only one to hear of this desperate news, however, for the French as also keen to add to their collection.

Monsieur Favelle, the French Consul in Athens, had been instructed to remove any and all possible works of antiquity from Greece and supply them to the Musee Napoleon (the Louvre) for permanent and glorious display. Upon hearing of Elgin's money woes, Favelle sees a chance to seize the shipload and claim the pieces for the Emperor. Galt decides (aboard the very ship that the marbles are travelling on) that he will pay the freight, save the day for Britain, and make a tidy sum for himself once he sells the cargo to eager and illustrious buyers in London.

John Galt, from his Autobiography in 1833

The plan could have worked wonderfully. The British Museum could now be in possession of the Galt Marbles, as well as the Elgin Marbles. Galt could have been an even wealthier man - would he have spent those funds creating more settlements in Upper Canada? Luseri, however, was a man of business and persuasion. He managed to alleviate the debts of Elgin in Malta and retain possession of the Greek artefacts; eventually sending them all the way to Britain. Galt was admittedly conflicted by this outcome. While he was saddened by the loss of fortune and fame that the sculptures would bring him back home, he was also steadfast in his agreement with Byron that the works were taken wrongfully in the first place.

Sources
The British Museum 2014, "What are the 'Elgin Marbles'?"
John Galt's 1833, The Autobiography of John Galt
Angus Calder's 1989, Byron and Scotland: Radical or Dandy?
Ozlem Caykent's 2010, "John Galt's Travels"

Further Reading
Encyclopaedia Britannica 2014, "Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin"
Biography.com 2014, "Lord Byron Biography"
Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014, "Romanticism"