Departures: Part Three
History students from the University of Suffolk have explored stories of emigration from Suffolk as part of their course.
John Hudspith Turner and
Missionary Work in the Arctic
Useful Information
Time period
John Hudspith Turner lived from 1905 to 1947
Useful Terms and disclaimers
"Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society" - A Theological College Society containing a group of Anglican Christians. Established in 1922. It is still running today as "Crosslinks" after being renamed in 1992. Throughout this project, this might be abbreviated to "BCMS" for ease of reading.
https://www.crosslinks.org/discover/about-the-society/crosslinks-history/
"Missionary" - A person who is sent to a foreign country to teach people about a religion.
In John Hudspith Turner's case, he is teaching about Anglican Christianity.
Missionary work is often described as "conversion" and often includes the erasure or devaluing of native religions and cultures in favour of Christianity.
Missionaries were common throughout the British Empire, often aided by the freedom of movement granted by such a global empire.
Many historians have studied the role of Missionaries in the spread of the British Empire and how it helped justify through the idea of "civilisation".
In the case of the Northern Canadian Arctic and John Hudspith Turner's Missionary Work, he was not ordered by any Imperial power directly. However, much of his work is influenced by and seeped in Imperial contexts. The following project will hope to address these contexts in line with telling Turner's story.
"Eskimo" - Broad historical term for the indigenous people of northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and eastern Siberia
Many indigenous people have found the term's imperial and colonial history to be problematic and therefore it has fallen out of favour. The Canadian government in particular has made an effort to switch to terms like "Inuit"
"Inuit" - More modern term for the Indigenous people of northern Canada, Greenland and Alaska.
"Inuktitut" - Language of Inuit people in the northern Canadian arctic
(Important to note that there are other Indigenous people in northern Canada, but those that John Hudspith Turner encountered were likely those who are now referred to as Inuit)
"Northern Canadian Arctic" - Simplified way of referring to the most northern Canadian territory. (The project will use this term for ease of understanding)
Officially Named "Nunavut" meaning "Our land" in Inuktitut
(Map of Canada with Nunavut coloured red via Wikimedia Commons)
Early Life
John Hudspith Turner was born in London on 14 July 1905. He was the youngest of three brothers.
Unfortunately, just 4 months before John's birth, his father, Thomas Turner, had passed away. John, his mother and two brothers moved to Felixstowe, Due to lack of income and to care for his ailing grandparents.
The family split soon up as one brother moved in with other relatives nearby Felixstowe with the family only reuniting after the passing of the Grandparents when John was 7 years old.
John's early childhood was filled with adventure in his rural surroundings.
John and his friends would often be exploring the banks of the river Deben, making DIY tents from paraffin wax and bedsheets to sleep in on their treks. Along with home-made bows and arrows to try and hunt local birds.
Growing up, John would also travel to and from an uncle's farm in Falkenham, 7 miles from his family in Felixstowe. He would brave fording small rivers and streams, marshland and swamps in these areas.
These childhood Experiences had a significant effect on John's desires to explore as well as the skills he'd need in a dangerous environment like the Canadian Arctic.
John wasn't particularly interested in learning at his Secondary school in Felixstowe, achieving average grades, with records in his journals recounting school as a struggle.
Into his 20s, John was still the rugged adventurer of his youth but he discovered a new interest when a missionary named Reginald T. Naish visited St. Andrew's Hall in Felixstowe. Naish had been on missions to Africa as an Anglican missionary, with his talks capturing John's attention immediately despite John's previous apathy towards the church and religion.
John still adventured along the marshland and now sailed on the Deben with his friends, but would also equally be seen reading the bible and scriptures.
John's adventures also had him rescuing a friend when sailing on the Deben with 7 friends. Their boat capsized and John and one friend were caught in the sail under the water, John got himself free and rescued the other friend, managing to get to shore. John saw this as proof of God's desire for John to become a missionary.
John's experiences in rural Suffolk would give him skills necessary for becoming a missionary in a barren and harsh environment. Improvisation, resilience and practical experiences made him well suited for the northern Canadian arctic.
While John's early life doesn't lend himself to the usual emigrant story of discontentment with his home country, he clearly represents how emigrants often bring skills from their home background to a new life in a new place.ws
Source from:
"Operation Canon ; a short account of the life and witness of the Reverend John Hudspith Turner" by Maurice S. Flint
Available at Suffolk Archives in The John Blatchly Library:
Reference Number: 830 TUR
Also available via The Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/operationcanonsh0
000flin
Image on right is from an article by Julia Jones on the River Deben Association Website: https://www.riverdeben.org/rda-journal/two-sides-of-a-river/
Missionary Training
In 1925, when John was 20 years old, John's church in Felixstowe received a new vicar.
The vicar was an old colleague of a Reverend Dr Bartlett, who was affiliated with a new up and coming Missionary group named "The Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society"
Some time later, this Bartlett visited John's church to advertise this society to the locals, with John and his older brother Arthur joining up to train as missionaries.
The society was headquartered in Bristol, located near the Clifton theological college there.
A Missionary in training's salary was so low that often John had to cycle 190 miles to Bristol, camping in his classic home-made tents along the way, making it a multiple-day journey.
John would meet a man named Harold Duncan during his time at the missionary college. Duncan would be the main partner for his voyage from England to the Arctic, and would accompany him when setting up the various mission stations there.
During John's training as a missionary, his older brother Arthur was already doing work in the northern Canadian arctic at a place named Pangnirtung.
Source: "Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint
First Image Source is from "Operation Canon"
Second Image Source is: National Library Scotland Maps Website - Ordnance Survey Quarter inch to Mile Map of Eastern Counties (S.)
https://maps.nls.uk/view/239443222
A Letter from the BCMS to John (shown on the right of this section) shares the details of John's assigned place for missionary work. While John is not the first into the arctic area for missionary work, his particular efforts will be more isolated than ever before.
Travelling to Canada
In 1929, John Turner and Harold Duncan most likely sailed from Liverpool or Southampton, landing in Montreal.
From Montreal, Turner and Duncan would sail upon an Icebreaker (likely the SS. Nascopie pictured above). The pair would likely have stopped in Pangnirtung to see Arthur, then sailed further north to Ponds Inlet, the location of the first mission station they were to build.
The Nascopie was filled with supplies for building the first mission station, along with Turner and Duncan's luggage.
A letter from Turner details how the captain of the ship from Montreal to Ponds Inlet roped up his luggage after a lock broke from the transit from England to Montreal.
(Available at Suffolk Archives Reference Number: HA204/6/4/1)
"My dear Brother,
You will see that we have arrived here safely and I'm glad to say that all the luggage has too. The lock of the big green trunk, that came from the sale, broke during transit in England but when we got on the ship I got one of the crew to rope it up well. He made a good job of it, putting plenty of strong rope around it. The rope will come in useful later on. Thanks to the assistance of the C. A Captain here. J"
Turner's resourcefulness shines through as he thinks of alternative uses for the rope around his luggage, a trait that continues as his journey carries on to Ponds Inlet and beyond.
Travelling the Arctic, Turner and Duncan's objective was to establish Mission stations like these.
These pictures from "Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint depict Moffet Inlet Mission House, the second Mission station built on Turner's journey.
These were constructed from timber and insulated with asbestos. Inuit Christians who accompanied Turner, would help set these houses up.
After the first house was set up at Ponds Inlet, Turner and his various companions were left isolated as the SS. Nascopie departed. Now their sole means of travel would be dog-sledge.
Images below are from "Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint
The first depicts a traditional Inuit dog-sledge alongside an Igloo, Turner would have experienced both of these along his journey across the northern Canadian Arctic.
The second depicts a dog from one of Turner's dog-sledge teams, it was the last to survive one of Turner's more treacherous journeys
Dog-sledges are a traditional means of travel for Inuit people. "Operation Canon" describes sledges laden with up to 1,200lbs (544kg) of supplies pulled by dogs.
Many modern Inuit people still use Dog-sledges as a part of their culture or for a convenient means to travel through the harsh cold snow.
Source: PBS Terra - "Sled Dogs: The Most Extreme Distance Athletes on Earth"
Source of Image of SS. Nascopie is via Wikimedia Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Nascopie#/media/File:Ship._Nascopie_BAnQ_P48S1P12476.jpg
To further explain: Here is a map from "Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint. It details Turner's (and his assorted companions') journey on various forms of transport across the Canadian Arctic to establish various mission stations.
If the letter from the BCMS was correct in its details of Turner's journey, he likely would have called into Pangnirtung, possibly seeing his brother Arthur and many Christian Inuit people.
Turner and Duncan would then travel northwest, still sailing upon their icebreaker, SS. Nascopie, until reaching Ponds Inlet.
Upon arriving at Ponds Inlet, Turner and Duncan would unload the various cargo of the Nascopie, including all the materials for building a mission station.
After unloading, the SS. Nascopie left Turner, Duncan, a few Inuit Christians and a dog-sledge team behind.
Yet they were not alone, many Inuit people lived in Pond Inlet, waving Turner and his companions welcome when they arrived. The Inuit people had already been visited by a bishop in 1928 but remained faithful to their own culture and religion.
Turner, Duncan and various Inuit Christians would build the Mission station and fill it with various supplies. "Operation Canon" describes an Inuit Christian Boy named Ben who had joined Turner upon the Nascopie along with his father. Ben had brought: "Exercise books, pencils, an atlas, toys, a New Testament in English, geometrical instruments and a primer."
The group would live around this mission house as they built it, hunting mostly seals for food along with their supplies.
Once fully established, thus began a new leg of the group's journey. One of dog-sledge travel.
They would travel back and forth from various nomadic Inuit camps to try and preach Christianity, in some cases inviting locals over to play games and read.
In some cases they came up against Inuit groups who firmly believed in their own culture and religion, in other cases, Turner would seem to convert Inuit groups to Christianity.
By 1937, Turner and co. would dog-sled all the way to Moffet Inlet to set up their next Mission station.
They first arrived at Arctic Bay after setting out in Autumn and arriving by 18th November.
They then packed multiple sledges full of timber, nails and various other supplies, weighing around 600lbs (272kg) and set off on 25th November.
Dog-teams pulling the sledge grew exhausted after just 3-miles in the rough terrain. Parts of the sledge degraded so much from the terrain that they had to be patched in the wilderness.
Turner and his team barely managed to travel 200-300 yards each day.
It took his team 8 days to travel from Arctic Bay to Moffet Inlet, arriving on 3rd December.
By 11th December, the Moffet Inlet Mission House was built.
By 1940, Turner was back on his dog-sledging journey, now onto his final "main objective" Fort Ross.
(Note that on this map, what looks like straits and ocean may have been frozen over or he may have navigated it using Kayaks or other small boats)
By April 1940, the Fort Ross Mission House was fully built.
These 3 Mission stations (Ponds Inlet, Moffet Inlet and Fort Ross) would be Turner's primary residences and places to preach. There were other houses and attempts elsewhere in the Northern Canadian Arctic but these 3 seemed to be the outliers.
Maurice S. Flint describes the goings on in these Mission Houses in "Operation Canon":
"Each evening when a Missionary is in residence... a service is held at the house. Also natives coming in to trade, or for any other reason, will visit the missionary both to enjoy his hospitality and to ask questions concerning difficulties with the scriptures... those in the house will kneel down around the kitchen chairs for a word of prayer...
The mission house becomes, too, a centre for children who come to look at picture books or to play games of ludo, snakes and ladders, chinese checkers, or jig-saw puzzles..."
During the winter, Turner and his team would leave one mission station and travel to others by dog-sled. Perhaps also visiting other Inuit camps to attempt preaching again or trade.
During his time in the northern Canadian arctic, John would form a partnership with a local Inuit man named Pewatok, who would frequently be part of the dog-sledge journeys. Pewatok would prove invaluable as someone to both help hunt seals for dog-food, repair sledges and talk to local Inuit people. Pewatok would later be paramount in John's story when disaster struck in 1947.
Once a year, an icebreaker would arrive at one of the Mission stations or at Pangnirtung to deliver and receive post and supplies. Allowing Turner the opportunity to communicate with his family back in England and colleagues throughout Canada.
Turner would occasionally go on furlough back to England.
During one of these furloughs in 1939, John met Joan Hobart. Joan had been on trips through Egypt in her young adult life but then also felt a calling to become a missionary at some point before meeting Turner. They became close friends and the friendship seemed to blossom into affection.
Maurice S. Flint notes that it was common for women to have emigrated England to become wives of missionaries in some parts of the northern Canadian arctic but only in the less isolated places like Pangnirtung. None had gone as far north as Turner.
However, John returned to his northern Canadian work alone for the next 4 years until in 1943, when he returned for another furlough, he asked Joan to join him.
In this time, Joan had finished training as a missionary at BCMS and had also undergone training as a nurse at East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital.
In June 1944, Joan travelled to the northern Canadian arctic likely by boat. All of this was during wartime and threats to English, American and Canadian shipping made the journey particularly dangerous.
(Below is an image of Joan Hobart (at the point of this photo, Joan Turner) along with her 3 children: June, Grace and Faith in 1948, just a year after John's passing)
Source from: The Anglican Church of Canada archives - Diocese of the Arctic collection
Reference Number: P9314/94
Joan would be just as involved with missionary work as John when she arrived. Interacting with the local Inuit people, taking short dog-sledge trips with John.
One must also note that Joan gave birth to her 3 daughters some 800 miles away from any "western" doctor.
Interactions with Inuit communities
Firstly, if we are to take "Operation Canon" (which uses various letters and diaries from Turner) at face value, Turner's interactions with Inuit people were mostly great.
Even when encountering Inuit people who were not Christians, Like those originally living at Ponds Inlet. Turner and his friends are welcomed with waves and laughs.
Turner and Duncan were given their own Inuit names in Inuktitut. "MIKENEKSAK" meaning "The Smaller One" for Turner and "ANGENEKSAK" meaning "The Bigger One" for Duncan. Owing to their height difference.
Turner's work did include translating Christian texts and prayer into Inuktitut, rather than trying to enforce English onto the Inuit people, which some missionaries did in other parts of the empire.
(Below is an example of Turner's translations of Christian texts into Inuktitut) - Available in Suffolk Archives Reference Number: HA204/6/5/2
However, Canada and many Inuit people have re-evaluated a lot of the history surrounding interactions between Christianity, Anglicanism and Inuit people and culture over the decades since John Hudspith Turner worked as a missionary.
While it is true that even today, many Inuit people are still Anglican and appreciate the work of people like John Hudspith Turner, many other Inuit people view the story as much more closer to a form of Imperialism.
(Below is an example of modern Inuit Christianity with an Inuit woman performing The Lord's Prayer in Inuktitut)
Source: Ottawa Anglican - "Individual Section 13 - The Lord's Prayer in Inuktitut"
It is important to note that Maurice S. Flint often leaves out a lot of the Inuit figures in Turner's story. Many go unnamed throughout the account. Particularly, Joan Turner's Inuit ward (likely named Rebecca) goes unnamed despite her proximity to the Turner family. The lack of named Inuit individuals sometimes undermines the real effort of Christian Inuit people in helping Turner.
While John Turner is certainly an incredibly interesting figure for both Suffolk and for Anglican History, he is also a figure who directly diminished the religion and culture of native Inuit people.
Turner, in his encounter with "Ben" the Inuit boy who brought supplies for Ponds Inlet Mission House, may have encountered someone who attended a Canadian "Residential School". These have been a hotbed of controversy in Canada as they took in Indigenous children from various parts of the country and often stripped them of their culture, religion and language under the guise of Christianisation and Civilisation.
A letter from John to Edward "Ted" Turner seems to suggest that John and the Inuit boy named Ben had such a close connection that Ben was familiar with John's family and was even supposed to write to them.
(Available at Suffolk Archives - Reference Number: HA204/6/4)
"Dear Teddie & Mandie,
I will make and early start on your letter & add to it as things occur to me & then things will not be overlooked so easily.
I received your letter alright - very many thanks - & Ben was pleased with his letter from you. I am sorry I did not get him to write but in the effort to get all my own letters written this got overlooked. He has not forgotten you nevertheless & always remembers you in his prayers. "Please bless Mr Turner, England & Mr Turner Baffin Land"..."
From this letter and "Operation Canon" , Turner seems deeply involved in the lives of Christian Inuit children like Ben, and they seem to appreciate his work and kindness.
Yet when it comes to Inuit people who do not follow Christianity, Turner shows a different side.
"Operation Canon" features events where John and the Anglican Mission in the Arctic face challenges from native Inuit people who wish to keep or return to their own religions and cultures. In March 1947, John encountered an Inuit woman who was the wife of a prominent Inuit camp member named Alooloo, who John had met before during a hunt for seals. The woman had established herself in the camp as a teacher of the Inuit religion, which John immediately dismissed during what Flint calls a "Battle for his faith". Flint references John's own letters to his mother, where he describes this spread of traditional Inuit spirituality as "Abnormal" or "Evil" and the woman at the head of the spread as "Mental".
Again, this is not to say that Turner's work and interactions with Inuit people was wholly bad or good. Instead, Modern context and balanced judgment is often needed when evaluating the stories of missionary emigrants like Turner.
Sources:
"Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint
Criticism of Turner and BCMS in relation to Inuit culture, religion and women can be found here:
"Inuit women in the process of the conversion to Christianity in the Canadian eastern Arctic: 1894–1945" by Frédéric B. Laugrand & Jarich G. Oosten in 'Polar Record' journal, Volume 51, Issue 5
"Inuit Shamanism and Christianity : Transitions and Transformations in the Twentieth Century" by Frédéric B. Laugrand
On 24th September 1947, John Turner's rifle misfired when trying to shoot a seal on the doorstep of the mission station on Moffet Island and the bullet travelled through his skull and the right portion of his brain.
He did not die immediately, Joan Turner along with many Inuit colleagues helped keep John alive while others radioed and travelled by motorboat to try and get help to their remote location.
By 30th September, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) had requested to establish a group of airmen to provide immediate aid and possibly even rescue Turner. Four paratroopers and required aircrew for a C-47 Dakota were selected and "Operation Canon" began.
By 3rd October, the now fully equipped Dakota, its crew and paratroopers set off the operation. Firstly, dropping leaflets to the Moffett Island Mission House. Instructing those at the Mission House to split, with half of the Inuit inhabitants going to the top of nearby cliffs to aid the soon to drop paratroopers, and the others to stay at the mission station.
By 4th October, one of the paratroopers, Capt. D'artois, had successfully landed after jumping from the Plane, been guided by a local Inuit man through the unmapped terrain and arrived to the Moffett Island Mission Station.
Over the next 7 weeks, Capt. D'artois, the other paratroopers, Joan Turner and Local Inuit people would help treat John's ailing condition.
Throughout continued struggles to treat John; the weather, and icy conditions of landing areas made evacuation attempts difficult. John's condition required operation, which he bared without anaesthetic.
Throughout all of this hardship, John tried his best to help others. He translated between the local Inuit people and his paratrooper rescuers. Local people wrote or visited him, which he welcomed. Every Sunday he'd "attend" services in the mission station from his makeshift bed when they were held in the kitchen.
Pewatok (a local Inuit man who had been a part of all of John's dog-sledge trips to establish the various mission station) would drive John to a now landed rescue plane to send John back to Winnipeg for treatment. Mrs Turner, her children, a Inuit girl who had helped at the Mission station and the paratroopers joined John in the aircraft and they all arrived in Winnipeg on 22nd November.
John was quickly taken to Winnipeg General Hospital to receive full treatment for his injuries while Joan Turner, the accompanying Inuit girl and the 3 children moved into a house nearby.
Unfortunately, John's brain injuries were too severe to recover and he passed away on 9th December 1947.
In the immediate aftermath, Joan Turner and her 3 Children were obviously devastated. Yet, appeals from both Canada and Britain raised $21,000 for supporting the remaining Turner family. There seem to be pictures from a supposed news report in the Sydney Morning Herald of Joan Turner, her 3 children and Rebecca the young Inuit ward returning to London on 18th December 1947. Yet more needs to be researched into what happened to the family following John's sad passing.
Sources:
"Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint
"OPERATION CANON: Rescuing Canon John Turner in the Canadian Arctic, 1947" by P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Available for free via ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369020727_OPERATION_CANON_Rescuing_Canon_John_Turner_in_the_Canadian_Arctic_1947
John's grave lies in St John's Anglican Cathedral in Winnipeg.
A dedication to John is also present in Old Felixstowe on the wall of The Church of St Peter and St Paul.
There still exists a "Diocese of the Arctic" that Turner and the BCMS' work helped establish, that still contains many Inuit Christians.
https://www.arcticnet.org/
Further Information
If you found this project on the life and work of John Hudspith Turner interesting, there are many ways of following up his story and even an opportunity to expand the record.
The Turner Family Archive
Full archive available in Suffolk Archives - Reference Number: HA204
A summary of the archive can be found here:
https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HA204-Turner-family-archive-including-diaries-letters-from-Baffin-island.pdf
Includes numerous letters, diaries and records. Not just belonging to John, but also his wife Joan, his various brothers and even his parents.
Maurice S. Flint used alot of these when writing "Operation Canon" in 1949, but there are still many unused sources that might change how you see Turner or major sources to be reinterpreted in a 21st century mindset.
You can read "Operation Canon" by Maurice S. Flint yourself at Suffolk Archives in The John Blatchly Library.
Reference Number: 830 TUR
As previously mentioned, if you want to see a real Suffolk connection, The Church of St Peter and St Paul features a dedication to Turner on its interior wall.
Address: Church Rd, Felixstowe IP11 9NF
Emigration to Canada
The Strickland Family
The Strickland Family
Thomas and Elizabeth Strickland raised nine children, six daughters and three sons, and became the owners of Reydon Hall in Suffolk, in 1808.
Though taught at home the family were well educated with Thomas insisting that each of his daughters be taught mathematics, history and geography as well as the “feminine” subjects. Due to this five of the six Strickland daughters went on to pursue successful literary careers.
When Thomas Strickland passed in 1818 the family were left with a house that needed expensive upkeep and no money. Due to this, his daughters utilised every opportunity for a Victorian woman writing poetry and historical pieces and sketches for magazines such as The Lady's Magazine and Court Magazine and Monthly Critic.
In May 1818 at the age of 15 Catharine Strickland anonymously published the children's book, The Tell Tale: an original collection of moral and amusing stories.
Meanwhile, Samuel Strickland was sponsored by family friend Colonel Black and went off to pursue a pioneer's life in Canada. As a result, by the 1830s Susanna and Catharine both emigrated to Canada, in the search for riches and comfort, though each of them had very different experiences once there.
Letters from their time in Britain and Canada demonstrate how each found the change in lifestyle. While the books each of them published explains the struggles they had to battle while there.
Reydon Hall, Suffolk, 1895
Reydon Hall, Suffolk, 1895
The Lady's Magazine, August 1770
The Lady's Magazine, August 1770
Children's Book Published by Catharine Strickland
Children's Book Published by Catharine Strickland
Emigration from Britain to Canada
The rapid development of industry during the Industrial Revolution brought major changes to the lives of British people. It created wealth for some and led to many technological advances, but it also caused job losses, poor working conditions, and overcrowding, especially for the working class. This situation only grew worse in the late 1820s as poor harvests, child labour, unemployment and overpopulation rose and living conditions deteriorated.
Presenting itself as ”the poor man’s country” Canada saw a doubling of its population between 1828, 186,488 , and 1835, 374,099, as people from across Great Britain sought out a better life for themselves. With the promise of wealth and land many people decided that it was the better option than struggling in Britain and took the risk hoping it would pay off.
However, the conditions that they found in Canada were not like the dream that was described to them by travelling agents such as William Cattermole, who went around Suffolk giving lectures in the early 1830s, in the lectures and pamphlets about emigration to Canada. The land they would find would need to be cleared before any building could take place meaning a lot of hard work and manual labour when they got there.
The conditions only worsened by the time Susanna Strickland arrived in Montreal in 1832 as a cholera outbreak wiped out thousands of the population, as she described how “coffins line the quay”.
By 1832 “real scenes of distress” began to filter back to Great Britain as people described their moves to Canda, as people began to realise the truth about the lives they had started in Canada.
City after The Industrial Revolution
City after The Industrial Revolution
Poster Promoting Emigration to Canada, 1870
Poster Promoting Emigration to Canada, 1870
"Québec", 1834 illustration by Alexander Jamieson Russell
"Québec", 1834 illustration by Alexander Jamieson Russell
Samuel Strickland
1818: moved to Darlington, Canada sponsored by Colonel Black to start a pioneers apprenticeship. He married Black’s daughter, Emma, a couple months later.
1826: He bought 200 acres of land in Peterborough near his friends Thomas Alexander Stewart and Robert Reid. When his wife died during childbirth, he moved in with Reid while he cleared his land.
1827: Married Reid’s daughter Mary.
1828: Got a job working for the Canada Company as an engineer and was very successful. He helped significantly with the development of the city of Guelph.
1832: Left the Canada Company and moved to the Duoro District in Canada where he was joined by his sisters who emigrated that year.
1832-1852: spent two decades working as a farmer and being a significant member of the community, working as a Justice of the Peace. He established an agricultural school where young men were trained in the skills necessary to land-holding and farming.
1837: When there was said to be a plan of rebellion to take down the British Government in Canada he joined the 4th Northumberland militia and became a captain.
1852: He went back to England to visit his sister Agnes who convinced him to write a book about his experience emigrating to Canada.
Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West
Samuel Strickland's book explains his experience emigrating to Canada, encouraging others to follow in his footsteps and seek the better life Canada has to offer.
"The climate of Canada West is healthier and really pleasanter than that of England or Ireland"
Including the challenges he faced he also includes tips and advice on how to better adapt and overcome the obstacles people faced when they arrived in order to achieve success.
"If the facts and suggestions contained in the following pages should prove useful and beneficial to the emigrant, by smoothing his rough path to comfort and independence, my object will be attained, and my first literary effort will not have been made in vain."
The book is an optimistic recount of how moving to Canada is a great opportunity to escape the poor conditions of Britain.
Susanna Moodie (Strickland)
1818: began writing poetry & drawing sketches of Suffolk life for La Belle Assemble
Late 1820s: worked for the Anti-Slavery Society publishing pamphlets about the cause.
1830s: published poem Love and Ambition in literary annuals Forget Me Not and Friendship's Offering.
1831: Married John Moodie and moved to Southwold. When visited by Samuel’s father-in-law who promises they would find independence, comfort and wealth in Canada, they planned to emigrate in the following Spring.
February 1832: They bought land in Northumberland Canada, one mile from her brother Samuel’s farm in Upper Canada.
July 1832: Set sail for Quebec from Scotland.
September 1832: They arrived in Quebec in the middle of a cholera outbreak and had to wait three weeks and wait for a cholera inspection before they were allowed in. Described the coffins that lined the quay in Montreal as cholera killed over 200 people a day. When they arrived, they decided to buy a farm rather than clear the land they had previously bought.
February 1834: Decided to move back to their original land in the Duoro District where her siblings lived as they found their new life and neighbours difficult believing they were purposely being difficult.
October 1838: Susanna used the threat of rebellion as inspiration and starts writing poetry again
May 1839: Susanna began writing for the Literary Garland earning a constant income.
1852: Susanna published her book Roughing it in the Bush writing about her experience of emigrating to Canada.
1863: They had financial trouble and moved to a cottage where they lived in moderate comfort.
1885: Susanna died in Toronto.
Susanna's Poem Love and Ambition, published in Forget Me Not in 1831
Susanna's Poem Love and Ambition, published in Forget Me Not in 1831
“Cholera Plague, Québec”, painting by Joseph Légaré , 1832
“Cholera Plague, Québec”, painting by Joseph Légaré , 1832
Susanna Strickland
Susanna Strickland
"When things come to the worst, they generally mend."
Roughing It In The Bush
Susanna's book focuses on her initial migration to Canada and her life in the first farm in 1832. It contains the feelings and struggles faced when moving to a new place away from home and the interactions she had with different neighbours. It shows a genuine struggle to adapt to her new life as well as the problems, financially and socially, that she faced. In the end it demonstrated how with perseverance success can be found in Canada.
"After removing to the bush, many misfortunes befel us, which deprived us of our income, and reduced us to great poverty. In fact we were strangers, and the knowing ones took us in; and for many years we struggled with hardships which would have broken stouter hearts than ours, had not our trust been placed in the Almighty, who among all our troubles never wholly deserted us"
Catharine Parr Traill (Strickland)
May 1818: published a book, at the age of 15.
1819-1832: published approximately 10 books, resulting in her going on a small tour of England in December 1831.
May 1832: Married Thomas Traill, a friend of her brother-in-law, and due to their financial difficulty decided that moving to Canada would be a good opportunity for them.
June 1832: set off to Canada despite the fact that Catharine fell ill and was not expected to survive the journey.
August 1832: They arrive in Canada and despite Catharine getting better during the journey, she caught cholera in Montreal. It was decided they would stay with Samuel while clearing their land.
January 1834: Catharine and Thomas moved into their new home and had their first son.
December 1834: They decided to move away from the Douro District as Thomas struggled with the manual labour of running a farm.
1836: Catharine published her most successful book, The backwoods of Canada: being letters from the wife of an emigrant officer, illustrative of the domestic economy of British America, telling her story of emigration to Canada.
1837: After the rebellion they struggled to sell their land, neither had an income and they faced financial difficulty.
1839: They finally sold their land in Douro for £400 and moved to Ashburnham, a more settled area of Canada.
1833-1847: Catharine spent most of the time pregnant or sick, giving birth to 9 children in this time. She sent some of her work back to her sister Agnes, who published it in London Magazines, and occasionally was able to contribute to the Literary Garland her siter wrote for in Canada.
1854: Catharine published a book, The female emigrant’s guide, and hints on Canadian housekeeping, as a guide to emigration and found moderate success.
1859: When Thomas died Catharine moved to Lakefield Cottage, Westove, where she continued to write, publishing two more books, until she died in 1899.
"Many such have succeeded, but the struggle has been severe."
"Canada is not the place for idle folks to retrench a lost fortune in. In some parts of the country you will find most articles of provision as dear as in London, clothing much dearer, and not so good"
In her book Catharine recounts her experience of moving to Canada and the financial struggle her and Thomas faced when they moved as well as the difficulty of adapting to their new way of life. It seems to be a warning to others of the reality of moving in comparison to the narrative promoted by those encouraging people to seek a better life in Canada.
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