Charlottetown Fifty Years Ago by ELM (Elizabeth L. Macdonald)

Charlottetown Fifty Years Ago By E. L. M. (Elizabeth L. MacDonald) The Prince Edward Island Magazine Charlottetown 1901 Digitised, re-formatted and ilustrated by Reg Porter, 1989 - 2019 1 Charlottetown Fifty Years Ago By E. L. M. (Elizabeth L. MacDonald) The Prince Edward Island Magazine Charlottetown 1901 Digitised, re-formatted and ilustrated by Reg Porter, 1989 - 2019 2 These articles were first reprinted is photocopy format from non- copyrighted material in an edition of ten copies intended for private distribution by Reginald Porter, Charlottetown, 25 December 1989. This collection was digitised with OCR software and reissued by Reginald Porter on March 13, 2019 in pdf format with the addition of many contemporary illustrations to show places, events and people mentioned in the text. ELM’s charm is augmented by a sharp eye and deep recollection of people, places and events she witnessed in her youth. The various articles are an invaluable source of information to social and architectural historians documenting life in the city of Charlottetown just before Confederation. The nine articles were printed in the Prince Edward Island Magazine in a series called “Charlottetown Fifty years Ago” by E.L.M. – Elizabeth L. MacDonald (1835-1901 in the following issues: Vol. II, No. 8 – October 1900 Vol. II, No. 9 – November 1900 Vol. II, No. 10 – December 1900 Vol. II, No. 11 – January 1901 Vol. II, No. 12 – February 1901 Vol. III, No. 1 – March 1901 Vol. III, No. 2 – April 1901 Vol. III, No. 3 – May 1901 Vol. III, No. 4 – June 1901 She died before she could complete the series, and we are left to wonder what treasures of information were lost in this sad event. Cover illustration detail of a watercolour of Queen’s Square by George Hubbard, circa 1849. PEIMHF Collection. 3 ELIZABETH L. MACDONALD E.L.M. was born at Cardigan River on 11 May, 1835, the daughter of Thomas Owen and Ann Campbell. She was baptized at St. John’s Church at Belfast. She married Hon. Senator A. A. Macdonald, of Charlottetown. She died 12 July 1901 and was buried in the St. Peter’s Road Anglican Cemetery. Newspaper References The Patriot 13 July 1901, PP. 1,3,4 15 July 1901, p. 8 18 July 1901, P. 3 The Herald 17 July 1901, P. 3 The Guardian 13 July 1901, p. 4 4 5 Charlottetown Fifty Years Ago by E. L. M. Section 1 - Vol. II, No. 8 – October 1900 It is said that when people grow old their thoughts revert to the days of their childhood; and, as Charlottetown at the present time is different to what it was fifty-six years ago, our recollection of it may be interesting to some of the young people of to-day. Detail of the barracks from George Hubbard, Pownal Wharf, watercolour, 1849. PEI Museum Collection. Charlottetown, as we first remember it in 1844, or about that time, was a garrisoned town – or we might call it so – for then we had a company of soldiers, with their captain, one or two lieutenants, an ensign, a doctor, a commissary, and an ordinance store keeper. The barracks were two long, low buildings, situated on the ground reaching south from the jail square, Sydney Street to Water Street, including Union Street westwardly to the water. All along that part now called the Esplanade and the lower corner of Water Street was The Battery, of nine guns. Earth works were thrown up six 6 or eight feet high all around, on the bank, or water front, and any one passing along the shore could see the muzzles of the cannon pointing towards the harbour. The soldiers’ quarters backed on and closed up the end of Dorchester, King and part of Water Streets. The ordnance and noncommissioned officers building reached from Water Street northwardly toward Sydney St. The whole of the land was surrounded by a high, pointed picket fence. There was a large double gate opening on the jail square and a sentry marched backwards and forwards continually. Some of the houses in which the officers lived are still standing, Commissary Lamont and Captain _________ resided in the houses now owned by Mrs. J. D. Mason on the west part of Richmond Street, and Doctor Poole lived at Frogmore, on the corner of Rochford and Euston Streets. Charlottetown at that time, although the dwellings and places of business were very scattered, seemed of more importance than now. A number of retired naval and military officers, also English, Scotch and Irish families were settled here; some were comparatively wealthy, others had good positions under the English government, and there were also many descendants of the old Loyalists, who came to this Island from the United States many years before. The poor were more industrious than they are now, and it was an unusual thing to see a corner loafer or a tipsy idler on the street. Those who seemed to have little to do were the soldiers who always walked about in twos, dressed in their trim uniforms and looking as if their buckles and buttons had just been polished and their white belts and gloves newly pipeclayed. Government House, at that time, was not exactly as it is now. The main building was, but there was no verandah then, and the portico was supported by four handsome round pillars, standing on stone supports and reaching above the second story. There was sufficient room for a horse and carriage to drive or stand underneath, as the carriage drive passed along close by the front door and underneath the portico. [Editorial note: These remarks have caused a great deal of confusion among architectural historians. Exhaustive research has shown that Government House – if this is what she is referring to – had a veranda from the start. Perhaps she is referring to Holland Grove, rented by various Governors as a temporary residence.] Any stranger coming in the harbour could see at once that it was a building of some importance. General Edmund Fanning, the second English Governor of this Island knowing the necessity there was for a proper residence for the Lieutenant Governor, granted one hundred acres of land to 7 the Governor General for all time, on which a suitable residence should be erected. The present Government House was built on this land about 1830 or ’31 [1834]. Governor Ready, the then governor, planned it after one he had lived in at Barbadoes, and helped to superintend the building (so we have been told.) When the house was completed, in 1834, furniture, and everything necessary to make it comfortable and fit for the residence of His Excellency, was sent from England at the expense of the British Government, fuel and light were provided, the Governor's salary paid, also that of his private secretary, the orderly and one or two servants of minor importance. The Aides de Camp were chosen from the Military, a position much thought of. A sentry marched backwards and forwards before the front door and another at the lodge gate. No one dare enter the grounds without permission, or so it appeared to us children, for if by any chance we went as far as the Governor's Bridge we did not dare cross it for fear we should be bayoneted by that formidable-looking soldier. This drawing by Santagnello, made perhaps in the early 1850’s, shows the configuration of the entrance at that time. ELM would have been familiar with this landscape. His Excellency, Sir Henry Vere Huntley, was the Lieutenant Governor from I841 to 1847, appointed by the English Government, or by the Queen, as it is generally stated. He, being the Queen's representative, kept up the state his position required. Every year on the Queen's birthday he held a levee at Government House. The Bishop, Chief Justice, Premier, the Military and Naval Officers, and some other officials, had the privilege of 8 the entree, and stood with the Governor whilst he received all those who were presented to him. Generally a large number of gentlemen attended the levee and it was looked upon as the proper thing to do on the Queen's birthday. There was always a state dinner or ball at Government House in the evening. BEALES’S CORNER, NORTH SIDE QUEEN’S SQUARE From a photo taken fifty years ago. The 24th Of May was always proclaimed a holiday; everyone who had or could borrow a flag hoisted it, and a salute of twenty one guns was fired at the Battery at twelve o'clock, midday. If the weather was warm enough there were picnics and drives in the country and everyone was bent on enjoyment. The Queen's coronation day, June 28th, was another public holiday, with very much the same program. 9 Tandem Club. CCAG. Sir H. V. Huntley was a fine-looking old man, with ruddy complexion and white hair. One amusement he took great interest in was the Tandem 10 Club, as it was called, and in winter he was often seen driving his pair of horses at the head of a procession of sleighs driven tandem by the officers and young men of the town. The bright trappings of the horses, the merry jingle of the sleigh-bells, and the bright colouring of the ladies' costumes, along with the comfortable sleigh-robes, made a pretty picture to be remembered. Some would say Sir Henry was eccentric, perhaps he was. One rather amusing incident is told of him. When he came to this Island he brought a very handsome landau with him. When winter came, finding the coachhouse too small for his carriage, he had the wheels taken off and the carriage, wheels and all, put into one of the recesses of the large hall at Government House, where it remained till the next spring.

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