Regency Schooling

With the end of the school year fast approaching, we at the Laura Secord Homestead thought it would be appropriate to share with our readers a short history of the development of 19^th century education. Let us assure you, the school houses in the early and late 19^th century are very unlike the classrooms children occupy today…

            In the early 19^th century, teaching was considered to be an appropriate vocation for women, especially those who were widowed.¹ The types of educations young ladies and men would receive during this period were based largely on their social class. In fact, there was a variety of different organizations meant to educate the young and wealthy women of Canada: “finishing schools, academies and female seminaries” were all available to the wealthy and strove to “produce a lady able to mix in society at home and abroad.”² Many of these institutions would teach “reading, arithmetic, spelling, penmanship, geography and French. Classics were taught on occasions and instead of history or politics, girls red plays, poetry, novels and moral tracts, and learned the skills of music, singing, playing an instrument, dancing, painting, drawing and fine needlework.”³ Even Laura Secord herself became involved in educating the youth of Canada, and ran etiquette class in her home in Chippewa. However, these formal forms of education were mostly reserved for the wealthy. Poor families would receive education from the church, or would be instructed by neighbors, parents etc.⁴ If a young girl from a poor family was lucky, she could land herself a position as a domestic at a wealthier family’s home and hopefully receive the same education as the wealthy children of the household. Boy’s education differed in that there was a larger emphasis on arithmetic, and would often learn through play. 

The equivalent of a gold star, this item would be awarded to school children for “diligence.”

It wasn’t until the mid to late 1800’s that Canada (and Upper Canada especially) began serious educational reforms. Specifically, it is during this time that public schools began to develop. Public education gained support because of “increased immigration and settlement of families, the influx of United Empire Loyalists from the United States, and political and economic threats to Canadian lands and resources.”⁵ For this reason, the aim of public school was to develop “distinctly Canadian identities” by “cultivating new attitudes” in students.⁶ It was during this time that both boys and girls were educated together in a single school house. However, boys were encouraged to seek out more education by attending high school, and wealthy boys would be even encouraged to go to University. Girls were often only educated at the primary level, and at that time would be expected to channel their energies into running a household.⁷

However, the realization of free public education as we know it today was not without problems. For example, there was a serious lack of funding in developing schools which made it difficult to hire teachers, build school houses etc.⁸ Not to mention, the government had to combat the indifference of many parents, as many people felt the introduction of a mandatory public schools was an invasion of private life, and for that reason, attendance at schools was often abysmal.⁹ Attendance was also affected by “regional differences in socio-economic circumstances as well as families’ material conditions and class backgrounds.”¹⁰ The poorer the family, the less likely they were to attend class. Worst of all, it was difficult to find and hire well trained teachers.¹¹ Schools desperately attempted to recruit men as teachers to “legitimize” this new public form of education. However, because these schools had little funding, they had to recruit those who would work for less: women. But as the 19^th century continued, this trend shifted, and as public education became more popular with the public, men became the norm for teachers.

Obviously the development of public education is far more complex then what has just presented. But hopeful, this short summary has given some readers some further insight into the lives of those living in the 19^th century.

1. Graves, 110
2.  Graves, 111
3. Graves, 111
4. Graves, 113.
5. Wotherspoon, 61.
6. Wotherspoon, 61.
7. Kalman, 18.
8. Wotherspoon, 62.
9. Wotherspoon, 62.
10. Wotherspoon, 62.
11.  Wotherspoon, 62.

References

Graves, Dianne. “Gainful in Employment” In In the Midst of Alarms: The Untold Story of

Women and the War of 1812, 102-130.Canada: Robin Brass Studio, 2007.

Kalman, Bobbie. “Children at School” In Colonial Life, 18. Canada: Crabtree Publishing, 1992.

Wotherspoon, Terry. “Historical Dimensions of Canadian Education” In The Sociology of

Education in Canada, 54-74. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

1.

What is a kitchen garden?

In Laura’s time, kitchen gardens had a bit more form than your average cottage garden, and were as much for aesthetic pleasure as they were for function. The better your garden looked, the better it reflected on the lady of the house and her ability to be a good wife. Thinking about it, the garden would have been one of the only areas that most people would have seen of your home.

As you can see by the above picture, the grounds here had very little space for plain old grass. At the time Laura lived here, grass would have been a bit of a faux-pas and those with a yard full of grass would have been considered lazy people who were trying to get out of gardening. The front yard would have been dedicated to growing every sort of flower to use in arrangements for when guests arrived. Roses were Laura’s favourite flower and were used in much of the garden. The back yard would have been dedicated to growing vegetables but decorated with edible flowers to offer some attractiveness to the garden.

Fruits: These would most likely be bordering the gardens. They were great to use for jams and teas. Some of the more common fruits and fruit trees in Regency gardens were: Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes and raspberries as well as peach, apple, cherry and pear trees. In Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake) there was even a woman collecting various forms of peaches and bragged about the trees she had originating from Holland.

Vegetables: These were most likely heirloom vegetables that were grown with seeds from family, friends and neighbours. There was also a wide sharing of clippings throughout Niagara at the time. Any local vegetables would suit here but some original heirlooms were also incorporated here, such as purple carrots, black tomatoes etc.

 

Herbs: These would have been used to flavour food, for medicinal purposes, to make potpourri, and for teas.  Some of the more popular herbs for the time period were: Basil, Chives, Cilantro, Dill (which attracted bees for pollination), Fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, jasmine, lavender, lemon balm, liquorice, lovage, mace, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, penny royal, rosemary, sage, savory, spearmint, thyme

Why not swing by the homestead and see the beginnings of our NEW kitchen garden?  Our garden is not quite as large or as impressive as Laura’s would have been… but in a few years we hope to work up to it. Make sure to check out our future blogs on how we use our new garden for preserving, keeping heirloom seeds, and pest control of the time.

If you have any questions about gardening of the time or historical resources to start your own garden, feel free to drop us a line: laurasecordhomestead@gmail.com

Laura’s Family History

            The Ingersoll and Secord families have a very diverse (and sometimes complicated) history. For that reason, we at the Laura Secord Homestead thought we would provide information about Laura’s ancestry, and maybe help some of our readers and guests begin to understand the woman behind the legend. I think it is appropriate to start with the Secord family, as it is under that name that our heroine has become infamous.

Interestingly, the Secords (which has been written Sycar, Silcard, Sea Cord, Se Cord, Seicard) originally hail from La Rochelle in France, and came to Canada in 1681.

James Secord Jr. (who would of course, later become Laura Ingersoll’s husband) comes from a long line of military men. For example, his father Lieutenant James Secord Sr. died at Fort Niagara in 1784.

James Secord is the youngest of eleven children, eight brothers and three sisters. The eldest brother, Sgt. Solomon Secord, later became a Major in the Butler’s Rangers. Another brother, Major David Secord, was taken prisoner during both the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. Major David Secord held many positions throughout his life time: he was a surveyor, a miller, acted as a member of parliament as the commissioner for highways and bridges, and also erected buildings for mechanics in his village. Unfortunately there is not much information on James’ bother John and Stephen or his sisters Magdalen, Esther and Mary.

James however, at the age of 3 arrived at Fort Niagara relatively destitute in 1776 with his mother and one of his older brothers. Thankfully, they were guided from the Hudson by a friendly Mohawk, and were also given tents, clothing and food. In adulthood, James Secord Jr. was an ensign in the first Lincoln militia and participated in famous Battle of Queenston Heights in October of 1813. It was during this battle that James sustained two gunshot wounds, one to his knee and shoulder.  It is also rumoured that he was one of the men who helped carry Sir Isaac Brock off the field at the battle of Queenston Heights.

James and Laura would later meet sometime around 1795, as this was the year that both Thomas Ingersoll, Laura’s father, moved to Queenston (which was then “Queenstown”), and also when James Secord started his merchant business. The rest, they say, is history.

Laura Ingersoll Secord also hails from a fairly large family, as her father, Thomas Ingersoll was married three times throughout his life. Laura was born in 1775 in Massachusetts, and it was in the United States that Thomas Ingersoll held various town offices. He was also a justice of the peace and preformed marriage ceremonies. He was Lieutenant of the Militia, became Captain in 1781 and was made a Major after the war. At one point, Joseph Brant promised him in person that if he were to move to Canada, he would have some of his men find Thomas the best land to settle and he gave Thomas  66,000 acres of land in what is known as Ingersoll, Ontario.

            Laura’s biological mother, Elizabeth Dewey, was married to Thomas at age 17, and sadly, died when Laura was only eight years old.  Because Laura was the eldest child in her family, she became a mother figure for her siblings. Her biological siblings include: Elizabeth, Myra, and Abigail. Laura had a half-brother Charles, and a half-sister Nancy from her father’s third marriage. Her half-brother, Charles, was Lieutenant of a troop of provincial Light Dragoons, and like James’ brothers, participated in both the Battle of Queenston Height and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. He would later be appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 2^nd Oxford Militia. He also bought back his father’s lands in Ingersoll, and later became a magistrate, postmaster, and commissioner in the Court of Requests. He would later die of Cholera.

Laura was of course, a very impressive woman on many accounts. She is described as having a “fair complexion, with kind, brown eyes, a sweet and loving smile hovering about the mouth. This did not denote weakness. She was five feet four inches tall and slight in form.” Indeed, Laura was by no means weak. Not only did she manage to travel  32 kilometres in scorching heat to warn the British about an impending American attack, she also survived 7 births. They are as follows:

• Mary: The Secord daughters did fairly well for themselves in regards to marriage, and Mary married Doctor Trumble at age 17 and then moved to Ireland. Trumble acted as an assistant surgeon in the 17^th engagement. His and Mary’s engagement took place during the war and the two were married in 1816.
• Harriet was wed to a lawyer in 1824.
• Charlotte, however, remained unmarried and would eventually die in Guelph.
• Charles, the only boy in the Secord family, eventually married in 1816 to the sister of William Hamilton Merrit.
• Appolonia is the only child who died relatively young, and was buried at age 18 by David Secord.
• Laura Jr. was married twice during the course of her lifetime.
• Hannah was also married twice, and moved to Guelph.

And there you have it, our dedicated readers, a brief account of Laura Ingersoll Secord’s family history.

As always, if any of you are interested in more information about Laura Secord, come visit us at the Laura Secord Homestead in Queenston. Or, for all of your gardening enthusiasts, be sure to check out our next blog post: Regency Gardening. 

 James' Family

 Laura's Family