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Cecilia Morgan discusses the history of two middle-class settler families in 19th-century Ontario, a project which explores themes of gender, social and cultural identity, middle-class formation, and settler and imperial relationships.

Image courtesy of interviewee. September 13, 2024

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This video appears to be a detailed exploration of gender, class formation, and settler colonialism in 19th century Ontario, primarily through the experiences of two families: the Hamiltons and the Harrises. Both families built significant homes—Willowbank and Elden House—in the 1830s, reflecting their socio-economic aspirations and the desire for community leadership.

The speaker discusses their initial interest in the interplay of gender and middle-class formation, which led them to study these families and their extensive correspondence. Gender relations are highlighted, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by the widowed heads of the families, Hannah Hamilton and Amelia Harris, as they navigated socio-economic pressures following the loss of their husbands.

Attention is given to the role of material culture and domestic spaces in establishing their social status and how their correspondence reveals a complex blend of aspirations, anxieties, and emotional expressions. Notably, the quest for permanence and stability amidst colonial expansion illustrates the settlers' attempts to replicate societal norms from their homelands in Britain and to affirm their identities as respectable members of a developing society.

The analysis also touches on the performance of social rituals, where both families sought to reinforce their status through invitations and gatherings, reflecting their evolving social dynamics. The letters of both families reveal deep emotional connections, nostalgia, and the pressures of maintaining status and economic stability amid ongoing challenges.

Ultimately, the text conveys that the narratives of success in settler colonialism were not guaranteed, but rather required continuous effort, maintaining social networks, and often confronting the vulnerabilities of family life in a colonial context.

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Here are five key points from the video:

1. **Interest in Gender and Class Formation**: The speaker expresses a longstanding interest in the relationships between gender and middle-class formation in 19th-century Ontario. This includes exploring how these relationships interacted with the wider colonial and imperial convideos.

2. **Study of Historical Families**: The speaker examines the Hamilton and Harris families in Ontario, including their socio-economic backgrounds, family structures, and experiences of loss, particularly of breadwinners. The parallels and differences between these families provide insights into middle-class aspirations and gender relations during that time.

3. **Material Culture and Social Status**: The video discusses how material possessions played a significant role in establishing and demonstrating social status for both families. This includes the accumulation of goods and hosting of social events as methods to display cultural refinement and secure a position within their communities.

4. **Anxiety and Family Dynamics**: The letters and diaries of the families reveal much about the emotional experiences of their members, including anxieties regarding finances, social status, and familial obligations. The families faced challenges in maintaining their status, further complicated by external pressures such as illness and economic fluctuations.

5. **Settler Colonialism and Continuity**: The narrative emphasizes the non-preordained and contingent nature of settler colonialism in Canada. While these families contributed to the social and institutional construction of a settler society, their experiences illustrate that stability and success were not guaranteed and required continuous effort and adaptability.

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Here are some key quotes from the video that capture the main themes and ideas:

1. "I've long had an interest in, uh, the relationships between gender and middle class formation in 19th century Ontario."

2. "Both women who were heads of these families... were widowed very young... had to contend with the loss of the family breadwinner."

3. "The homes... reflected their ambitions and their aspirations."

4. "One of the key elements of understanding settler colonialism is the desire to achieve permanence and stability."

5. "The fact that they used Willow Bank... as a way of entertaining... reflects that desire to show to the community that... they were leaders in the community."

6. "Without those families, for one thing, you wouldn't have the reproduction of the next generation."

7. "It's a kind of metaphorical statement about their prominence, their stability, their desire to be leaders in their community."

8. "These were colonies meant to persist and last for generations."

9. "You see similar aspirations at work... it's not just about bricks and mortar."

10. "There is a story about her and her mother... closing off rooms so that when there's... social betters came to visit, they wouldn't see how poor these women were."

11. "The letters expose that other side of settler colonialism that runs alongside or underneath all the stories of settler success."

12. "This was a kind of an ongoing process of maintenance, um, and hope and aspiration."

13. "So you see this sort of desire to accumulate and this desire to display... enhancing their own status."

14. "I found... nostalgia played a quite a central part in many colonies... hoping to replicate what they had had in the mother country."

15. "The letters also tell me quite a bit about how... their own hopes for things like, um, sons getting good positions, family investments going well."

These quotes reflect the exploration of gender roles, family dynamics, societal aspirations, and the complexities of settler colonialism in 19th century Ontario.

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Here are some articles that cover similar themes and topics as the video regarding gender, family dynamics, settler colonialism, and socio-economic aspirations in 19th-century Canada:

1. **"Rethinking Gender and the Family in the Canadian Settlement Experience"** - This article explores how gender roles shaped family structures among settlers in early Canadian history, particularly in the convideo of colonialism and economic challenges.

2. **"The Role of Women in 19th Century Canadian Settler Society"** - This piece examines the significant yet often overlooked roles that women played in establishing and maintaining settler communities in Canada, highlighting their contributions to family economy and social dynamics.

3. **"Class Formation and Gender Relations in Ontario: A Historical Perspective"** - This article analyzes the intersection of class and gender in Ontario during the 19th century, investigating how middle-class formations influenced social relations and community organization.

4. **"Settler Colonialism in Canada: Family, Memory, and the Construction of Heritage"** - Focusing on how families of settlers constructed narratives around their collective memory and heritage, this work discusses the complexities of identity in the convideo of colonial legacies.

5. **"Households, Maternalism, and the Politics of Gender in the Nineteenth-Century West"** - This article delves into the role of maternalism in shaping social policies and family expectations in Canadian pioneer communities, showcasing how women's roles were both influenced by and influencers of socio-political structures.

6. **"Commemoration and Public Memory in Ontario's Colonial History"** - This work reflects on how public memory and historical sites in Ontario have been used to commemorate colonial history, with specific emphasis on family networks and their influence on community identity.

7. **"Material Culture and the Formation of Middle-class Identity in Nineteenth-Century Ontario"** - This article investigates how material possessions and domestic spaces were integral to the identity and status aspirations of middle-class families in Ontario during the 1800s.

These articles collectively deepen the understanding of the complex interplay of gender, class, and colonialism in 19th-century Ontario, similar to the themes and narratives found in your video.

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I've long had an interest in, the relationships

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between gender

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and middle class formation in 19th century Ontario.

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Uh, the, the, the province has different names depending

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upon, you know, who was in charge, upper Canada,

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Canada West, and then the province of Ontario

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after Confederation in 1867.

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As so, I've long had an interest in those particular

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relationships, and also in the, the relationship

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of this particular territory, to a wider colonial,

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imperial and transnational world.

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And, I, I had, it's, it's a, it's a kind of a funny,

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almost sort of con, story about contingencies,

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because in my previous work, I've looked at the history

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of commemoration and public memory and heritage in Canada,

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and I was asked to give, a talk at a site Willowbank,

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which is now a national historic site

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in Queensland, Ontario.

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And, the people there found, found out that I had,

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you know, this interest in ge in gender history

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and particularly women's history.

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And they, to alerted me to the presence

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of this very large collection of letters

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that the Hamilton family

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who had built Willow Bank in the 1830s had left.

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So I thought, well, this, you know, this sounds fascinating.

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I went and had a look at, at the letters,

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and thought this would be great if I could also pair it

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with another family with similar,

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but perhaps some different, aspects to their lives.

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So I found the Harris Family Collection in which sits in

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the, west in Western University's

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archives in London, Ontario.

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The Harrises were very similar to similar in many ways

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to the Hamiltons.

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Uh, they built a large house, Elden house in the 1830s.

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Um, their backgrounds in many ways were similar.

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They had very large numbers of children,

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10 living in the Hamilton, in the Harris family,

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and 11 living in the, in the,

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ha in the Hamilton family.

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Um, they, they had, you know, sort

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of similar socioeconomic aspirations.

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And they also were, I think really interesting in

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that both, both women who were heads of these families,

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Amelia Harris in London,

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and Hannah Hamilton in Queenstown, Ontario,

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were widowed in, in some,

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and in particularly in Ham, Hannah Hamilton's case,

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very young, or very early in their, in, in their lives.

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So they also had to contend with the loss

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of the family breadwinner, John, John Harris

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and Alexander Hamilton.

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And so I thought, well, there's lots

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of similarities here, but also some differences.

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And it would be really interesting to look at these

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families, and tell

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and see what they could tell me about questions

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of middle class formation, gender relations,

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and also settler colonialism

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because they were certainly settlers.

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They came from backgrounds that encompassed Scotland,

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England, the fur trade in, Southern Upper Canada.

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And, and also the loyalist migration

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of the 1780s to the colony.

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Uh, the homes, I think very much reflected,

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their am their ambitions and their aspirations.

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Uh, the, in the case of Alexander Hamilton

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And, and his wife Hannah, they built Willowbank,

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I think based in Alexander's mind, around the, kind

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of the notions of, of, you know, middle class,

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middle class, even in his case, upper class,

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upper middle class stability, as a way

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of marking their presence on the landscape.

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Uh, in some ways, I think it was a reaction

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to the home in which he had grown up in, in Queenstown.

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His father, Robert Hamilton, was a very important,

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merchant and, land speculator

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and also a member of the fur trade networks

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that linked the colony to Montreal.

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And so I think that in many ways, their desire

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to build this very large, very large home,

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sitting on a hill overlooking the mouth of Niagara River,

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where the, where some of the trade was coming in, ref,

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you know, reflected that, that desire to show

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to the community that, you know,

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that they were leaders in the community, that they had,

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links to political networks that extended

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beyond the colony in some, in some cases.

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And, and also to the sort of socio socioeconomic

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and cultural aspirations to be genteel.

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I mean, I can talk a little bit about

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how those aspirations sometimes didn't always work out

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for them, but I think that's very much the case.

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Uh, and I think it's not just about bricks

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and mortar, the fact that they used Willow Bank

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and certainly the Harris family

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and Elden House also did this, as a way of entertaining,

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of bringing important people both within the, their own,

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immediate social network,

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but also people who were part of the colonial government,

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members of the Garrison in particularly in the Harris

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family case in London,

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and also British, British VI visitors who came to the colony

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as well, that had been part

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of Alexander Hamilton's upbringing with his, his father.

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And I think these were things that he very much wanted

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to replicate for himself and his wife.

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And you see similar aspirations at, at work, too,

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in the case of the Harris family.

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It's, it's not just the actual physical space of the homes

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that I, and certainly I think those were important,

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but it's also, I think a kind

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of a metaphorical statement about their, you know,

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their prominence, their stability, their desire

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to be leaders in their community.

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I think the homes also may, you know, also,

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reflect that as, as well.

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One of the, one of the key elements

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of understanding settler colonialism is the desire

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to achieve permanence

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and stability to set up societies that in so many ways,

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both replicated what people had left behind,

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whether it was in the 13

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colonies or whether it was in Britain.

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Uh, but, you know, so to establish things like churches,

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voluntary institutions, political institutions,

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bring in British law and justice and, and its,

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and its, penal system, and, you know,

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and to education, all those kinds of institutions

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that were meant to signal that the, these were societies

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that were going to last, they were gonna be permanent,

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and, you know, and people were going to cont, you know,

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contribute to them in political, economic

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and sociocultural ways.

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So I think that's, you know,

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that's a really key part of all of this.

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And I think at the heart of all of this, the family,

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the sort of heterosexual, patriarchal family,

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was very much the foundation of all

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of these kinds of institutions.

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Without those families, for one thing,

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you wouldn't have the reproduction of the next generation.

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And that's certainly something that the Hamiltons

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and Harrises did in spades.

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I mean, they, large numbers of children who then went on

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to have many children themselves, who you know,

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and whose presence sort of marked both the landscape

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of Upper Canada and Ontario,

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but also around the British empire as well.

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Uh, so I think the, the, you know, the,

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these families are sort of key to settler stability,

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and there's certainly, there's something that the British

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government and the colonial governments want,

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wanted to see established.

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Upper Canada, in many ways, was a success story in that, in

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that aspect, partly because of the influx

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of influx of loyalists.

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Um, but these families were meant to be white.

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They were meant to be British, if not in direct descent,

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at least in their affiliations.

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And they were also meant to be Christian.

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And so these are, you know, things that the Harris

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and Hamilton families, really, you know,

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really fulfilled that kind of promise.

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And, and again, you know, coming back to the, you know, sort

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of the overall arching theme of settler society,

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unlike other colonies such as India

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or Jamaica, these were meant

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to be places where people stayed.

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They didn't come just to extract resources, you know,

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and, and, and build wealth and then take it, it

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and themselves back to Britain.

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These were colonies meant to persist

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and last for, you know, generations.

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Uh, and, and again, the notion of building better Britains,

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I think, which is something else I've looked at in my other

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work, I think is very much key to all of us, even,

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even though they were modifications and transformations

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and adaptations, but still, I think that's,

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that's their driving mentality.

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Um, and so the fact too, that the Harrises

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and Hamiltons both were members of, to,

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to varying degrees, members of the political elite,

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they were able to make considerable amounts

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of money at certain times, particularly for the Harrises out

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of local economies.

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Uh, and again, their, their ability to really,

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establish themselves,

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as social social leaders in their communities, again,

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something that they hoped for, at any rate, was a key part

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of settler colonialism.

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This is sort of so interesting

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because in the case of the Hamiltons,

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because of the economic circumstances that

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that shaped their, their family history,

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what you see is a desire to, to have the kinds of markers

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of, you know, gen genteel or even gentry, family life.

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But what you see actually in their letters is the fact

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that they had to really struggle to do that.

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Um, they couldn't afford

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to pl employ large numbers of servants.

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Um, Willow Bank was both this very, you know, very large,

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IM impressive home,

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but it also was a working farm as well.

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And so what you find in some of the diaries

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and letters is the, you know, the need for these people,

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both men and women, to contribute to that farm

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to actually be involved in labor.

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And I think for the women in particular, it's interesting

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because the mark of being a, you know, a genial woman

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or a middle class woman was not

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to be engaged in much manual labor.

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It was to direct the work of servants in, in, in reality,

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for the Hamilton women, they act actually ended up having

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to do a lot of that work themselves.

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You see some of that in the Harris family

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correspondence as well.

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But because they were, you know, they were better off,

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that family eventually ended up through one

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of their daughters-in-law, inheriting a large amount

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of money that came from England,

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but originally was made,

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in land speculation in Southern Upper Canada.

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So the Harrises were able to actually employ servants to,

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and to participate in a kind of a world of domestic and

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and culture, that was always kind of harder

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for the Hamiltons to have,

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certainly lots of aspirations.

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So, for example, you see the Hamiltons sending their sons

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to Upper Canada College, which was one of the elite,

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in educational institutions.

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Um, but that, that didn't necessarily result in the kind of

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elevated professions that their, that, that they hoped

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for their, their sons, to occupy, certainly

10:00.685 --> 10:02.645
that the sons are hope to occupy as well.

10:02.885 --> 10:04.165
I mean, and these di these letters

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and diaries are full of emotions.

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I mean, and I, I, I was, I think,

10:08.565 --> 10:11.205
a little surprised actually to see just how,

10:11.705 --> 10:13.485
how emotion pervades their writings,

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because sometimes letters and diaries, you know,

10:15.405 --> 10:18.485
you will get, straightforward accounts of, you know,

10:18.725 --> 10:21.685
I let the cows out, or, you know, the weather was like this,

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or, you know, we went to town and we bought this.

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But in fact, I was pleasantly surprised actually,

10:26.925 --> 10:29.125
to see just how many emotions are expressed.

10:29.125 --> 10:32.845
So you get pleasure, you get joy, you get, a sense

10:32.845 --> 10:34.885
of fun at times, and pleasure

10:34.885 --> 10:37.525
and joy, particularly coming from things like falling in

10:37.525 --> 10:40.685
love, marriage, the safe birth of a child, but,

10:40.745 --> 10:43.165
but also things like irritation, anger,

10:43.545 --> 10:44.845
and lots of anxiety.

10:45.505 --> 10:48.605
Um, but when it comes to things like nostalgia, I,

10:48.845 --> 10:51.085
I had known from my other readings that,

10:51.085 --> 10:54.445
nostalgia played a quite a central part in many colonies.

10:54.545 --> 10:56.325
Um, people hoping to replicate

10:56.325 --> 10:57.805
what they had had in the mother country,

10:58.385 --> 11:01.005
not always being able to do that, hoping to get home.

11:01.665 --> 11:04.605
Um, and so what I found in the, in both of these,

11:05.075 --> 11:07.565
collections, because so many of the children traveled

11:07.565 --> 11:09.405
around a lot sometimes and,

11:09.405 --> 11:11.005
and sometimes had to leave home for work

11:11.005 --> 11:13.205
or for marriage, is a sense of nostalgia.

11:13.365 --> 11:16.125
A hope that they will be able to return to either Willowbank

11:16.125 --> 11:17.685
or Elden house,

11:17.825 --> 11:19.925
and to, you know, re-experience the kind

11:19.925 --> 11:21.565
of the pleasures that they had had as children.

11:22.115 --> 11:23.645
Sometimes that's expressed

11:23.685 --> 11:25.445
for the actual spaces of the homes.

11:25.585 --> 11:27.725
You know, I remember being on the lawn,

11:27.825 --> 11:29.645
or I remember, you know,

11:29.705 --> 11:32.285
how happy we were playing in our bedrooms upstairs.

11:32.755 --> 11:36.045
Sometimes it's about the food that they cons consumed,

11:36.045 --> 11:38.285
particularly with Willowbank having its orchards.

11:38.345 --> 11:41.725
Um, you know, I, I long for the apples that we, that we used

11:41.725 --> 11:43.645
to eat, you know, please send me the apples

11:43.645 --> 11:45.165
or the cherries or what have you.

11:45.705 --> 11:47.925
And some, and sometimes though, it's, it's for the people,

11:48.155 --> 11:49.445
it's a nostalgia for the people,

11:49.505 --> 11:51.525
and particularly the mothers,

11:51.525 --> 11:54.365
because so many of these children spent time away from,

11:54.365 --> 11:56.205
from their mothers and, you know,

11:56.205 --> 12:00.325
and had all kinds of, you know, hopes for reunion,

12:00.325 --> 12:01.805
with, with their mothers and along,

12:01.805 --> 12:03.485
and being able to spend more time with them.

12:03.905 --> 12:06.165
Um, you see, and you see that for both sons and daughters.

12:06.205 --> 12:08.405
I think what was really interesting, for me with,

12:08.635 --> 12:10.125
with things like nostalgia

12:10.125 --> 12:13.685
and homesickness was the fact that both, daughters

12:13.705 --> 12:15.445
and sons express these feelings.

12:15.585 --> 12:17.205
Um, and sometimes even nieces

12:17.205 --> 12:20.405
and nephews who had spent parts of their childhood, at,

12:20.545 --> 12:22.725
at both either Willowbank or, or Alden house.

12:23.345 --> 12:25.045
Um, and then sometimes, you know, they were,

12:25.045 --> 12:26.685
there were moments when particularly

12:26.685 --> 12:29.965
after their mothers had died, these adult children,

12:30.085 --> 12:31.685
would enjoin the other siblings

12:31.785 --> 12:34.085
who might still be living in the homes to, you know,

12:34.085 --> 12:35.965
and say, come, come and live with us now.

12:36.185 --> 12:37.365
Um, mother is gone.

12:37.745 --> 12:39.805
The house really means nothing without her.

12:40.035 --> 12:42.165
It's more of a burden, sell it and come

12:42.165 --> 12:43.685
and live with us, whether that's in Toronto

12:43.825 --> 12:46.085
or whether it's in London, for example, England,

12:46.265 --> 12:48.365
we know from other historians that,

12:48.865 --> 12:50.365
ma material culture played

12:50.965 --> 12:54.125
a very central role in helping middle class people.

12:54.385 --> 12:56.925
Um, and even the, you know, upper middle class, the gentry

12:56.925 --> 12:59.365
and the aristocracy establish their sense of

12:59.365 --> 13:01.605
who they were in the 19th century,

13:01.625 --> 13:03.045
but particularly for middle class people.

13:03.425 --> 13:05.085
And I think there's a couple of elements here

13:05.085 --> 13:06.765
that are important and that relate to the,

13:06.765 --> 13:08.125
the families I'm looking at.

13:08.585 --> 13:11.965
Uh, for, you know, for one thing, it allowed them to,

13:12.785 --> 13:15.085
kind of embrace their own desire to,

13:15.105 --> 13:18.725
to have lovely things, to add to the, the,

13:18.725 --> 13:20.645
well the number of items that they could have

13:20.645 --> 13:23.245
to enhance their own daily lives and make them easier.

13:23.585 --> 13:26.765
But it also spoke, to their, own kind

13:26.765 --> 13:30.485
of performative aspects as well, of, of being, of,

13:30.545 --> 13:32.005
of trying to become middle class.

13:32.545 --> 13:34.085
Uh, they could have, you know, it signaled

13:34.085 --> 13:36.285
that they could afford these kinds of goods for one thing.

13:36.585 --> 13:38.565
And also that they had, servants

13:38.635 --> 13:40.365
that they could hire servants,

13:40.365 --> 13:42.285
and that they could direct servants to take care

13:42.285 --> 13:43.965
of all this material,

13:44.185 --> 13:47.365
and in ways that, you know, would, again, allow them to,

13:47.865 --> 13:49.405
enhance their own status.

13:49.555 --> 13:51.605
When people came over for dinner, there was a lot

13:51.605 --> 13:54.005
of material, about entertaining,

13:54.225 --> 13:57.245
and that the, their desire to entertain members

13:57.245 --> 13:58.285
of their own social circle,

13:58.425 --> 13:59.725
or even impress people

13:59.725 --> 14:01.725
who were a little bit more elevated than they, they were,

14:02.425 --> 14:04.805
and what I found really interesting was that

14:05.125 --> 14:07.405
although all of them lived in places where they could,

14:07.465 --> 14:10.685
by the middle of the 19th century obtain a certain degree

14:10.685 --> 14:13.085
of material culture, so they could go to, you know,

14:13.365 --> 14:14.365
shopping in London, Ontario,

14:14.885 --> 14:17.445
shopping in the Niagara area, the city of St.

14:17.445 --> 14:19.445
Catherine's. So there's lots of other places they could go.

14:20.185 --> 14:21.925
But what I found interesting was the fact

14:21.925 --> 14:24.325
that when they could, when they had the opportunity

14:24.345 --> 14:26.645
and the money, they would go to Toronto to buy things.

14:26.645 --> 14:29.405
They would go to New York sometimes to buy things

14:29.625 --> 14:30.845
or they, or overseas.

14:30.945 --> 14:33.805
So they would ask for better China, better plates,

14:34.145 --> 14:36.565
or better plate, you know, better glassware,

14:36.975 --> 14:40.925
nicer fabric for their clothing, drapes, carpets and so on.

14:41.065 --> 14:44.085
And sometimes get people who were also, you know, living in,

14:44.265 --> 14:46.605
in those places, particularly in, in England,

14:46.755 --> 14:49.245
they would ask them to send things, to them

14:49.345 --> 14:51.165
or bring things when they came home to visit.

14:51.625 --> 14:54.645
So I, you know, so you see this sort of desire to accumulate

14:54.665 --> 14:57.725
and this desire to, to, to display.

14:58.065 --> 14:59.685
Um, you know, very much so.

15:00.115 --> 15:02.725
It's unfortunate that Willowbank has actually very little

15:02.865 --> 15:06.245
of the, interior material culture that's, that the, that

15:06.245 --> 15:07.285
that family amassed.

15:07.745 --> 15:09.885
Um, possibly, I think

15:09.885 --> 15:11.485
because the house went through a number of owners

15:11.615 --> 15:12.845
after the har,

15:12.845 --> 15:15.245
the Hamilton's left it in the early 20th century.

15:15.865 --> 15:17.205
The Harris Family House though,

15:17.205 --> 15:20.485
and it's, it's a city of London Museum is full.

15:20.645 --> 15:23.445
I mean, it's chalk block with all kinds

15:23.505 --> 15:25.005
of items and artifacts.

15:25.065 --> 15:26.445
And some of them, some of them are things

15:26.445 --> 15:27.645
that they purchased locally,

15:28.065 --> 15:29.365
but a lot of them are things

15:29.365 --> 15:31.765
that were brought back from either, you know,

15:31.765 --> 15:34.525
things being purchased in, in Britain, or

15:34.525 --> 15:36.885
because a number of those family members traveled

15:36.915 --> 15:38.285
extensively around the world.

15:38.745 --> 15:39.925
Things that they,

15:40.115 --> 15:42.405
also brought back from, you know, from those travels.

15:42.405 --> 15:45.005
And I think one of those thing, you know, there's one thing

15:45.005 --> 15:46.405
that that, that,

15:46.835 --> 15:48.925
that particular form of acquisition did.

15:48.945 --> 15:52.285
It, it allowed them to, remind themselves, they kind,

15:52.285 --> 15:54.405
you, they're souvenirs, they remind themselves

15:54.465 --> 15:57.005
of the places they've been, but it also displayed both

15:57.005 --> 15:58.885
to themselves and to any visitors

15:59.235 --> 16:03.045
that they were not parochial, that they were, I hesitate

16:03.045 --> 16:05.285
to use the word cosmopolitan, it's not quite right,

16:05.465 --> 16:07.885
but it, it is, you know, that they were imperial subjects

16:07.885 --> 16:10.325
who could amass things in the same way

16:10.325 --> 16:11.805
that other people could.

16:11.905 --> 16:15.125
And again, enhancing their own status, in their own eyes

16:15.125 --> 16:18.445
and in the eyes of any, any visitors, makes them more,

16:18.445 --> 16:19.525
you know, makes them more interesting,

16:19.525 --> 16:22.205
makes them appear more cultured and refined.

16:22.345 --> 16:25.325
And so I think that's one of the central key things

16:25.325 --> 16:26.845
that material culture did for them.

16:27.025 --> 16:30.005
You know, that ritual and performance became very, you know,

16:30.005 --> 16:31.525
very important to anybody trying

16:31.525 --> 16:33.045
to establish a new form of status.

16:33.185 --> 16:35.205
And, and early in the upper Canada's history,

16:35.205 --> 16:39.125
you see all kinds of jockeying, between, you know,

16:39.125 --> 16:42.565
groups of, groups of middle class, upper middle class women,

16:43.065 --> 16:47.125
loyalist women versus the more recent arrivals,

16:47.145 --> 16:49.485
of women who would come with their British colonial,

16:49.845 --> 16:51.805
official husbands jockeying for position

16:51.825 --> 16:53.365
and things like who would pay calls

16:53.465 --> 16:57.245
and who would, who would lead the ball at the, at the,

16:57.245 --> 16:59.205
Lieutenant Governor's home, for example.

16:59.905 --> 17:02.845
And I think, you know, the, these kinds of rituals

17:02.845 --> 17:06.565
and performances were perhaps not quite as rigid

17:06.865 --> 17:09.565
or as fully fleshed out as they were in, in Britain

17:09.565 --> 17:12.365
during this period, or even in, in, the,

17:12.745 --> 17:13.845
the 13 colonies.

17:14.105 --> 17:15.765
But at the same time, I do see

17:16.385 --> 17:18.725
ritual playing an important part in them, trying

17:18.725 --> 17:21.525
to figure out who they were and establish who they were.

17:21.625 --> 17:24.725
So, for example, being out in public, there's a lot

17:24.725 --> 17:28.005
of references in the letters to acknowledging,

17:28.145 --> 17:29.405
the, the greetings of someone.

17:29.945 --> 17:32.005
So you would, you know, you would acknowledge,

17:32.005 --> 17:33.405
you would bow, you would curtsy,

17:33.425 --> 17:35.085
you would shake someone's hand.

17:35.705 --> 17:38.205
Um, you would acknowledge that this person was part

17:38.205 --> 17:39.485
of your social circle, or

17:39.485 --> 17:41.405
that they might even be your social social better.

17:41.755 --> 17:44.725
Whereas if someone had had behaved badly, you would,

17:44.745 --> 17:47.045
you would snub them or, you know, or ignore them.

17:47.385 --> 17:49.765
And of course, for people who were laboring

17:49.765 --> 17:50.765
or working class, you would

17:50.765 --> 17:51.805
just not acknowledge them at all.

17:51.825 --> 17:53.965
And I, I see this kind of references to, in,

17:53.965 --> 17:56.605
in the letters at all, quite a bit,

17:56.605 --> 17:59.205
giving parties other forms of entertainment, such

17:59.205 --> 18:01.485
as going on sleigh rides or picnics

18:01.665 --> 18:03.885
or, having, you know, tea, tea parties

18:03.985 --> 18:05.285
or cro croquet parties.

18:05.545 --> 18:08.325
The, the harrises in particular were very, very fond

18:08.325 --> 18:10.085
of playing croquet.

18:10.265 --> 18:12.925
So there was a kind of performative aspect to that,

18:13.025 --> 18:15.725
as well, because it depended upon who you would invite to,

18:15.785 --> 18:18.725
to be part of, that particular form of leisure.

18:19.225 --> 18:20.245
Um, you know, and,

18:20.245 --> 18:21.765
and I've seen discussions of, well, well, we'll,

18:21.765 --> 18:25.165
so we'll invite Soso, with the implicit understanding

18:25.165 --> 18:28.085
that they are social equal, but we won't invite Soandso

18:28.085 --> 18:30.245
because they have behaved badly in, in the past.

18:30.305 --> 18:32.365
And that some of that might seem, you know, somewhat,

18:32.425 --> 18:33.725
you know, to be taken for granted.

18:34.105 --> 18:36.485
But at the same time, I think they put enormous stock on

18:36.785 --> 18:38.605
who is, who is in and who is out.

18:38.985 --> 18:40.645
And particularly because some of these forms

18:40.665 --> 18:45.125
of entertainment, again, they're not as heavily codified

18:45.225 --> 18:47.925
as, as some, as some forms of social practice,

18:48.185 --> 18:50.165
but at the same time, they were happening in people's homes,

18:50.265 --> 18:52.045
in their intimate and domestic spaces.

18:52.265 --> 18:54.765
So, you know, you only want people in your home

18:54.945 --> 18:56.445
who you pre perceive to be

18:56.745 --> 18:58.605
of a certain kind of class or quality.

18:59.105 --> 19:02.685
And there's a lot of, mentions of the,

19:02.685 --> 19:05.445
or use of the word civil in, in a lot of their writing.

19:06.145 --> 19:08.125
So andSo was not civil to me, so

19:08.125 --> 19:09.365
therefore I'm going

19:09.365 --> 19:11.445
to cut them the next time I see them versus,

19:11.745 --> 19:14.965
so andSo is very civil, so we will welcome them into our

19:14.965 --> 19:17.085
so social circle, and,

19:17.225 --> 19:19.245
and, you know, consider them to be one of us,

19:19.985 --> 19:21.405
balls as well.

19:21.785 --> 19:23.965
Um, there's, you know, there's quite a lot

19:23.965 --> 19:25.645
of writing about people going to balls,

19:25.905 --> 19:28.165
and again, they're not as, exclusive

19:28.185 --> 19:30.325
and I think probably not as hierarchical

19:30.385 --> 19:31.885
as the ones that happened in Britain.

19:32.505 --> 19:36.125
Um, but at the, by the same token, there's a certain,

19:36.125 --> 19:37.765
level of decorum that's expected.

19:38.065 --> 19:40.565
You know, you, you, there would be a bit

19:40.565 --> 19:42.925
of a scandal if people didn't behave properly at a ball,

19:42.945 --> 19:44.885
if somebody drank too much,

19:45.065 --> 19:46.765
if they didn't know the right dances,

19:46.825 --> 19:48.205
if they dressed inappropriately.

19:48.705 --> 19:52.365
So you can see them sort of set setting, social,

19:52.365 --> 19:53.885
setting out social categories

19:53.885 --> 19:55.685
and establishing social hierarchies

19:55.685 --> 19:57.285
through something like a ball,

19:57.285 --> 19:59.605
even though there's also a lot of writing about the balls

19:59.905 --> 20:02.565
as simply being, a, you know, a form

20:02.565 --> 20:05.085
of very pleasant entertainment, and leisure,

20:05.505 --> 20:06.765
and even even balls.

20:06.825 --> 20:08.765
Um, you know, you have, you had to have a certain amount

20:08.765 --> 20:10.165
of money to attend them in the first place.

20:10.425 --> 20:13.005
Um, for, you know, for one, you, you couldn't, you know,

20:13.005 --> 20:15.845
you had to sometimes buy a ticket to them,

20:15.845 --> 20:18.005
and you certainly had to dress in a certain way.

20:18.105 --> 20:21.165
Um, so I see references in the Hamilton letters to,

20:21.225 --> 20:22.805
you know, I can't go to this particular

20:22.805 --> 20:24.005
ball, I just can't afford it.

20:24.005 --> 20:25.525
And there's been too many,

20:25.525 --> 20:27.925
and then looking down their noses at certain kinds of balls.

20:27.925 --> 20:29.845
So there's, you know, the, the, there's a ball

20:29.845 --> 20:31.365
that the servants are having in the town.

20:31.865 --> 20:34.405
Um, and yes, that's, you know, isn't that nice for them,

20:34.425 --> 20:37.445
but certainly we would never dream of, of attending that.

20:37.985 --> 20:40.405
Um, you know, even though they're in very close proximity

20:40.505 --> 20:42.485
to a number of these people, these are not very,

20:42.485 --> 20:43.725
these are not big societies.

20:43.945 --> 20:46.845
Um, you know, it's not a city like London or,

20:46.845 --> 20:49.565
or, Edinburgh or, you know, somewhere like that.

20:49.895 --> 20:51.805
These are very small societies in which,

20:51.825 --> 20:53.525
and I think that's why the jockeying for place

20:53.625 --> 20:55.165
and setting out,

20:55.775 --> 20:57.725
those social hierarchies was so important.

20:57.915 --> 21:00.365
That is, for me, a very, very important question.

21:00.585 --> 21:02.045
Um, there's, you know, there's a lot

21:02.045 --> 21:03.805
of work being done in Canadian history right now,

21:04.165 --> 21:07.845
a about Canada as a settler colony or as a settler nation.

21:08.465 --> 21:09.485
Um, and,

21:09.625 --> 21:12.405
and so much of that important work is being done,

21:12.965 --> 21:15.045
vis-a-vis indigenous people, you know,

21:15.045 --> 21:17.605
under understanding their dispossession,

21:17.865 --> 21:20.485
and their, you know, their, you know, their marginalization

21:20.485 --> 21:21.845
through settler colonialism.

21:22.505 --> 21:24.365
Um, and so what I, you know,

21:24.365 --> 21:26.285
so I went into this project thinking, well,

21:26.285 --> 21:27.325
we are talking about power.

21:27.425 --> 21:29.885
We are talking about, you know, relations of power

21:30.305 --> 21:31.605
and that these people certainly

21:31.885 --> 21:33.565
occupied, occupied positions of power.

21:34.145 --> 21:37.565
Um, but I think looking at families and individuals

21:37.565 --> 21:40.565
and family networks, it lets us see that things are,

21:40.875 --> 21:42.245
were not preordained

21:42.265 --> 21:46.125
and not quite always as, settled as we might think.

21:46.225 --> 21:49.925
And I, here I go back to the example of Alexandra Alexander

21:50.105 --> 21:51.565
and Hannah, Hannah Hamilton.

21:52.065 --> 21:54.085
Um, so they, you know,

21:54.515 --> 21:56.645
they both come from prominent families.

21:56.915 --> 22:00.405
Hers, hers loyalist, his Scottish merchant infer trading.

22:00.915 --> 22:03.885
They, they, they built Willow Bank in the 1830s.

22:04.505 --> 22:06.845
Um, they incurred a considerable amount

22:06.845 --> 22:08.285
of debt to, to build it.

22:08.705 --> 22:11.645
And then just as they were finishing it, he died,

22:11.785 --> 22:15.605
and left her, with a, a, the last baby on the way.

22:15.905 --> 22:19.285
Um, so her, their last child was, was posthumous,

22:19.445 --> 22:22.285
a considerable number of, of other children to look

22:22.285 --> 22:25.085
after a large amount of debt and very little money.

22:25.705 --> 22:29.245
And she would've lost the home if in fact, his,

22:29.245 --> 22:31.085
other family members and friends

22:31.685 --> 22:33.925
hadn't taken over the debt since she did not get full title

22:33.925 --> 22:35.685
back to the house until 1858.

22:35.745 --> 22:36.765
So there was an interval

22:36.765 --> 22:40.485
of about 20 years when her status was completely dependent

22:40.485 --> 22:43.445
upon others, pay, you know, paying down that debt.

22:43.825 --> 22:46.605
Uh, and in fact, her sister-in-law ended up just forgiving

22:46.605 --> 22:47.885
the debt in 1858.

22:47.885 --> 22:49.045
And so she got the house back.

22:49.225 --> 22:52.285
But even after that, I see letters from her sons telling

22:52.345 --> 22:54.885
her, often you might con, you know,

22:54.885 --> 22:56.325
you should consider selling this home.

22:56.585 --> 22:58.165
You don't have the money to keep it up.

22:58.595 --> 23:00.445
It's, it's very difficult for you to,

23:00.465 --> 23:01.645
you know, to look after it.

23:01.945 --> 23:04.405
And there is a story, I think it might be a bit apocryphal,

23:04.405 --> 23:06.005
and I'm still trying to track it down,

23:06.065 --> 23:07.485
but there is a story about her

23:07.485 --> 23:10.845
and her mother, Hannah Jarvis selling off furniture in the

23:10.845 --> 23:14.245
home, and then closing off rooms so that when there's,

23:14.265 --> 23:16.125
you know, there's social betters

23:16.125 --> 23:18.485
and equals came to, to visit, they wouldn't see

23:18.485 --> 23:19.525
how poor these women were.

23:19.525 --> 23:20.765
They were taking in sewing.

23:20.765 --> 23:22.045
At one point, one

23:22.045 --> 23:23.725
of their daughters ended up teaching school

23:24.025 --> 23:28.085
and, teaching, giving music lessons as a,

23:28.085 --> 23:29.805
as a way of trying to, you know, support the family.

23:30.185 --> 23:31.765
And the sons all had to leave home.

23:32.075 --> 23:35.765
They, they weren't able to stay, on the family homestead

23:36.185 --> 23:37.325
or at, at Willow Bank

23:37.625 --> 23:39.165
for any cons, everything length of time.

23:39.165 --> 23:40.365
They kept coming back and forth.

23:40.505 --> 23:43.445
But, they traveled across the colony, going

23:43.465 --> 23:45.045
to other parts, other parts of,

23:45.060 --> 23:46.805
of Upper Canada and to Toronto.

23:47.385 --> 23:49.965
And in a couple of cases, actually going across the border

23:50.105 --> 23:53.805
to Wisconsin, to Chicago, and to upstate New York to work

23:53.805 --> 23:57.485
because they, they couldn't find work that I, I mean,

23:57.485 --> 23:59.885
I think it's, it's hard to tell whether it was also their

23:59.915 --> 24:01.125
aspirations,

24:01.125 --> 24:02.245
but they couldn't find work

24:02.245 --> 24:04.165
that they felt would support them,

24:04.225 --> 24:06.325
and then also allow them to send money home to their mother,

24:06.325 --> 24:07.685
which they were constantly doing.

24:07.785 --> 24:10.805
So that's kind of a reminder to me that, you know,

24:10.915 --> 24:15.045
that things weren't always quite, quite so settled,

24:15.385 --> 24:17.805
you know, quite, you know, quite, quite so neat.

24:18.265 --> 24:19.885
And that the letters also, I think, tell,

24:19.995 --> 24:22.805
tell me quite a bit about how, their own, you know,

24:22.805 --> 24:24.965
their own hopes for things like,

24:25.955 --> 24:28.965
sons getting good positions, family investments going well.

24:29.025 --> 24:31.485
And then when I talk about anxiety, there's a lot

24:31.485 --> 24:34.645
of anxiety about money, on, in, in both sets

24:34.645 --> 24:36.925
of family letters, getting money, keeping money,

24:36.925 --> 24:38.845
increasing money, you know,

24:38.845 --> 24:41.045
making sure you could educate your children properly.

24:41.785 --> 24:44.125
Um, so, you know, they, so they had

24:44.125 --> 24:45.525
to worry about, about that.

24:45.525 --> 24:48.205
They had to worry about, you know, sons getting decent,

24:48.205 --> 24:49.205
professional positions.

24:49.205 --> 24:51.645
And so maintaining their status, like not going out to work

24:51.645 --> 24:53.125
as a laborer, but,

24:53.185 --> 24:54.645
but actually maintaining their status

24:54.645 --> 24:57.045
through occupations such as the law.

24:57.345 --> 25:02.125
Um, surveying a number of the, the Hamilton, sons were,

25:02.125 --> 25:05.205
were surveyors, daughters marry a lot

25:05.205 --> 25:06.925
of anxiety about daughters marrying.

25:07.105 --> 25:08.405
Um, I see that quite a lot.

25:09.105 --> 25:12.965
Um, and heads of families being struck in being struck down

25:13.065 --> 25:15.005
by illness, or accident.

25:15.225 --> 25:16.245
So, you know, a lot of, and,

25:16.245 --> 25:18.045
and again, going back to anxiety, a lot

25:18.045 --> 25:20.685
of anxiety about illnesses, that I see.

25:20.685 --> 25:22.565
So even though these people had resources

25:22.945 --> 25:25.965
and they, you know, they had land, they had social position

25:26.225 --> 25:30.645
and a degree of, of, of wealth, there's still a lot

25:30.645 --> 25:32.645
of anxiety, around the fact that all

25:32.645 --> 25:34.885
of this could be taken away from you if you didn't

25:34.885 --> 25:36.205
constantly work at it.

25:36.305 --> 25:38.885
So I see a lot of, you know, both for the physical work,

25:38.885 --> 25:40.525
but also emotional work and,

25:40.865 --> 25:42.605
and social work and maintaining that.

25:43.105 --> 25:45.925
So I think for me, the letters really expose that other side

25:45.925 --> 25:49.125
of settler colonialism that runs along, you know, alongside

25:49.185 --> 25:52.485
or underneath, all the stories of settler success,

25:52.545 --> 25:56.405
you know, inheriting land, building these large homes

25:56.545 --> 25:58.885
and helping create or shape certain kinds

25:58.885 --> 26:00.205
of settler institutions.

26:00.785 --> 26:03.925
Um, upper Canada, in many ways was a success story as far

26:03.925 --> 26:05.965
as, the British Empire was concerned.

26:06.425 --> 26:09.045
Um, but at the same time, I think the letters show us that

26:09.045 --> 26:10.245
that could never be taken for granted

26:10.905 --> 26:12.445
and that nothing was preordained.

26:12.705 --> 26:15.245
Um, that, that, that this was a kind of an ongoing process

26:15.385 --> 26:18.445
of maintenance, and hope and aspiration.

26:18.465 --> 26:20.645
And some of that was not always, always realized

26:20.665 --> 26:21.125
for these people.

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