MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1961-62 season
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The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, to commemorate the Centenary of the Institute [1] of Rupert's Land, a short-lived organization which was founded, or organized, on 12 February 1862, and a milestone in the history of culture of Western Canada. Second, to give some account of the first Bishop of Rupert's Land, David Anderson, and to assess his work here. These two purposes can be linked together because Bishop David Anderson was the first president of the Institute of Rupert's Land, and his presidential address at the first meeting is not without interest at the present time.
The earliest account of the Institute of Rupert's Land is to be found in the pages of The Nor'Wester, and the editors attached so much importance to the event that a full account of the proceedings appear in both the issue of 25 February and 5 March 1862; the latter by 'public demand'. The following is a summary of what was said therein, for it is not easy to follow the exact order of the agenda.
"The Meeting was held in the Court Room, Upper Fort Garry at 3 p.m. February 12th.
There was displayed a large collection of books and specimens generously presented by the Lord Bishop, Ven. Archdeacon Hunter, Governor Mactavish, Mr. Bannatyne, Mr. Barber, Dr. Schultz and others.
Bishop Anderson presided, supported by Archdeacon Hunter, Governor Mactavish, Messrs. Bannatyne and Barber and Dr. Schultz.
The formation resolution was moved by Archdeacon James Hunter, (but not, apparently, seconded).
Honorary Members were elected as follows on motion of Rev. John Black, seconded by Sheriff (James) Ross: Prof. Wilson, Univ. Coll., Toronto; Prof. Hind, Trinity Coll., Toronto; Principal Duncan, McGill Coll., Montreal; Prof. Lawson, Queen's Coll., Kingston; George Barnston, Chief Factor, HBC; John Rae, M.D., late HBC.
Officers elected: President: The Lord Bishop of Rupert's Land; [2] Vice-Presidents: Archdeacon Cockran, [3] Archdeacon Hunter, [4] Rev. John Black, [5] James Ross, Sheriff of Rupert's Land; [6] Council: Curtis J. Bird, Mapleton, [7] Frances Bruneau, [8] Thomas Bunn, Mapleton, [9] Wm. Caldwell, Editor of The Nor'Wester, [10] Rev. A. Cowley, [11] W. G. Fonseca, [12] Donald Gunn, Correspondent of the Smithsonian Institute, John Harriot, Chief Factor, [13] Hector McKenzie, late Arctic Expedition, Thomas Sinclair, [14] Rev. W. H. Taylor, [15] John Inkster; [16] Treasurer: Andrew McDermot; [17] Librarian: W. R. Smith, Clerk of Council; [18] Curators: A. G. B. Bannatyne, [19] Joseph Hargrave, [20] E. L. Barber, [21] F. L. Hunt; [22] Secretaries: William Mactavish, Governor, [23] Jno. Schultz, M.D., F.B. SC. [24]
It is difficult to determine whether the President's address or the organization of the Institute came first, but having put on record the details of organization, some of the President's observations and the discussion which followed can now be summarized. Bishop Anderson began by disclaiming any exact acquaintance with the higher branches of science but said he had a deep and lively interest in the cause and a veneration for the humblest inquirer. He was an Oxford man, and the University of Oxford was more interested in philosophy than sciences, but he reminded them that the Earl of Rosse [25] (who had made the most powerful telescope then known) was also of Oxford.
Bishop Anderson then asked "Have we any field for scientific investigation in Rupert's Land?" Others had thought so; he cited the recent expedition to view the total eclipse of the sun on 18 July 1860. The party to do this had come from Cambridge University in May and made its observations at Cumberland House. Again, when he was at Moose Factory on James Bay in 1860 there was an egg collector working on the east side of the Bay. He then referred to the expeditions of Palliser and Blackston, Dawson and Hind, which had aroused so much interest among them. [26] Governor Mactavish was known for his collection of insects and flowers, Mr. (William) Barnston's collection of insects was in the British Museum. Their meeting today was largely due to the perseverance and untiring efforts of Dr. Schultz.
The Bishop had some suggestions about what the Society might do and some ideas of what the future might bring. He did not wish to see the Institute confined to one section of science. With all the Indian tribes there were around them, the Society should give some place to philology and comparative grammar. Geography was also of great interest. On the practical side, he suggested the erection of a telescope as a memorial to Sir George Simpson, and a delicate microscope to commemorate Dr. Bunn. He called attention to the scientific achievement in the field of the electric telegraph, and quoted Sir David Brewster of Edinburgh University and Principal J. D. Forbes of St. Andrew's (University) on recent progress. He spoke of Mr. Bernard Ross's pride in his membership of the Natural History Society of Montreal, which had been awarded to him for his work in the Mackenzie River valley; and touched on the Arctic Expeditions and achievements of Parry, Franklin and Ross. He added: "It may be, as years roll on, and as our country gains in population and wealth and importance, some mead of praise may be accorded to those raised up to gain other triumphs, to increase the social happiness of the community, to add to the stores of intellectual knowledge and to develop the natural resources of this vast and widespread territory."
After the Presidential Address, the Meeting appears to have been thrown open for discussion, but only three contributions by speakers were reported. Archdeacon Hunter, in a speech which included personal recollections of Richardson, Lefroy and Balfour, said that he felt they were singularly fortunate in ushering their new Society into the scientific world under the protection and countenance of such men. (The Archdeacon, of course, had had some personal contacts with these Arctic Expeditions during the ten years he was in charge of Christ Church, or original Devon Mission, at The Pas).
W. G. Fonseca appears to have spoken eloquently on the influence of America and England in the work of civilization and refinement. He congratulated the people of the Red River community at large on the foundation of the Institute: "A great want is about to be supplied and I feel confident that we are to be successful. The effect on the character of the Settlement will be good - the eyes of the world will be turned towards us. We will be judged by a new and loftier standard - it will be the means of inducing scientific men to visit us and to bring to light much that is not generally known."
Dr. John Schultz, on the other hand, seems to have spoken with less Dickensian eloquence and to have turned the attention of those present to what might be expected from the Society: "The provision of accurate scientific information of natural aspects of the country. To collect and exchange specimens with other Societies and ultimately to establish a library and museum of their own; experiment which would lead to improved agriculture and manufacturies." History does not record Dr. Schultz as being any particular friend of the Hudson's Bay Company, but evidently from time to time he took a broader view, for, on this occasion, he agreed that the Hudson's Bay Company had been a pioneer; quoting Sir John Richardson, he said: "Science is indebted to the exertions of the Hudson's Bay Company for all that is known on the ornithology of the American fur countries."
The one thing of permanent interest which seems to have emerged from this meeting was the publication in The Nor'Wester, on 5 March 1862, of the Rev. William West Kirkby's account of his journey to the Youcan which was circulated to the members of the Society on a separate sheet, and, therefore, may be regarded as the first 'off-print' sponsored in Western Canada by any society. The proprietors of The Nor'Wester, apparently desiring to get full credit for their generosity, added an editorial note to the Institute of Rupert's Land by the editors of The Nor'Wester. The paper was also forwarded by Mr. Donald Gunn to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, and is still catalogued there. Mr. Kirkby's paper contains one small misprint when it says, "I left home on 2nd May ...", for the diary which he sent to the Church Missionary Society on November 20, 1861, states that he returned from a snowshoe journey to Fort des Liards on May 24, and left for Youcan River on 29 May. He arrived at Fort Youcan on 5 July and got back home to Fort Simpson on 29 August. Attention is called to this because Kirkby went to Fort Youcan again the following year, 1862, and then spent rather longer there, but, in some mysterious fashion, in the Church Missionary Intelligencer the two journeys have been coalesced. This has also been done in an anonymous book The Day spring in the West, published in 1875 as a continuation of Sarah Tucker's Rainbow in the North. [27]
The second meeting of the Institute of Rupert's Land was held on April 2, 1862, and was reported in The Nor'Wester on 16 April, which reads:
"The first regular Meeting for the transaction of business held in the Court House on 2nd inst.
Weather being unpropitious and roads anything but favourable, there was not such a large attendance ... still there was a considerable number of members present ...
Glass case, presented by Mr. Bannatyne, filled with birds and little furbearing animals presented by various parties, artistically stuffed and arranged.
Books on the table, nucleous of what will no doubt become a valuable library. On the wall, there was spread an immense sheet, 10 feet by 4, showing the various conjugations, moods and inflections of the Cree verb, and intended to illustrate one of the papers of the day.
At 3 o'clock the President took the chair ...
Ven. Archdeacon Hunter, M.A., read a paper, on the Cree Language, of great and permanent value. Its intrinsic worth is such that if it attain no wider publicity than the reading of it before the Institute the loss will be very great to the fair fame, alike of the Institute and the talented author. It was a thorough and masterly analysis of the Cree Language, by one whose acquaintance with the principles of language in general eminently fits him for the task.
The Cree, has, of course, much in common with other languages, but it has also many peculiarities which the Archdeacon expounded clearly and satisfactorily. These characteristic features possess a great value in a philological point of view and we are not sure but this would, in able hands, aid materially in establishing some conclusions regarding the distinctive cast of the Indian mind, as well as regarding certain linguistic themes as yet not settled by philologists. The Archdeacon's mode of treatment was perspicuous and systematic - scientific, we might, indeed, say; and for this reason, his paper which might otherwise have been intolerably dull and unintelligible, was delightfully interesting. The Archdeacon digressed somewhat into the domain of comparative philology, and interested his hearers by mentioning several points of similarity between the Cree, on the one hand, and the English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew on the other. The coincidence was remarkable, and we doubt not their number might be indefinitely increased, were attention directed to the subject."
The second paper delivered at this meeting was given by a Mr. Timolean Love [28] on "The Nature and Probable Extent of the Saskatchewan Gold Mines", a subject which was stirring some interest at the time, but no details of this paper are given by The Nor'Wester. The location of these gold finds is described generally as being in the upper part of the North Saskatchewan valley and the Peace River. Actually, such were reported on the Clearwater River, which joins the North Saskatchewan just above Rocky Mountain House, and must not be confused with the better-known Clearwater River which enters the Athabasca at Fort McMurray, and which was used by the Athabasca and Mackenzie River brigades at this time. Evidently, they did not produce any paying quantity of gold, and those who were seeking that metal were lured away to the west by the much greater promise of the Fraser Valley in the Cariboo Country.
The third paper was given by Dr. John Schultz on the "Sanitary Conditions of the Settlement: Causes and Remedies". Here, again, The Nor'Wester provides neither comment nor details, and the only thing which can be remarked is that this paper appears to be the first organized attempt to deal with a problem which one hundred years later is still under discussion.
Archdeacon Hunter's paper on the Cree Verb is the second item which has survived the years and has been a contribution to the understanding of that language upon which further work has been done for the benefit of the natives who speak it.
Archdeacon and Mrs. Hunter left the Red River Settlement in the summer of 1865 to take a furlough which was due to them, for in those days missionaries in Western Canada, who were attached to the Church Missionary Society, were granted this privilege only every ten years: they had not been in England since 1855. (Archdeacon Cockran was the only member of this group who did not take such a furlough). Like some other of the missionaries, this time Archdeacon and Mrs. Hunter did not return, and in 1867, he became Vicar of St. Matthew's, Bayswater, London; a position he occupied until his death in 1881. In London they continued the translational work in which they were both expert and amongst this is an extension and revision of this paper which was published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in London in 1875 under the title of "The Grammatical Construction of the Cree Language, Lectures originally given to the Philosophical Society at Red River, and later revised in England." [29]
It seems strange that no further account of any meeting of the Institute appears, and it seems to have faded out. There are two references made to it by contemporary historians. Samuel Taylor wrote in his diary, March 1862, but otherwise undated, the following: "The Institute of Rupert's Land was formed a few weeks ago in the Settlement, myself and my William brought home two loads of hay on 11th for T. Moar. Blowing and drifting that day." From which one may conclude that he was more concerned with doing a neighbourly action for a sick friend than in the intellectual developments at the centre of his little world.
J. J. Hargrave, in his Red River, [30] has this to say:
"During the earlier months of 1862 attempts had been made to inaugurate a scientific association in the colony to be called "The Institute of Rupert's Land." Dr. Schultz was, I believe, the principal mover in the matter at first, and when the project had attained certain proportions, was appointed secretary. The principal people in the colony were its members, and the proposal was seriously entertained to get up a public subscription with the object of obtaining for the institute a telescope and microscope to perpetuate the memory respectively of Sir George Simpson [31] and the recently deceased Dr. Bunn. [32] The new society commenced its operations by appointing officials and communicating through them with some of the leading learned bodies in Canada and the United States. From all these correspondents the announcement of its inauguration drew forth expressions of hearty encouragement and congratulations, accompanied in some instances, by presents of books and offers of cooperation.
"The business on the spot was commenced by an inaugural lecture by the Bishop of Rupert's Land, president of the Institute. The first check it encountered was from an article printed in The Nor'Wester referring to the Simpson telescope in terms which were construed to imply a slur on the memory of the celebrated character, in the perpetuation of whose name the instrument was to be dedicated. The result was that neither the Simpson telescope nor the Burn microscope were ever procured, and in spite of the great names connected with the institute, nothing of a practical nature has been as yet done to advance its interests."
Actually, I have been unable to find any further reference to the Institute in the pages of The Nor'Wester after its issue of 16 April 1862; up to and including that issue The Nor'Wester gives the Institute generous support.
Although it had a somewhat meteoric existence, its little flash across the sky had both reasons for its beginnings and for its ending. In spite of the isolation of the Red River Settlement and of its unsatisfactory organization in civil affairs as the influence and powers of the Hudson's Bay Company diminished, the people of the Settlement were not uneducated. Many of those associated with the Hudson's Bay Company were well-read people, and the news which came from the outside world was discussed and critically evaluated. Sixty-one years ago (on 12 February 1901), Mrs. George Bryce presented a paper to this Society on Early Red River Culture which was published as Transaction No. 57. In this she refers to the libraries of people like Chief Factor Roderick Mackenzie of Fort Chipewyan, about whom she says, amongst other things:
"He made a fine collection of books which was called the Athabasca Library, and it was intended for circulation amongst the forts of that region ... [33] Sir Henry Lefroy, who made a magnetic survey of these northern countries in 1842, spent a winter at Fort Chipewyan, and mentions spending many happy hours in the well-selected library there. Chief Trader Bernard Ross also left a library of 500 books behind him when he removed from the Mackenzie River district. Peter Fidler's library was left by him in 1821 for use as a circulating library in the Red River Settlement, and became the basis of the Red River Library which had its headquarters in St. Andrew's Parish, and some of his books evidently came into the library of this Society." [34]
On scientific work, Mrs. Bryce remarks:
"The duty laid upon them (the Hudson's Bay Company Factors) of keeping for the benefit of their employers a diary recording everything at their posts which might make one day differ from another, or indeed that often made every day alike, cultivated among the officers of the fur trade the powers of observation that were frequently to scientific account, and we find some of them acting as corresponding members of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington." [35]
Readers and scientific observers delight in discussion, and it is therefore not surprising to find that, after 1850, literary clubs were formed, and once again quoting from Mrs. Bryce:
"Bishop Anderson and his sister, who arrived in Red River in 1849, were instrumental in forming a Reading Club for mutual improvement, for which the leading magazines were ordered. Rev. John Black, the Presbyterian Pastor of Kildonan, who arrived in 1851 belonged to this club. Later still there was a Literary Club at St. Andrew's for which modern books were imported. This latter club had about three lectures through the winter season, given by leading men of the Settlement. The titles of a few of these lectures are still remembered." [36]
Those she mentions belong to an era later than the immediate period with which this paper is concerned, but there is evidence of lectures being given at St. Andrew's much earlier. The Rev. Kirkby, who has already been mentioned, came to the Red River Settlement in 1852 as Master of the Model School at St. Andrew's (an interesting institution, founded by the Rev. William Cockran and the Rev. Robert James, which unfortunately cannot be dealt with here). In the winter of 1852-53, according to Mr. Kirkby's Report to the Church Missionary Society, six lectures were delivered at St. Andrew's, the titles of which, as well as the names of the lecturers, are interesting:
"God in Nature" by W. W. Kirkby.
"The Reformation" by G. O. Corbett.
"God in History" by W. W. Kirkby.
"Remarkable Death-beds by Robert McDonald.
"Political Economy" by W. Cockran.
"Education" by W. W. Kirkby.
And Mr. Kirkby adds that these were attended by Drs. Bunn and Cowan and Mr. Adam Thom. [37]
This seems to establish a background for the foundation of the Institute. The reasons for its fading out of existence are harder to determine, and investigation has discovered no direct evidence, but there are some things in the history of the Settlement in the early 1860s which possibly helped to promote it.
In the summer of 1862, Bishop Anderson was very much concerned in the actual erection of the first St. John's Cathedral. And in the neighbourhood of the Settlement there were scandals and legal actions which greatly disturbed the unity of feeling. There was, in addition, a crescendo in the rivalry between the Company and its local competitors which may have made it difficult for Secretaries Mactavish and Schultz to work together in harmony. Mr. Hargrave, it may be noted, eases himself out of the subject of the Institute of Rupert's Land with great discretion, and his example, perhaps, is one which should be followed.
However, attention is called to the Institute of Rupert's Land as an important social event in the history of the Red River Settlement, deserving of commemoration on its Centenary. It was not until sixteen years later that the present Society, "The Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba", was formed.
The second purpose of this paper centres on the President of the Institute of Rupert's Land, Bishop David Anderson himself. Neither historians nor the Church have treated him with sufficient justice, either respecting his general influence in the development of Western Canada or his work in the organization and extension of the Anglican Church. This has been partly due to the want of sufficient records, but perhaps much more to the fact that his comparatively short episcopate of fifteen years was over-shadowed by the much longer and much more familiar period of his great successor, Robert Machray.
The first Anglican minister, the Rev. John West, came to the Red River Settlement in October 1820, primarily as Chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company which gave him specific instructions as to the work he was expected to do, amongst which was that of ministering, as far as he was able, to the Selkirk Settlers. [38] He was also commissioned by the Church Missionary Society to investigate the condition of the Indian and half-breed children and, if possible, to establish a school for their education. [39]
During a period of practically thirty years, there was no organized church in this country, and, of course, no Bishop. Bishop George Jehoshaphat Mountain of Montreal. paid a brief visit to the Red River Settlement in 1844, and thereafter carried on a vigorous campaign for the establishment of a Bishopric here, bringing all the pressure he could upon the authorities and missionary societies in England. [40] In England itself, the sudden expansions of British settlement in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the West Indies and even the necessities of smaller and social settlements in Europe itself, had brought the question of Bishoprics abroad to the fore-front. [41] The problem of Rupert's Land was eventually settled through the generosity of a former, prominent fur trader. James Leith, associated as a wintering partner with the X Y, the Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies, by his Will left half of his estate in 1838 in trust for the establishment and propagation of the Protestant faith amongst the Indians of British Northwest America. There was a delay of ten years owing to litigation, but, about the end of 1848, the English courts decided that the money might be used for the establishment of a Bishopric in Rupert's Land; the judgment being assisted by the fact that the Hudson's Bay Company was guaranteeing £300. per annum in perpetuity for the same purpose. [42]
On 23 March 1849, the Rev. Ernest Hawkins, Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, wrote to Bishop Mountain: "Your Lordship will be rejoiced to hear that an adequate endowment, chiefly from a bequest of the late James Leith, Esq., having been provided, the Queen has consented to the erection of a Bishopric in Prince Rupertsland; and that the Rev. David Anderson, M.A. of Exeter College, and late Theological Tutor of St. Bees is nominated to the first Bishop. Mr. Anderson is a widower of about 35, and is a man, I am informed, of robust health. The consecration of him as well as of the Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong) is to take place, in the month of May, at Canterbury." [43]
The letter is only one of a number which were written by the Secretary to Bishop Mountain. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had, since 1701, been the official missionary society of the Church of England, and generally the intermediary, through the Archbishop of Canterbury, between the government of the day and the necessities of the mission field abroad. In this respect this Society had special connections with Eastern Canada and the Bishop of Montreal, who was one of its trusted correspondents, and he was the one Bishop in Canada who had travelled through the Hudson's Bay territories. The Church Missionary Society, of course, was consulted because its established missions would be the nucleus of the new Diocese, and the Hudson's Bay Company was also a participant in the matter because it represented law and order and the means of communication.
Bishop Mountain was invited to give his views on the name of the new Diocese, for which he suggested the word "Rupertia", because the only other name of which he could think, "Assiniboia", was already applied to a small part of it only and that a civil territory. The Bishop further thought that unless the new Bishop could take sufficient money with him to build a new Cathedral, he would have, at least temporarily, to make the Lower Church, now called St. Andrew's, his Cathedral as it was the only one large enough and sufficiently well-built for such a purpose. The Society also had asked him, what kind of a man he would advise to be made the Bishop, and here the reply of Bishop Mountain, transmitted to the Society on 21 December 1841, is a little hesitant. In the Red River Settlement he pointed out: "The Protestant population have no ministrations, but those of the Church of England, and the missionaries are greatly beloved but the first settlers planted by Lord Selkirk were principally Scotch ... Concessions were made to meet prejudices which were not in my apprehension quite judicious ... Habits and practices have grown up ... difficult to correct ... but the good affection of the mass of the 2,300 people of the Settlement may be inferred ... The task of the Bishop will require a very prudent moderate and cautious course of proceeding ... it is an important object to keep them together and prolong the unity which has thus far existed."
Bishop Medley of Fredericton, who had been appointed Bishop of that Diocese in 1845, and had had his own troubles amongst his people who were United Empire Loyalists, when he heard that a Bishop might be appointed to Red River, thought there might be some difficulty in finding the right man, "He ought to have an iron constitution, a loud voice and be able to row. swim and do all sorts of rough mechanical work. An unhandy scholar would never do." "Where", he asked, "is to be found Paul the tentmaker?" [44]
There are three portraits of Bishop Anderson still in existence, but they hardly reveal the man who travelled hundreds of miles through desolate country by canoe, on horseback and behind dog-teams during his episcopate, or for the last fifteen years of his ministry drew a thousand people to the Parish Church of Clifton each Sunday morning.
The Rev. Benjamin MacKenzie, who died at Whytewold at an advanced age about forty years ago, looking back upon his childhood and thinking of the severities he suffered in the Red River Academy as a small boy under the Rev. John Macailum, wrote of the Bishop in his memoirs, "Bishop Anderson was a truly loving and lovable man, who quietly busied himself in initiating plans and efforts for the future progress and development of the Diocese." [45] Archbishop S. P. Matheson, also looking back on his childhood as he preached the Centenary sermon of the Church in Rupert's Land in 1920, could say: "I can remember the saintly and scholarly Bishop Anderson, not only a Bishop but a visiting pastor who went about doing good and praying in the homes of the settlers. I can recall his soft pleasing voice, his gentle manner as he delivered his delightfully cultured and winningly earnest sermons." [46] The Nor'Wester on 31 May 1864, commenting upon the Bishop's impending departure from the Red River Settlement, said: "His Lordship was indeed in its widest sense a man of large humanity ... in him the poor and needy found a faithful sympathizing friend ... The patron and friend of all schemes of literary advancement, the dispenser of generous hospitality, this Christian gentleman has earned with us the guerdon of a good name - better than riches". And, finally, from the Western Daily Press of Bristol, England; a memorial article published on 6 November 1885, said: "During his long residence in Clifton the Right Rev. gentleman took a great interest in the work of the many religious societies there ... and frequently used his pulpit on their behalf ... For the last four years his familiar face and figure have been missed from the posts at which he was so frequently found exerting his influence, and his long and useful life closed yesterday."
These extracts give a fair, if rather a general idea, of the kind of man Bishop Anderson was, but for his views and opinions it is necessary to turn to what he wrote himself, and of his writings there have come down to us two small books, his Charges to his clergy, some published sermons and a few of his letters.
The first of these books Notes of the Flood at the Red River, 1852 is probably the best known, because considerable portions of it were reproduced when Winnipeg experienced the flood in 1950. The second is a charming book based on the journal which he kept during his journey to Moose Factory in 1852, and is entitled The Net in the Bay, one of the most interesting pieces of missionary literature of which the writer knows. Both these were republished in 1873 with extensive notes and appendices, the ones attached to The Net in the Bay being particularly valuable.
Bishop Anderson gave five Charges to his clergy during the course of his episcopate which were published at first separately after their delivery, but have been collected into single volumes. Most of his published sermons were preached on the occasions of ordinations.
This acquisition by the Provincial Library of Manitoba of the Alexander Ross papers some years ago has made available his letters to James Ross when the latter was a student at the University of Toronto.
The Right Reverend David Anderson was a son of Captain Archibald Anderson of the Honourable East India Company, and was born in Hans Place, London, England, on 10 February 1814. Except that he had a brother, T. D. Anderson, who may have been engaged in the cotton trade (for he resided in Everton, Liverpool), and a sister, Margaret, who kept house for him here, and was well known in the Red River Settlement, we have no information about his family. Of his early life we only know that he attended Edinburgh Academy where he received a sound classical education, and began a life-long friendship and association with Archibald Campbell Tait, who was destined to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1868, [47] besides which he was confirmed by Bishop Daniel Sandford of the Scottish Episcopal Church. [48] He was probably about nineteen when he entered Exeter College, Oxford, then at the height of its popularity and second only to Christ Church itself in enrollment, and in his first year won a scholarship which was open to the whole University for competition. At Exeter he was recognized as an able student and expected to take a double first (that is, first class honours in both classics and mathematics). Unfortunately, just before his final examinations, (according to his own account) he had a severe nervous breakdown and though he sat for some of the papers he was unable to complete them, and consequently was given a Third Class in Mathematics and a Fourth Class (Lit. Hum,) in his finals in 1836. This standing prevented him from going on for the fellowship and tutorship which was his ambition. [49] However, he retained his association with the College, proceeded to his M.A. in 1839, and derived a great deal of satisfaction from the fact that he was invited, in the fall of 1856, to lay the foundation stone of the new and magnificent Exeter Chapel, which is reputed to have cost £30,000; an expenditure which had a disastrous effect upon the College's finances.
The apparently unhappy ending to his Oxford career changed his plans, the effect of his illness being to turn his thoughts to the Church, and he was offered a 'title' by the Rev. John Jones of St. Andrew's Church in Toxteth, a suburb in the south part of the city of Liverpool. [50] As, after the custom of the time, Mr. Jones also prepared young men for Holy Orders, David Anderson, whilst his curate, gained experience in this particular work. It also brought him into close, personal contact with Bishop John Bird Sumner of Chester, who ordained him privately as he was under the canonical age of twenty-three when the Bishop's regular ordination service took place earlier in the year. [51] After two years at St. Andrew's, Mr. Anderson took a curacy at St. George's Church, Everton, a northern and more industrialized part of Liverpool; both these parishes were in the Diocese of Chester at this time (that of Liverpool was not established until 1880). [52]
In 1841, he became vice-principal and tutor at St. Bees' College, in Cumberland. This was founded in 1816 as a theological training college for non-university candidates for the ministry, and appears to have been the first of such institutions in England. [53] The evangelically minded Bishop of Chester evidently had some interest in this College as Mr. Anderson mentions correspondence with him. In 1841, also, David Anderson married the eldest daughter of Mr. James Marsdon of Liverpool. Mrs. Anderson died in December 1847, leaving him with three boys. [54]
In 1848 Mr. Anderson became 'perpetual curate' of All Saints', Derby (now the Cathedral Church of that Diocese), but was there for less than a year, as Archbishop John Bird Sumner, who had been translated to Canterbury in 1848, nominated him as Bishop-designate of Rupert's Land.
The Royal Letters Patent, setting up the Diocese of Rupert's Land, specifying its boundaries, and confirming Dr. Anderson's appointment (for the University of Oxford had done its obvious duty and given him a jure dignatatis doctorate of divinity) is dated 21 May 1849. He was consecrated Bishop (and the Rev. George Smith at the same time as Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong) on 29 May 1849, in Canterbury Cathedral; this being the first time such a service had been held there since the days of Queen Elizabeth the First. [55] On the previous Friday (25th), he had attended a meeting of the Church Missionary Society, ostensibly held to bid farewell to the Rev. Robert and Mrs. Hunt, who were destined for the Lac la Ronge mission in Rupert's Land. The officers of the Society, who were invariably very frank in dealing with bishops, took the opportunity to tell him what the Society looked for in his diocese and what it would do for it and him; all of which was confirmed by copies of resolutions and a long letter from the Secretary, the Rev. Henry Venn, dated 5 June. [56]
The new Bishop and his family sailed on the Prince Rupert from Gravesend the following day. A very detailed account of the journey is given by the Rev. Robert Hunt in his diary, and the account of his early days here is to be found in such well-known books as Hargrave's Red River, the Rev. A. C. Garrioch's The Correction Line, and Canon Bertal Heeney's second and third volume of Leaders of the Canadian Church, so, that except to note that the first Bishop of Rupert's Land arrived at the Red River Settlement on 4 October 1849, it seems unnecessary to go into further details about this.
A question which is always asked about those who occupy high places and are in the public eye, and this applies as much to a bishop as to anyone else, is, "What did he accomplish?". When Bishop Anderson arrived here in 1849, there were only five clergy in the whole of the diocese: William Cockran was serving the Upper and Middle Churches, Robert James the Lower Church, John Smithurst was at the Indian Settlement, Abraham Cowley at Partridge Crop (better known now as Fairford) and James Hunter at The Pas. Bishop Anderson brought with him John Chapman, a young layman from Derby, whom lie ordained just before Christmas and placed in charge of the Middle Church, sod the Rev. Robert and Mrs. Hunt, who spent the winter at the Lower Fort. and in the summer of 1850, went on to Lac la Ronge. Reference will be made to other clergy later, and a complete list is attached to this paper, [57] but when Bishop Anderson left the diocese in 1864, there were twenty-two clergy on the diocesan list; and new mission stations had been opened on the perimeter of the diocese. Fort George and Moose Factory on the east side of James Bay; York Factory and Stanley on the Churchill or English River on the north; Fort Simpson on. the Mackenzie and Fort Youcan in Alaska (where two 'summer schools' had been conducted) were the chief of these; all of them hundreds of miles from the Red River.
The death of John Macallum, the proprietor and headmaster of the Red River Academy, brought this institution under Bishop Anderson's care, and to take charge of it, he determined, was not only a responsibility but an attractive opportunity. The Church Missionary Society held as one of its primary purposes, not merely the sending of missionaries abroad, but the promotion of an 'indigenous ministry' at the earliest possible moment. Consequently, before he left England, Bishop Anderson had been urged to ordain Henry Budd and James Settee, who had earned favourable notice from the Society by their work as Catechists at The Pas and Lac la Ronge. Further, the Bishop had been told that the Society would provide £500 towards the establishment of a theological seminary, and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge guaranteed £1000, designated in their Grants Book by the single word "College", as well as £300 for general educational purposes. So Bishop Anderson moved into one wing of the Red River Academy with his family on October 26, 1849, [58] and seems to have conducted the school himself during the winter. He disposed of the only two girl pupils, Jane and Flora, the daughters of Chief Factor John Bell of Cumberland House, by sending them into the care of the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Hunt at the Lower Fort. [59] In 1850, he secured for two years the assistance of George Pridham, a young Cambridge graduate (Clare College), [60] but after 1852, depended more and more on the services of the Rev. Thomas Cochrane, son of the Archdeacon, who was a graduate in Arts of Durham University and had an excellent reputation as a teacher. [61] In 1851, the Bishop bought Archdeacon Cockran's house "St. Cross", and established it as a Girls' School, under the direction of Mrs. Mills until 1857; a year later it was to close. [62] His boys' school, Bishop Anderson named "St. John's Collegiate School" at the end of 1850, and in 1855, provided it with a governing body termed the "Collegiate Board". This board never functioned, and about 1859, the school faded out, leaving a fine record of achievement, especially in its earlier years. [63]
In the country generally, schools were encouraged under the parochial system which began to come into being. The Model or Industrial School at St. Andrew's flourished under two good schoolmasters, William West Kirkby (1852-1856) and Caleb Baskett Mayhew (1856-1859). The latter, whilst there, organized the first Teachers' Conference and initiated the first School Sports Days held in the Red River Settlement; both activities were regarded as novelties, especially the latter. [64]
The St. John's Collegiate School turned out some excellent scholars. There is, unfortunately, no complete list of those who attended this first Residential School in Western Canada between the years 1833 and 1859, but amongst the names that are known are many which are greatly honoured. [65] This is particularly the case respecting those who went on to serve the Church. Of Bishop Anderson's twenty ordinands, eleven were trained in England, but nine he trained himself. Three of these were natives: Henry Budd (1850), James Settee (1353), and Henry Cockrane (1858). Four were 'country-born' and from the families of Hudson's Bay Company people: Robert McDonald (1852), Thomas Vincent (1860), Thomas Cook (1361), John Alexander Mackay (1862). The others were John Horden (1852) and Henry George (1856). John Horden in December 1872, was consecrated first Bishop of Moosonee; McDonald, Vincent and Mackay became Archdeacons, and Cook, whose son, Alfred, was a member of this Society only a few years ago, opened up the mission station at Fort Ellice.
Bishop Anderson had an inherent interest in languages, and wrote in 1850 that he was "training the boys in St. John's Collegiate School in several different languages in the hope that they would be able to analyse more clearly the framework and grammar of the Cree language." He did everything he could to encourage the work of translating the Scriptures, the Book of Common Prayer, Hymns and Catechisms into native tongues. The chief workers in this field were Archdeacon and Mrs. Hunter (the former Jean Ross of Norway House), the Rev. William and Mrs. Mason (Sophia Thomas of Middlechurch), the Rev. John Horden of Moose Factory, the Rev. E. A. Watkins of Fort George and the Rev. Robert Hunt who seems to have done some work (which has not survived) in Chipewyan. The Hunter's work was done be Roman syllabics, the Mason's cad John Horden's in the syllabic symbols invented by the Rev. James Evans of Rossville, Norway Rouse. Mr. Watkins produced the first Cree dictionary, which was published in 1865.
When Bishop Anderson visited England in 1856-57, he opened up the matter of the publication of the complete Bible in Cree with the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society, and in 1859, the Masons went to England to see the first Bible in Cree Syllabics through the press. The New Testament was published in 1859, and the complete Bible in the autumn of 1862, so that its centenary is due this year.
The Bishop, at first, had qualms about the use of syllabics [66] and in his Charge of 1850 remarks: "To a symbolical alphabet of the syllabic system I feel opposed, as it seems to present a double labour to the Indian - to learn the symbols in order to acquire his own tongue, and afterwards our alphabet for the study of the English language." This was a strange opinion from one who read Greek for pleasure, and who was familiar with Hebrew and, apparently, German gothic type. It also under-rated the capacity of Indian scholars, though at that time he was unaware of it. However, after he had been to Moose Factory in 1852, and had observed the ease with which the Indian learnt to read syllabics under the instruction of Rev. Horden, and the amount of knowledge gained through using this medium, he changed, or at least, modified his opinion. When he delivered his Charge in 1853, he retracted much of what he had said in 1850.
The episcopate of David Anderson is not generally regarded as a time of church building, but actually ten new churches were built whilst he was here, two of these were replacements. St. James' and St. Clement's (Mapleton) were added to those in the Red River Settlement; three were built in the Portage district and those at Headingley, The Pas, Stanley (on the Churchill River) and York Factory. Of the first group St. Peter's (Dynevor), St. Clement's and St. James' survive, but of the latter only St. Anne's, Poplar Point, and Holy Trinity at Stanley. Holy Trinity is the oldest church in continuous use in the Province of Saskatchewan. Of the ten, Bishop Anderson was only concerned personally with the building of what is still remembered affectionately by some as 'The Old Cathedral', long disused, now demolished, and its stones incorporated in the present Cathedral. The erection of this Cathedral was the fulfilment of an ambition on which the Bishop spent much energy, for during his 1856-57 time in England he raised about £3,000 through private subscriptions, besides securing £500 from each of the Hudson's Bay Company and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. [67]
Earlier in this paper, attention was directed to the impact made by David Anderson on the minds of two impressionable boys, and on the two communities in which his work was done. As a man, he may be classed as an excellent example of what used to be known as a 'schoolmaster-parson', a group from which many famous bishops have been drawn, a dozen such having been diocesans in the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land. Men of this group were noted for wide learning, broad interests, sound judgment and a tolerant spirit in dealing with human behaviour, as well as for their administrative ability. The references David Anderson makes in his sermons and Charges indicate that he was steeped in the culture of his age, that, though steadfast in his own considered opinions, he was sensitive to new interpretations and fresh outlooks, and was tolerant of the opinions of others. Humble in spirit, he had a very real sense of his responsibilities as a bishop, about which he writes frankly and feelingly after the ordinations of John Horden and Thomas Vincent at Moose Factory. Brought up in a family associated with the great Trading Company of the East, he had little difficulty in fitting himself into the domain of the great Trading Company of the North West. If at times he seems unnecessarily sympathetic with the problems of the Hudson's Bay Company administration, it must be remembered that he was very much dependent upon its goodwill in carrying out his work; that he appreciated the assistance he was consistently given; and that he had formed the opinion that immigration on the prairies of Rupert's Land should be for a time, at least, restricted to small groups so that the economic prosperity of the country might be developed in an orderly way. He was a good traveller under all conditions, and his presence seems to have been welcome in the settler's homestead, the Factor's house, the clergy parsonage or the Indian's tent. Not generally regarded as an athlete, he enjoyed swimming, and when returning from England in 1857, he rode back from St. Paul on horseback. He was a great reader and acquired quite a library whilst here, the remnants of which are still to be found in St. John's College. He loved music and took a great pleasure in part-songs. He encouraged better singing in church services, and notes the hymns sung when in camp on Sundays, as well as the subjects upon which he spoke, often adding some comment such as that on 4 July 1852: "All joined in the Responses, and this made a delightful Service, very happy and heavenly."
His interest in The Institute of Rupert's Land and its aims was quite genuine, for although without scientific training as understood today, he was an observer of nature, and in his journals records with some care what he saw in the countryside through which he passed. On the same Sunday noted above (4 July 1852), which was spent at Slave Falls, he noted the myriads of dragon flies, and the struggle one of them had to free itself from its pupa case; following a day's journey up the English River, he describes the profusion of wild roses he found covering a hill-top. On 4 February 1854, he wrote to James Ross (then at the University of Toronto): "I hope you are laying a good foundation in mathematics, so as to be able to enter into natural philosophy with advantage. If by way of recreation you could attend a course of lectures in Chemistry, it would open to you quite a new world." Controversy between Science and Religion was but a small cloud on a distant horizon when seen from the Red River Settlement of 1862, and Bishop Anderson had the greatest confidence in what he believed to be the persistence and stability of Truth. In his Presidential Address to the Institute of Rupert's Land, he said: "Nor have I, in the sacred office I hold, any fear for the cause of religion from the outward progress of science. A little superficial knowledge, as has often been observed, tends to unsettle the mind and leave it a prey to doubt, but a deeper acquaintance with science will ever be found to bring it back again ... [68]
Two matters have been purposely left aside in this review: Bishop Anderson took a seat on the Council of Assiniboia on 12 October 1849. and probably attended such meetings as he was able, but there is no record of any particular activity on his part. [69] The second is the unhappy controversy which occurred in the early 1850s over the old Upper Church. This has been quite adequately dealt with by other historians, and can be left with them. [70]
Bishop Anderson resigned the See of Rupert's Land on 4 October 1864, and on 26 October entered upon the incumbency of St. Andrew's, the Parish Church of Clifton, Bristol. In 1881, he was compelled to resign owing to ill-health, and he died on 5 November 1885. He remained all his life an ardent supporter of the work in Rupert's Land, and took a great delight in the progress and expansion of the church here under his successor, Robert Machray. The formation of his old Diocese into an Ecclesiastical Province gave him great satisfaction. He assisted at the consecration of John Horden as Bishop of Moosonee in 1872, and was the preacher when Bishops McLean and Bompas were consecrated in 1874 in Lambeth Parish Church. The property he had acquired personally when at the Red River he deeded to Bishop Machray, who used it founding St. John's College, St. John's Cathedral Dean and Chapter and in stabilizing the endowments of the Bishopric.
Rupert's Land appears to have been very fortunate in having such a man as David Anderson as its first Bishop during fifteen years of transition.
1. The word "Institute" (also found in the form 'Institution') in the first part of the nineteenth century had a considerable and exciting connotation, which now seems lost. Its use began, probably, with the formation of the Royal Institution in London, England in 1799, through the efforts of Count Rumford, as a centre of scientific research and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. In the matter of research it is famous for the work of Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday; its public lectures did much to advance interest in science generally, and its annual 'Children's Lectures' (always given by eminent scientists) have gained a reputation for brilliant, illuminating and exciting demonstrations. Similar institutions were founded in other large centres, some of them proving in time to be the initial step towards a modern university. The Midland Institute in Birmingham has, for a century, been that city's centre of Art and Music. The 'Victoria Institute' in Worcester (a city of fifty thousand people) has within its walls The Hasting's Museum of Natural History, an Art Gallery owning an excellent collection of work by local artists, Public and Reference Libraries, the local School of Art, Reading Rooms, and a well-equipped Department of Science where work can be done leading to extra-mural university degrees, facilities are offered for research in certain fields, and even commercial subjects taken up. It was here that the writer saw his first lecture on Chemistry before he was eight years old; an incident not without some influence upon his subsequent career.
2. E. H. Oliver (Ed.), The Canadian North-west, Its Early Development and Legislative Records (Publication of Canadian Archives, No. 9, Ottawa, 1914), Vol. I, p. 65.
3. Assistant Chaplain HBC at Upper Church, 1825-29; Lower Church (St. Andrew's), 1829-46; Upper Church, 1848-51; Indian Settlement (St. Peter's), 1851-53; Archdeacon of Assiniboia, 1853; Portage la Prairie, 1857-1864; died October 1st 1865; buried at St. Andrew's, Red River, Manitoba. See Oliver, op. cit., p. 60; J. J. Hargrave, Red River (Montreal, 1871), pp. 104-118.
4. CMS missionary at The Pas, 1844-54; incumbent of St. Andrew's, Red River, 1855-65; Archdeacon of Cumberland, 1853; vicar of St. Matthew's, Bayswater, London, England, 1867-1882. Lambeth M.A., 1854, D.D. 1876, awarded to him by the Archbishop of Canterbur1' in recognition of his work in translating parts of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer into western Cree, in which he was very much assisted by his wife (the former Jean Ross of Norway House) and in his earlier years by Henry Budd.
5. Minister of (Old) Kildonan Presbyterian Church, 1851-1882.
6. Son of Alexander Ross, educated at the Red River Academy and St. John's Collegiate School and University College, Toronto. Correspondent of Bishop David Anderson; letters exchanged between them are in Alexander Ross papers in the Archives of Province of Manitoba. Also see: Aileen Garland, The Nor'Wester and the Men Who Established It, (Winnipeg; Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society Papers, Series III, Number 16, 1961), pp. 11-14.
10. Garland, op. cit., pp. 8-10.
11. In 1862, incumbent of St. Peter's and St. Clement's churches on Red River. Opened the mission at Fairford in 1842, removed to St. Peter's 1854. He became Archdeacon of Cumberland in 1866 in succession to James Hunter, and was superintendent of the CMS Indian missions in Rupert's Land until his death in 1887.
12. An American from USA who established himself as a merchant in the commercial part of Winnipeg (now), and later seems to have acquired considerable property in the neighbourhood of Henry and Main; he was a generous benefactor of Holy Trinity and Christ Church.
15. Founder and first incumbent of St. James Church on the Assiniboine, 1850-1867. He built the original parsonage at St. James in 1851, which was used as a refuge in the flood of 1852; he also completed the original Church of St. James, which still stands on the river bank, but has long been almost disused. He was the first Registrar of the Diocese of Rupert's Land. His return to England in 1867 was due to ill-health, and he died at Clifton, Bristol on January 19th, 1873 at the early age of 53.
18. Hargrave, op. cit., pp. 208-212.
19. Oliver, op. cit., pp. 70 and 123.
20. A. C. Garrioch, The Correction Line (Winnipeg, 1933), p. 150. Mrs. George Bryce, "Early Red River Culture", (Winnipeg; Manitoba Historical Society Transaction No. 57, 1901), p. 15.
21. Edmund Lorenzo Barber was an American, who came to the Red River from New Haven, Connecticut in 1860, in 1862 married Barbara Logan, daughter of Robert Logan, and acquired the house now known as 99 Euclid Avenue. Lilian Gibbon, "Stories Houses Tell", Winnipeg Tribune, Vol. xlvi, No. 209, 1935.
22. Frank Larned Hunt was an Ontario lawyer, who came to the Red River valley and settled here for 'domestic reasons' as a farmer. Later he was persuaded to undertake legal work here. Hargrave, op. cit., p. 264.
25. The third Earl of Rosse (1800-1867) in 1848 erected in his park at Parsonstown in Ireland the largest reflecting telescope then made. It had an aperture of six feet, weighed twelve tons and through it the spiral form of nebulae were first seen, and binary and other multiple stars first discovered.
26. The Canadian Exploring Expedition, under S. J. Dawson and Henry Youle Hind, came to the Red River by way of the old North West Company's canoe route through Fort William in 1857 and 1858. The same years the British Exploration party, under Captain John Palliser also came to the Settlement, but by way of St. Paul, Minn. Both parties outfitted here for their future work. W. L. Morton, Manitoba, A History (Toronto, 1957), p. 96.
27. Sarah Tucker, The Rainbow in the North (London, 1851 and 1856. An edition was published in New York by the Protestant Episcopal Church Book Society in 1861. The contents are descriptive of the work of the Chinch Missionary Society's missionaries at Red River, 1820-1850, and founded on their diaries and letters with some interesting comments. Miss Tucker has drawn considerably on R. M. Ballantyne, Hudson's Bay (Edinburgh, 1848) in her account of Indian life and customs.
28. Hargrave, op. cit., p. 220. Timoleon Love came to the Red River Settlement in 1861, and seems to have been a gold miner with some Californian experience. J. J. Hargrave met him at Georgetown, when he was also on his way here, and they travelled the rest of the way together.
29. Archdeacon and Mrs. Hunter are buried (with their two sons, Robbie and Frank, who predeceased them) in Highgate Cemetery, London, England. Mrs. Hunter (Jean Ross) died in 1910 at the age of eighty-eight. An inscription says: "By their joint labours they gave the Bible and the Prayer Book in their native tongue to the Cree Indians of North-west America."
30. Hargrave, op. cit., pp. 220-221.
31. Oliver, op. cit., p. 47. Douglas MacKay, Revised by Alice MacKay, The Honourable Company (Toronto, 1949), pp. 175-230. Arthur S. Morton, Sir George Simpson (Toronto, 1944).
32. Oliver, op. cit., pp. 61-62 and 478.
33. Bryce, op. cit., p. 6.
34. Ibid., pp. 6 and 9.
35. Ibid., p. 9.
36. Ibid., pp. 9 and 10.
37. This was not the only such series. Church Missionary Society Archives: C. B. Mayhew, Report on St. Andrew's Model School, 1857-58 August 11, 1858). "Winter Lectures: Feb. 5th, English Literature, His Excellency the Governor (Francis Goodschall Johnson, QC); Feb. 12th, Britain, Past and Present, The Lord Bishop of the Diocese (David Anderson); Feb. 19th, Education, C. B. Mayhew; Feb. 26th, Canada, W. Dawson; March 5th. Self-improvement, Rev. W. W. Kirkby; March 12th, Marks of Design in Nature, Ven. Archdeacon Hunter."
38. HBC Archives, London: Minutes of the Hudson's Pray Company's Committee, October 15, 1819: States the reasons for sending a chaplain to the Red River Settlement, and appoints Rev. John West to that position as from the time he shall board the ship at Gravesend. Rupert's Land Archives: Rev. John West, The Substance of a Journal (London, 1827), p. 30.
39. Ibid., p. 1. CMS Archives, London: Minutes of the Correspondence Committee, December 13, 1819. Notes the receipt of a letter from Rev. John West, announcing his appointment as HBC Chaplain, offering to carry out the objects of the Society and establish schools among the natives there. The Committee accepted his offer and voted him £100 towards carrying out his plans.
40. G. J. Mountain, The Journal of the Bishop of Montreal during a visit to the Church Missionary Society, North West America Mission (London, 1845).
41. H. G. G. Herklots, Frontiers of the Church (London, 1961), pp. 142-146.
42. Hargrave, op. cit., p. 110. E. E. Rich, Simpson's Athabasca Journal, (Toronto, Champlain Society, 1938), p. 446.
43. SPG Archives, (London), Quebec Letters sent, p. 101.
44. SPG Archives, (London), Report of Right Reverend John Medley, 1849.
45. Rupert's Land Archives, "Reminiscences of Benjamin McKenzie" (typescript), p. 10.
46. Rupert's Land Archives, Rupert's Land Centenary Addresses and Sermons, (Ed.) W. Bertal Heeney, (Winnipeg, 1922), p. 32.
47. C. H. Mockridge, The Bishops of the Church of England in Canada and Newfoundland (Toronto, 1896), p. 127. Archibald Campbell Tait (1811-1882); Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford 1834; Head Master of Rugby, 1842 (successor to Thomas Arnold); Dean of Carlisle, 1849; Bishop of London, 1856; Archbishop of Canterbury, 1868. He is said to have been the most influential Primate in Parliament and the country since the Reformation.
48. David Anderson, The Net in the Bay (London, 1873), p. 160.
49. P.A.M., Alexander Ross Papers, letter from Bishop David Anderson to James Ross, February 9, 1855.
50. R. Rowley, The Anglican Episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland (London, 1928), p. 29.
51. P.A.M., Alexander Ross Papers, letter from Bishop David Anderson to James Ross, February 9, 1855. John Bird Sumner (1780-1862); Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1801; Canon of Durham, 1827; Bishop of Chester, 1828. Archbishop of Canterbury, 1848. His younger brother, Charles Richard Sumner (1790-1874) became Bishop of Winchester in 1827. Both the Sumners belonged to the evangelical school of thought in the Church, and earned the reputation of being capable administrators. Amongst Rev. John Smithurst's Papers in the Archives of Canada is a letter to him from Rev. G. W. Sexton of Matlock Bath (February 29, 1848), who says of the translation of John Bird Sumner to Canterbury that it is "The best appointment that the Whigs have made". Bishop David Anderson's personal appreciation of Dr. Sumner is also expressed in his introduction to Children instead of Fathers, A Christmas Ordination Sermon, December 25, 1853 (London, 1854), the occasion being the ordination of James Settee. Archibald Campbell Tait (fn. 47 above) was David Anderson's lifelong friend and adviser, but John Bird Sumner was undoubtedly his model as clergyman and bishop.
53. St. Bees College was closed in 1896. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1957-58, p. 1943.
54. Mockridge, op. cit., p. 127. The three sons were David, Archie and Herbert. Only David's cancer is known: he was educated at Repton School and Trinity College, Cambridge with the 2nd Class Honours in Classics in 1867. Ordained by Bishop Tait of London the same year, he was curate of St. John's, Paddington (1867-1875); vicar of Holy Trinity, Twickenham (1875-1891); Rector of St. George's, Hanover Square (1891-1911); Prebendary of Finsbury in St. Paul's Cathedral, 1909.
55. Colonial Church Chronicle, Volume 3, 1850, p. 38.
56. Rupert's Land Archives, Robert Hunt's Diary, (Typescript), May 25th, 1849. CMS Archives, (London), Minutes of the Correspondence Committee. May 25, 1849; Henry Venn to Bishop David Anderson, June 5, 1849.
57. See Appendix A.
58. Rupert's Land Archives, "Robert Hunt Diary," October 26, 1849.
60. Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1898, p. 1099. George Pridham is here described as Principal of 'Winnipeg Missionary College, Manitoba, 1850-54, but Bishop Anderson, Notes of the Flood at Red River (London, 1873), p. 85; says: "June 8th (1852), Rose very early to see Mr. Pridham off, the morning was very stormy, but with a fair wind for carrying him on" and Footnote: "Not in Orders at this time, but subsequently when in charge of the Cathedral School at Calcutta, ordained by Bishop Wilson." The Bishop seems to be in error. Crockford (as above) states Mr. Pridham was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1850, and priested by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1853.
61. Two Hundred Years of the S.P.G., 1701-1.900, (London, 1901). Appendix listing missionaries supported by the Society gives Thomas Cochrane, 1854-59. He was educated in the CMS school in England for sons of missionaries, and took the Durham B.A. in 1845, but apparently did not return to the Red River Settlement until after 1850. Thomas Cochrane always suffered from ill-health, never had a specific pastoral charge after his ordination in 1852 and devoted most of his short life to teaching. He died in Toronto in 1867.
62. Bryce, op. cit., pp. 12-15.
63. HBC Archives, (London), Letter from Hudson's Bay House, London, April 18th, 1860 to Sir George Simpson and the Council of the Northern and Southern Departments of Rupert's Land, notes that grant; to this school have now been 'voluntarily relinquished by the Bishop of Rupert's Land'.
64. CMS Archives, (London), C. B. Mayhew, Report of St. Andrew's Model School, August 7th, 1857 and August 11th, 1858.
65. See Appendix B.
66. Bishop Anderson to CMS: "York Factory, 22 August, 1849, "The Wesleyans, too, have been instruments of God ... They have, very unfortunately, as far as I can see, adopted a new character, the invention of the late Mr. Evans ... a few of the Indians can read by this syllabic character. But if they had only been taught to read their own language in our letters, it would have been one step towards the acquirement of the English tongue."
67. A list of subscriptions amounting to £4372-15s-2d was published in Britain's Answer to the Nations, a Missionary sermon preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, London by Rt. Rev. David Anderson of Rupert's Land on Sunday, May 3rd, 1857. (London, 1857).
68. The Nor'Wester, March 5, 1862.
69. Hargrave, op. cit., p. 329.
70. W. L. Morton, Introduction to London Correspondence Inward from Eden Colvile, 1849-1852, (ed.) E. E. Rich and A. M. Johnson, (London, 1956), pp. xcix, civ-v, ex, exi. This appears to me to be the best and most unbiased account of this affair.
* Archdeacon W. Cockran
Portage la Prairie
* Archdeacon James Hunter
St. Andrew's
* Rev. Abraham Cowley
St. Peter's and St. Clement's
Rev. J. Chapman
St. Anne's Poplar Point and High Bluff
Rev. W. H. Taylor
St. James
Rev. John Horden
** Moose Factory
Rev. R. McDonald
** Fort Youcan
Rev. Henry Budd, Senior
** The Pas
Rev. William Mason
** York Factory
Rev. James Settee
** Fairford Mission to the Plains
Rev. W. W. Kirkby
** Fort Simpson
Rev. Henry George
** Westbourne
Rev. Henry Cochrane
Headingly
Rev. T. T. Smith
St. John's Cathedral
Rev. Thomas Vincent
** Albany, James Bay
Rev. John Alexander Mackay
** Stanley and lac la Ronge
Rev. Thomas Cook
** Fort Ellice
Rev. Robert Phair
** Fort Alexander
Rev. Thomas Cochrane
(On leave)
Rev. W. Stagg
** Fairford
Rev. Henry Budd, Junior (died this year)
** Nepowewin
Rev. J. P. Gardiner
** Churchill (York Factory)
The following Clergy also served Rupert's Land in Bishop Anderson's time:
* Rev. John Smithurst
(1839-1851)
St. Peter's
* Rev. Robert James
(1846-1852)
St. Andrew's
Rev. Charles Hillyer
(1851-1857)
St. Peter's and Fort Pelly country
Rev. Robert Hunt
(1849-1862)
Lac la Ronge and Stanley
Rev. E. A. Watkins
(1852-1862)
Fort George, James Bay and The Pas
Rev. T. H. Fleming
(1857-1860)
Fort George and Great Whale River
* Serving the Diocese of Rupert's Land when it was formed.
** Mission Stations outside the District of Assiniboia.
Bishope Anderson's Ordinands trained in England:
W. H. Taylor (priested)
1850
English, but trained and ordained in Newfoundland
John Chapman
1849
Lay Reader in All Saints', Derby
* Thomas Cochrane
1852
See fn. 61
G. O. Corbett
1852
Built the first church at Headingly
William Mason
1854
One of the first Wesleyan Methodist missionaries brought to Rupert's Land in 1840 by Sir George Simpson. Built the first Anglican Church at York Factory.
William Stagg
1854
From CMS College at Islington, London
William West Kirkby
1854
Schoolmaster at St. Andrew's Model School, 1852; also trained at Islington by CMS.
T. H. Fleming
1857
Ordained in All Saints', Derby, England by Bishop Anderson.
J. P. Gardiner
1858
Served at Fort York, Churchill, St. Andrews.
Thomas Thistlewaite Smith
1860
From CMS College, Islington, London.
** Henry Budd, Junior
1861
Educated by Bishop Anderson at St. John's Collegiate School, went with him to England in 1856 and was placed in CMS College, Islington, London, where he proved an excellent and well-liked student. Contracted TB and died in 1864, then about 27 years old.
Robert Phair
1864
From CMS College, Islington, London. He succeeded Ven. Abraham Cowley as Archdeacon in 1888, and largely organized the work of the Anglican Church between Kenora and Fort Frances.
* Thomas Cochrane was barely a year old when his parents came to the Red River. He was educated at the Red River Academy before being sent to the CMS School when he was about 12 years old.
** Henry Budd, Junior, was born in St. Andrew's, but went to The Pas with his parents in 1840. He came back in 1850 with the Bishop.
Mrs. George Bryce, "Early Red River Culture" (Manitoba Historical Society: Transaction No. 57, 12 February 1901), pp. 10-15. A. C. Garrioch, The Correction Line (Winnipeg, 1933), pp. 96-103. Rupert's Land Archives, Benjamin McKenzie's Reminiscences (Typescript); and A. T. Cowley, "A Brief Sketch of the Life of Archdeacon Macallum", (St. John's College Magazine, Winnipeg: undated). The information givne in these varies in value as statements made in them do not always agree with contemporary evidence, which has come to light since the articles were written.
The Red River Academy was a private venture by Rev. D. T. Jones. It had the support of the HBC, but its establishment was opposed by the CMS. Copies of the correspondence between Mr. Jones and Governor Simpson, Mr. Jones and the CMS, now in the HBC (London), CMS (London) and Rupert's Land (Winnipeg) Archives, indicate this. The Simpson letter also lists the officers prepared to send their children to the Red River Academy when it should open in 1833.
In 1850 Bishop David Anderson set up a scholarship scheme, covering tuition, £10 a year in cash, and meals at the master's table, in order to encourage the boys to do better work. The awards made were: 1850, Colin Campbell McKenzie, Roderick Ross; 1851, Peter Jacobs, James Ross; 1852, Robert McDonald. Benjamin McKenzie adds to this list of the Bishop's, Henry Budd, Jr., Benjamin McKenzie, John Norquay and Alexander McMurray. C. C. McKenzie and R. Ross went on to Peterhouse, Cambridge, but the latter returned after a year and joined the HBC. Peter Jacobs was the son of a native Wesleyan Methodist missionary of the same name who itinerated from Norway House to Fort Frances. The boy had much musical ability, and after returning to eastern Canada, was ordained in the Anglican Church, but died from TB at an early age. Indirect references in other memoirs indicate that amongst others who attended one or other of these schools as boys were A. K. Isbister, David Tait, Senator William Hardisty and his brother, Joseph, Inspecting Chief Factor William McMurray, and Chief Trader McFarlane.
The author desires to acknowledge the help he has received from Mr. Hart Bowsfield, Archivist of Manitoba, Miss Marjorie Morley, Provincial Librarian and her staff in the preparation of this paper, and to express his thanks for their assistance.
Page revised: 3 April 2011
