Lambton Musings
LAMBTON’S HISTORY AND HERITAGE NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2024
The Mystery Box
Amy Jennings, The Forest Museum
www.discoveriesthatmatter.ca
“You must actually like this stuff to keep coming back!” A somewhat baffled expression accompanied this comment as it was said. I had just explained that I was returning to the Forest Museum as a summer employee for my third year to someone I was talking to. For a moment I was confused; I forgot that some people think of museums as musty, dusty old buildings filled with even older junk.
My experience at the Forest Museum hasn’t been like that at all! Sure, there’s old stuff and occasionally some dust to be swept up, but it’s been so much more than that. One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of how surprising museum work can be is the time I identified an artefact from World War II from a partially visible logo.
One of our volunteers was cleaning and going through some of our artefacts from the world wars when they found something they didn’t recognize. They brought it up to the front desk where I was sitting and asked if I had any clue what it was. They thought it might be a survival kit for a soldier but it was very hard to tell since it is only a small box made of foggy brown plastic and unable to be opened because it is sealed. Looking closely at it, I was able to make out part of a logo a little larger than a postage stamp. I could read “BRYA-” on a ribbon, “Special” under it, and two overlapping circles near the bottom. I couldn’t think of too many things that would have a logo like this that would fit with the size of the mystery box, so I guessed it might be a matchbox. If it was indeed a survival kit then a matchbox would make sense.
I started searching online for these “Special Brya” matches and eventually came across a matchbox with a ribbon and two overlapping circles at the bottom. They were “Bryant
“The mystery box” in our collection
& May ‘Brymay’ Special Safety Matches”, a British company! I was making progress in identifying the mystery box! I was thrilled! Then it hit me. What exactly did these matches tell me? Not much, as I could hardly find any information on them and what I could find didn’t say anything about them being used in a little plastic box. All it really told me was that the mystery box had a matchbox in it. I couldn’t even be sure that it had any military ties; it could have just been put with the military things by accident sometime in the 1960s for all I knew.
I didn’t have anything else to go off of, though, so I decided it was worth a shot. Maybe I could find out more by looking into the British army; the match company proudly placed “Britishmade” on the front of their box so I thought it was more likely tied to the British army than any other army.
I started looking into WWII era British army survival kits. They seemed to be around the same size as our mystery box and did contain matches, but the outside was definitely not a little brown plastic box. I felt like I was getting closer. I tried searching for other Allied countries’ survival kits but no luck there either. Considering it was in our collection it probably was given to us by a Canadian. I happened to know that the British Navy sometimes employed Canadians, so I checked that. Again, no match. Well, it wasn’t land or sea, maybe it was from the Royal Air Force. I looked up RAF survival kits and waited for the images to load.
Here is a photo of the inside of a similar survival kit. This kit included matches, a tube of cream, Horlicks tablets (an energy boosting treat), a chocolate bar, halazone (to disinfect drinking water), a stimulant, a compass and a rubber water bottle.
It was a match. I had finally figured it out! It was a World War II era RAF escape kit for pilots! Not only that, I could only find about 5 others in the collections of any other people or museums online. We had stumbled across something incredibly rare and we didn’t even know we had it!
I did more research and typed up a little description for it. It was put on display and has been in our military exhibit ever since. This story is one I always enjoy telling visitors who are interested in military history and mysteries, but it’s also one I tell to people who ask me how I don’t get bored sitting in an old building full of old stuff all day. There’s always a mystery or two to solve around here and there’s always a story to be told.
Note: We appreciate Amy’s efforts to research and identify the “mystery box” as an RAF escape kit. A decision has been made to not, at least for the time being, unseal it.
Sink or Float
Moore Museum Staff
Personal flotation devices, or PFDs are a familiar sight over the summer months. From water wings to inflatable donuts, these flotation tools make summertime in a waterside town enjoyable and most importantly safe.
The earliest examples of life preservers were made of inflated animal organs, or dried and sealed gourds, and were not as commonplace as they are today. On wooden ships, in the event of a shipwreck, there would be a lot of floating debris and usually something to grab onto to help keep afloat. With the increasing popularity of iron ships in the mid-19th C, shipwrecks continued to occur with far less floating debris, and it became necessary to develop a type of life preserver for the crew and passengers.
Cork was often used as a material in jackets, or to fill canvas bags due to its buoyancy. Later, kapok, a cotton-like material sometimes used to stuff cushions or toys, was used in replace of the harder cork in life jackets that were rough and uncomfortable to wear.
Life rings, jackets and model boats can all be seen in the Marine Room at Moore Museum. The jacket pictured here was made by John Leckie Ltd., founded in 1871 in Toronto.
While these devices were more commonly used, they weren’t mandatory for some time. Following the tragedy of the Titanic, an act was passed in the United States that set standards for the number of lifeboats and jackets required aboard each vessel. Given that at this time, lifejackets were made of canvas and cork, and lifeboats made of wood, the addition of these lifesaving items drastically increased the weight on many vessels.
At the time the SS Eastland was a passenger ship on the Great Lakes. Faced with the decision to either decrease the number of passengers able to board, or meet these new standards, the owners decided to retrofit the ship with additional lifeboats and jackets required by the Seaman’s Act. In July of 1915, while docked at the Chicago River, the ship began to list, and eventually
rolled onto its port side, with over 2500 passengers aboard. Although only six meters from the dock, many passengers were trapped underwater and were not able to be saved. Over 800 lives were lost, and many believed that the additional weight led to the instability of the ship, making it top-heavy, and eventually causing what was one of the greatest losses of life on the Great Lakes. Instances like this remind us that while increasing safety measures is a good thing, properly implementing safety tools and knowing how to use them is just as important.
Today, PDFs are often made to be inflatable, or composed of inexpensive foam. They come in all sizes and colours and are even made for our favourite four-legged friends. We can be grateful that we have reliable and accessible lifesaving devices available to us. So, stay safe this summer and keep your flotation devices handy!
The Makushi and Akawaio People of Guyana
Zahra McDoom, Robert Cochrane Lambton County Fellow at OMC
Guyana, once British Guiana, lies on the Northern coast of South America. It is bordered by Venezuela on the West, Surinam on the East, and Brazil on the South. Local mining engineer Lester MacGillivray (1895 - 1972) arrived in British Guiana in the 1920s. Lester may have been accompanied by his wife Margaret Albro Creighton MacGillivray (1908-1988). Margaret was born in Trinidad when her father worked for the Royal Bank of Canada there and managed a sugar plantation.
The tropical coast of British Guiana was believed by many to be home to El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. The area attracted fortune-seeking Europeans to its shorelines and dense rainforests. Upon arrival, Europeans encountered a land inhabited by Indigenous people and they soon sought out tobacco and dyes used by the native population. Europeans arriving inadvertently carried diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and smallpox. This decimated much of the Indigenous population of the Caribbean and elsewhere. Although they did not find El Dorado, the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British amassed wealth in the guise of “white gold”, or sugar, a commodity highly desirable in Europe. Sugar production was labour-intensive. Europeans enslaved and transported African people from areas in West Central Africa to work on the plantations. After emancipation in the British Empire in 1834, indentured Chinese and Indian people were brought over as plantation workers resulting in a changed landscape for Indigenous inhabitants. But they survived. Today Guyana is home to the Akawaio, Arawak, Arecuna, Carib, Makushi, Patamona, Waiwai, Wapishana, and Warru people. While in British Guiana, Lester spent time in the Amazon relying on Indigenous groups as guides. After returning to Canada in 1927, Lester moved to Lambton County and brought items used in the daily lives of Indigenous people of Guiana. The MacGillivrays continued in the oil business and owned an oil field on Gypsie Flats Road, Oil Springs. Margaret later donated the
Indigenous items to the Oil Museum of Canada. She provided details about the donated items, but these records are thin, and the stories loosely recorded. Still, we can glean a patchwork of information from her account.
Lester brought home drums of the Makushi and Akawaio people.
Margaret noted that the drums were made in a manner of stretching animal skin down over a hollow tube and tightening it with string or hemp. Margaret identified the Indigenous groups that made the drums. The Makushi and Akawaio people are interior tribes of the Amazon. Coastal areas in the British Guiana were used primarily for planting sugar crops, forcing many tribes toward the interior. The Makushi and Akawaio languages belong to the Carib-speaking family of languages. Makuhsi is considered a threatened language and Akawaio, a vulnerable language. Today, the Maukshi in Guyana number about 7,000 people and the Akawaio approximately 5,000 people.
Lester also brought back a blow gun, quiver and blow gun darts used for hunting. When Margaret donated the items to the Museum, they recorded, “the blow gun is from the purple heart tree. [Purple heart] is the inner tube of [a] reed that does not warp or become crooked. It is sometimes called a blowpipe. It is used to propel darts which are dipped in Hurali, a poison.” The purple heart tree can be found in the Amazon rainforest, and it is known for its hardwood.
Indigenous Blowpipe or Blowgun, British Guiana circa 1925
Professor of Anthropology and specialist of Indigenous people of Guyana, George Mentore, believes this blow gun and dart is from the Akawaio people. He explains that the forest people of Guyana use blowguns and darts to hunt animals living high up in the canopy like monkeys, macaws, and black curassow birds. The darts can travel up to 100 yards when used by skilled hunters. The blowpipe at the Oil Museum of Canada is approximately 8 feet long.
We can learn about the accompanying quiver from Margaret’s detailed explanation, “The quiver is made from slender reeds that are woven together to make a long basket. The outside black casing is from a crude rubber tree called the bullet wood tree. When it is tapped it produces raw rubber [known as balata]. The two baskets attached are full of native cotton put on the end of the darts so you can blow them through the gun.”
Makushi and Akawaio Drums, British Guiana circa 1925
Balata is harvested by Indigenous people, like the Makushi, by tapping the tree once a year after the rainy season in June. The trees are given years to rest before being harvested again. Tapping the bullet wood tree is traditional knowledge passed down through generations.
The Indigenous populations of Guyana are protective and respectful of their natural environment. Lester and Margaret provided enough information on their donations for us to gain a better understanding of the people who created them. The Makushi and Akawaio, and other Indigenous communities in Guyana2, work to sustain traditional knowledge as they adapt to change and offer others insight into biodiverse regions of the Amazon.
Quiver and Blow Gun darts from the Indigenous people inhabiting British Guiana (circa 1925)
Emma (Findley) Prowse
Alan Campbell, Lambton County Branch Ontario Genealogical Society
Note: I found Findley spelled a number of ways but chose to use the spelling found on Thomas Findley’s gravestone in Hillsdale Cemetery, Petrolia.
A post on the Petrolia Heritage Committee Facebook group made by administrator Liz Welsh caught my attention. Liz had included a photo of a gravestone that she felt was one of the prettiest in Hillside Cemetery, Petrolia. I was intrigued and decided to explore the short life of the woman whose gravestone it was, Emma (Findley) Prowse.
According to the gravestone inscription, Emma died 29 September 1900 at the age of 24 years, 8 months and 1 day. Her death registration recorded her as 25 years old, her date of death as 29 September 1900 and her residence at the time of her death as Fifth Street. Her occupation was recorded as housekeeper. We also learn that she was born in Petrolia and had died of pulmonary tuberculosis after being afflicted with it for a year. She was of the Methodist faith.
According to the registration of her birth, Emma was born 27 March 1873 to parents, Thomas Findley, an engineer, and Caroline Garret[t]. At the time of her birth, they were living in Petrolia. Using a date calculator and the dates on the civil registrations her age was calculated as 27 years, 6 months and 2 days. The birth information was provided by her father but we will not explore the reliability of sending in a father to record correct dates.
Backtracking in time, the 1871 Canada Census captured Thomas and Caroline living in Petrolia. Two children are recorded, an Eliza Jane age 3 and an unnamed child age 1 month born in March. Eliza Jane probably died in 1877 because Thomas purchased cemetery lot 107, E ½ in the Petrolia Pioneer Cemetery in that year.
The 1881 Canada Census for Petrolia Town captured Thomas Findley age 35, born in the United States, and working as a watchman. His wife Caroline, born in Ontario, was 34. Emma, age 8, and a sister, Lulu, age 10 were recorded. No civil registration of Lulu’s birth has been found to date but she would probably be the one month old child recorded in the 1871 census.
Emma’s sister, Lulu May Findley, age 19, married Louis Miller age 26, son of Joseph Miller and Josephine Gates 27 August 1891 at Petrolia. Both Lulu and Louis were recorded as being of the Catholic faith. Louis was born in the County of Waterloo, but was residing in Enniskillen Township, Lambton County where he was farming. The marriage took place at St. Phillips Catholic Church, Petrolia. The church record does note that Lulu was a convert.
As of the taking of the 1891 Canada Census Emma, age 17, was still living with her parents. Thomas Findley was still working as a night watchman.
Emma married Samuel Prowse, son of Henry and Hannah (Jeffreys) Prowse, circa 1895. A son, registered as Verney Turrill Prowse, was born 4 Oct 1896 at Petrolia. As per the 1901 Canada Census, a second son, Cecil Graden Prowse was born 18 July 1898. Cecil, on the Attestation Paper for joining the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, recorded that he was born in Petrolia 18 July 1897. Since this Paper was signed 18 September 1915, he may have lied about his age in order to be able to enlist.
Emma died 29 September 1900 at Fifth Street, Petrolia and was buried in Hillsdale Cemetery, just outside Petrolia. The front of her gravestone faces the front of her father’s gravestone in the adjacent row, which suggests that he may have been the owner of the plot in which she was buried. Her husband, Samuel, was listed in The Union Publishing Co’s Farmers and Business
Directory for the Counties of Brant, Elgin, Norfolk and Oxford 1899, as living with his mother Hannah on lot 11, concession 2, Malahide Township, Oxford County. Was Emma there too, or did the family separate to protect the boys? Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that can be spread by coughing or sneezing, mouth to mouth contact or by sharing drinks. The Union Publishing Co’s Farmers and Business Directory for the counties of Brant, Elgin, Norfolk and Oxford 1900 recorded Samuel at lot 10, concession 2, Copenhagen, Malahide Township as a tenant right next to his mother Hannah. The information for this directory would have been collected in 1899. We know that she was in Petrolia in 1896 for Verne’s birth but don’t if she lived with Samuel in Malahide Township prior to her death at Petrolia.
The 1901 Canada Census for Malahide Township, Elgin County, captured Samuel as a farmer, his son Vern age 4 and a second son, Cecil, age 3, born 18 July 1898. Samuel’s mother, Hannah, age 64, and Ida Hill, age 34, domestic were part of the household as well. Samuel married Alania Chute, daughter of Finley Chalk and Mary Jane Pettit, a widow, 28 August 1901 at Malahide Township.
Emma’s father, Thomas Findley died 28 April 1905, at the age of 63 at Petrolia, due to tuberculosis which he had suffered from for 8 months. Her mother, Caroline, died 23 March 1918 at Petrolia due to cancer. Following a trail to the end is always good because her obituary in The Advertiser-Topic detailed the tribulations of the family:
The Late Mrs. Findlay
On Saturday evening, one who it is claimed is the oldest resident of Petrolia, passed away in the person of Mr. Thos. Findlay, at the age of 92 years. Mrs. Findlay was born in Sherbrooke, Que., in 1846, and married her late husband in 1864. Six children were born to them, four dying in infancy. One daughter, Mrs. Samuel Prowse, of Copenhagen, died in 1900, leaving two sons, both of whom are on active service, and both having been wounded, the eldest returning to the trenches for the third time. One daughter, Mrs. Louis Miller, of Petrolia, and one sister Mrs. Lucy Cope, of Plympton, survive.
Mrs. Finday was a member of Petrolia’s first choir and was a witness in 1867 of the two thousand barrel still. When she and her husband came to Petrolia the village consisted of but two homes. The funeral was held to Hillsdale cemetery on Monday.
This obituary answers our question as the author noted that Emma lived in Copenhagen, Malahide Township, Oxford County prior to her death in Petrolia.
Perhaps it was just as well that Emma had died in 1900 so she did not live to experience the agony of the deaths of her sons when Vern Prowse died 7 October 1918 in England due to wounds suffered in WW 1 and a bout of influenza and when Cecil Graden Prowse was killed in action in France 16 February 1917. Vern enlisted at Aylmer, Ontario as did Cecil. Lance Corporal Vern was buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, England and Private Cecil was buried at Haynecourt British Cemetery, France.
Life can be cruel.
Note: A fully source cited copy of this story is available by contacting Alan.
Documenting the Loss of Old Barns in Sombra Township
Darrell Randell, Sombra Museum volunteer
The late Charlie Grant, a long-time volunteer at the Sombra Township Museum, undertook a project to photograph every barn within the township. He started around 1998 and completed it sometime in 2002. I admire his foresight to complete this photographic record of old barns in Sombra Township. It provides the baseline to document the losses of old barns within the area.
These old barns were constructed when farming was mostly livestockbased with some crop production. The lower levels housed the animals and had granaries to store for feed. The large hay mows also stored straw for animal bedding or grain stooks that could be threshed inside the barn later. The need to have lots of space in the mow was why many barns had gambrel roofs, often called hip roofs, because they created more mow storage without making the barn larger. There were a lot of straight-lined gable roofs too and I suspect the farmer’s needs, preferences, and the construction cost involved played a role in determining the style.
By the 1970s farming was becoming more specialized in crops or intensive livestock and the old barns were gradually becoming obsolete. People liked the distinctive, architectural style of old barns, and across the landscape, there seemed to be a barn on nearly every farm. Over time unused barns deteriorated. It is a hard call to invest in maintenance for a building that has no practical use.
Some barns are still being used but require modifying them from the original purpose. It could be more intensive livestock production, niche market production, or machinery storage with a shop. Some people are converting barns for a variety of uses unrelated to agriculture. My wife has suggested that I could build an apartment for myself in our barn; I hope that is just innovative thinking by her and not a strong hint for me after 45 years.
Farms consolidation also played a role in the loss of barns. When taking over another farm old barns can be seen as a liability and a new owner may hire a dozer to pull it down and bury it. A rural residence could be severed and sold from the farm as a “surplus farm dwelling”. Municipal planners would require that barns be removed as the new lot did not have sufficient land to spread manure. Planners could not consider barns suitable for any purpose other than animal husbandry, so the barn must come down as a condition of severance.
In 2022 and 2023, museum volunteers took another look at the barns in Sombra. We used the archive of photos from around the year 2000 as the baseline and here is what we found.
The baseline showed 240 barns. We looked at the location for each one and 87 barns were gone. That left 153 barns still standing. However, we also rated the condition of the remaining barns. This was done from the car window, just what could be seen from the road, and another 35 barns were listed in poor condition. A barn’s condition was listed as “poor” if large sections of the roof or walls were missing, or the barn was leaning badly. This is not to say they were beyond repair, but the need for repair was urgent and seemed unlikely. That leaves 118 barns, probably fewer, in reasonable condition in the former township. The alarming statistic is that less than half of the barns photographed around the year 2000 are still standing in good condition.
In our travels last year and speaking with barn owners, I asked the question, “What are you using the barn for?” The frequent answer I received was “Nothing” or “Just storing junk”. I sometimes stated the barn is still sitting square, and would be answered with “Yes, but I do not have a use for it and when it does need something, I will not be spending anything on it”.
in 1959.
I was familiar with these feelings because after I retired in 2019, I was faced with having to put a new roof on my barn. Should I put a new roof on a barn that will then require a lot more done to it? In consideration, I thought about the potential for new uses. I also thought about the family stories and history. My great aunt and her husband had the barn built in 1923 and I listened to many stories. While growing up, my mother frequently spent extended periods living here with Aunt Nettie and Uncle Jack. I have lived here since 1957. Most family photos taken outside have had the barn in the background.
I concluded that it would be worth it to me to get this old barn fixed up. It was a lot of work and a lot of money, but I am incredibly pleased with the result.
I have just started to volunteer with the recently established provincial organization, Ontario Barn Preservation. It is an all-volunteer group that seeks to help barn owners preserve their distinctive architecture by finding a new purpose
Jack and Nettie Reynolds, the great-aunt and great-uncle of the author,
for the barn so it can be retained. Almost all barns are privately owned, so ultimately, keeping a barn will always be a decision for the landowner. Even if the barn is not kept, preserving it with photos, dimensions, and stories can be an important aspect of a rural heritage that is otherwise being lost. While I was growing up, I was in so many barns playing with neighbour kids and cousins or helping to bring in the hay or straw. Many of those barns are gone now and kids today may never get to see the inside of a barn. The loss of this heritage will not stop. However, we should be aware of what is being lost and at least protect the history of barns.
Barn raising 1923. The barn now owned by Darrell Randell sits on Lambton Line in the former Sombra Township, now St. Clair Township. It celebrated its centennial last year with an open house and featured on the cover of Sombra Museum’s 2024 Barns of Sombra Township calendar.
My new, old barn in 2023. The author’s restored barn at 100 years old.
Thomas Alva Edison in Camlachie –
Is it Fact or Folklore?
Jan Munro, Plympton-Wyoming Museum
Most people are familiar with Thomas Edison and his outstanding achievements as an inventor.
But did you know there has been a longstanding local legend that Thomas Edison was once the Station Master for the Grand Trunk Railway in Camlachie?
Being able to link him to Camlachie would make an interesting exhibit for our museum.
Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio, son of Samuel Edison Jr and Nancy Elliott Edison. When he was seven, the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Al, as he was known in his youth, was an avid reader and also had a keen interest in science. At the age of 12 he gained employment with the Grand Trunk Railway on the Port Huron to Detroit line. As a newsboy and candy “butcher”, he sold sweets, newspapers and magazines. Before long, he printed and sold his own daily newspaper (The Weekly Herald) and performed experiments in the baggage car of the train. During daily layovers, he would read at the Detroit Public Library.
In 1863, Edison rescued a young boy from the path of a rolling freight car. The boy’s father was James Mackenzie, a station agent for the GTR in Mount Clemens. James was extremely grateful and agreed to teach Edison Morse code, which he studied for five months.
Edison got to put his knowledge to use that fall when he was hired as a night operator with the Grand Trunk Railway in Stratford, Ontario (Thomas himself stated this was his first employment in his application to the Old Time Telegraphers and Historical Association).
The job in Stratford did not last long. Edison was required to send an all-clear signal down the line to St. Mary’s every 20 minutes. He invented a way to rig the telegraph machine to send the message automatically, so he could catch a few hours of sleep. As a result this almost caused a collision in 1864. He was summoned to the Toronto office of W. J. Spicer, superintendent of Grand Trunk Railway. Fearing he would be fined or jailed, Al slipped out the back door, packed his clothes and made his way back to the United States.
Image: Museum of Innovation & Science
Image: Stratford-Perth Archives
From that point on, Al worked as a “tramp” telegrapher for Western Union in such places as Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Boston. By 1869, he had made enough progress with a duplex telegraph and printer, that he abandoned telegraphy to be a full time inventor. Edison then moved to New York City and developed the Universal Stock Printer. This was the first invention to earn him money. He used the funds to open a factory and manufacture stock tickers in Newark, New Jersey. By 1875, he had built a lab and machine shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey. He went on to register 1,093 American patents in his lifetime, in the fields of electric light, phonographs, telegraphy, batteries, mining, and even cement.
Edison did return to Ontario in later years in search of nickel. Automobile batteries were made of lead and acid which corroded easily. In 1901, he staked a claim in Falconbridge Township (near Sudbury) to find nickel which he believed would make a better battery. Despite all the efforts of his team, they could not bypass the quicksand at the mining site. Edison shut down the operation without finding any nickel. A few years later, several feet below where Edison had mined, nickel was found. If only he had dug a little deeper!
Thomas Edison most likely passed through Camlachie while on the train heading to Stratford. It was mentioned in the County of Lambton Gazetteer 1864-5, that Duncan McDonald gave the Grand Trunk Railway two acres of land for station purposes. At that time “the company have laid the iron” (track), but there was not yet a train station to work at.
Unfortunately, there is no evidence that Thomas Edison ever lived or worked here in Camlachie.
Alexander Mackenzie: Building a Community, Making a Nation
Colleen Inglis, Lambton Heritage Museum
A Humble Beginning
Alexander Mackenzie rose from humble beginnings to become Canada’s second Prime Minister. He was born on January 22, 1828, at Logierait in Perthshire, Scotland, the third of ten brothers. He started working full-time at age 13 after the death of his father and trained as a stonemason. He immigrated to Canada with his sweetheart Helen Neil and her family in 1842.
For several years, Mackenzie worked as a foreman and contractor on building sites around Kingston and Montreal. He married Helen in 1845. The following year, Mackenzie was reunited with his mother and six surviving brothers in Sarnia. The extended Mackenzie family had considerable impact on their new country and community in the years to come.
At Home in Sarnia
Mackenzie was medium height and had a slender build, with kind blue eyes and fair hair. He was described as “a strong, vigorous, well-trained and well-disciplined man, who will undertake whatever work, of whatever kind, his hand may find to do, and will do it with his might.” He quickly found employment building homes and civic buildings. In Sarnia, these included the old courthouse and jail, the original Anglican church, and Mackenzie House on Christina Street (built for his brother John in 1861). Mackenzie edited the Lambton Shield, a liberal-minded paper that was a rival to the conservative-leaning Sarnia Observer.
Alexander Mackenzie
Lambton County courthouse, gaol, and registry office were built before 1857 on Christina Street.
Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie
In 1861, Mackenzie’s brother Hope declined to represent Lambton at the provincial Legislative Assembly. Alexander stepped up to the task. He held egalitarian anti-establishment views in line with the Reform (Liberal) movement and believed in individual enterprise and hard work. After confederation in 1867, he was elected to the House of Commons.
Before the federal election of 1872, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald came to Sarnia for a public meeting with Mackenzie. Macdonald arrived by gun boat from Goderich and was met by a crowd of thousands. Macdonald performed poorly during the debate and Mackenzie’s popularity soared. Although Macdonald won that election, Canadians were becoming increasingly frustrated with the scandals surrounding his government.
In March 1873, the Liberals picked Mackenzie as leader. He formed their first government in November when Macdonald was forced to resign. Mackenzie was elected Prime Minister by a landslide on January 22, 1874. At that time, it was remarkable for a man of modest origins to attain such a notable position.
Macdonald staged a comeback. Voters supported his platform of economic renewal called the National Policy. Mackenzie lost the election of 1878, but a great deal was accomplished during his term as Prime Minister. Open voting was replaced with a secret ballot. He oversaw the completion of the Parliament Buildings. He also established the Supreme Court of Canada, the Royal Military College, and the Office of the Auditor-General.
Mackenzie Relics
Several items in the museum collection are believed to have belonged to Alexander Mackenzie. They provide a glimpse into the life of an early Canadian politician. A desk, settee, footstool, and several pieces of china came from one of the Mackenzie family homes. Restoration work on the Mackenzie desk included returning it to the original colour and introducing a crackle in the new stain to give it an aged appearance. The ironstone “Hymena” pattern platter and plate were made by Wedgwood & Co. in Tunstall, England (not to be confused with the more famous Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd.).
Alexander Mackenzie addressing his constituents in Sarnia, 1875.
Mackenzie desk restored to its original colour.
Three crescent-shaped bone dishes in a brown “Blossom” pattern were made by Alfred Meakin at potteries also located in Tunstall. The curved edges of bone dishes allowed them to be placed very close to round dinner plates. When eating fish, bones could easily be disposed into the bone dish to keep them away from the edible food. A waiter or servant could then remove the bone dish without interrupting dinner. A turquoise plate with gold trim and a floral design completes the assortment of Mackenzie items.
Family Life
After his term as Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie resigned from leadership of the Liberal Party. He remained a federal Member of Parliament until his death. His beloved wife Helen died in 1852. She succumbed to excessive doses of a mercury-based calomel used to treat marsh fever (likely malaria). Mackenzie meticulously recorded the facts of her death on the back of their marriage certificate. Their surviving child, a daughter named Mary, was three years old. Mackenzie remarried within two years. He met his second wife, Jane Sym, at the Baptist church in Sarnia. She was also a native of Perthshire. The couple were happily married for nearly forty years. Mackenzie frequently commented how much he hated to be away from Jane when travelling to fulfill his political duties.
Throughout his life, Mackenzie remained true to his working-class origins, declining a knighthood three times. He died in Toronto on Easter Sunday, 1892. A train draped in black bore his body to Sarnia. He was laid to rest in Sarnia’s Lakeview Cemetery following an impressive funeral service.
Mackenzie family (left to right): Mary Mackenzie, Alexander Mackenzie, and Jane (Sym) Mackenzie.
Mackenzie dishes.
Heritage Sarnia-Lambton Members
Moore Museum
94 Moore Line, Mooretown, ON N0N 1M0 519-867-2020
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Plympton-Wyoming Museum
6745 Camlachie Road, Camlachie, ON N0N 1E0
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Lambton Heritage Museum
10035 Museum Road, Grand Bend, ON N0M 1T0 519-243-2600
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Oil Museum of Canada
2423 Kelly Road, Oil Springs, ON N0N 1P0 519-834-2840
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Arkona Lions Museum and Information Centre
8685 Rock Glen Road, Arkona, ON N0M 1B0 519-828-3071
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Sombra Museum
3476 St. Clair Parkway, Sombra, ON N0P 2H0 519-892-3982
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Lambton County Archives
787 Broadway Street, Wyoming, ON N0N 1T0
519-845-5426
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Forest-Lambton Museum
8 Main St. North, Forest, ON N0N 1J0
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Additional Contributors
The Ontario Genealogical Society, Lambton Branch
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Hertiage St. Clair