by Randolph W. Manning
Fanningbank during its days as the Prince Edward Island Agricultural and Technical School.
Winds of Change J have now come to the conclusion opinion held that, where possible, the that the cause is too urgent and too returning soldiers should convalesce uly and August of 1917 must have sacred to allow any considerations as close to their homes as could be Jbeen the summer of our discon- to have weight except the welfare of arranged. Government House (or "Fan- tent. The world was at war. All Canadi- our brave men I therefore unre- ningbank," as it is now more commonly ans were mourning the losses at Vimy servedly place at the disposal of your called) provided an ideal location. Ridge, while riots over conscription Government the Governor's residence For Islanders, the site proposed by flared at home. The price of a good suit and grounds for the establishment of Macdonald was unsurpassed — a prom- had soared to $14.95, and income tax a Convalescent Home, coupled with ontory situated at the western end of was introduced for the first time, as a the request that such other provi- downtown Charlottetown, overlooking temporary war measure (one rate for sions be made for an official resi- the entrance to the harbour. The Lieu- all, 4%). Relief could be found in the dence as may be fit. tenant Governor's residence, a handsome front pages of the newspapers — but in neo-classical structure, dominated the the advertisements, not in the news: area, ready to serve as an administra- Fruit-a-tives, for those run down and tive headquarters and senior staff resi- tired; Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, for those In a flowery reply, the Premier accepted dence. It had been built in 1834 on a ailments from which women alone the patriotic and generous offer: "Your 100-acre property acquired 45 years ear- suffer; or Beecham's Pills, to keep the action in this regard is one that will lier by the Island's second governor, organs in harmony. long be held in grateful remembrance Colonel Edmund Fanning, for use as a On August 24, the Charlottetown by the people of this Province. On behalf "Governor's Farm" and as a site for an Examiner published an exchange of of the Government of P.E.I, and of our official residence whenever money be- letters between the Lieutenant Gover- stricken soldiers I desire to tender sin- came available. Now it was about to nor and the Premier of Prince Edward cerest thanks." begin a new role. Island, both dated the previous day, Regardless of his patriotic sentiments, As often happens, differences of opin- and accompanied them with a terse the Lieutenant Governor probably had ion over the choice of a site for the con- comment that the letters "speak for little choice in the matter. The Military valescent hospital centred more on a themselves." In his letter to Premier Hospitals Commission of Canada was side issue than the main one. The Exam- A. E. Arsenault, Lieutenant Governor in the process of acquiring, in the most iner quickly killed a suggestion that A. C. Macdonald stated: "Since I have expeditious manner possible, facilities Prince of Wales College be converted learned that a Convalescent Home for the treatment and re-education of instead. Better the governor vacate than might be established in this province if returning sick and wounded veterans of education stop, it opined in an editorial a suitable place could be secured, I have the First World War. Over in Halifax, on October 30. When no longer needed, had under consideration offering to your for example, Camp Hill Hospital was Government House could be returned to Government to surrender Government being doubled in size so that it could be its original function, as guaranteed, in House for this purpose." While he had converted to a permanent institution a state of good repair, with its structure hitherto felt obliged to defer considera- for veteran care. At this time some 8,840 and architecture unchanged. The build- tion because of illness in the family, the Canadian soldiers were enrolled in simi- ings to be constructed on the property letter continued: lar facilities across Canada. Official could be torn down or utilized in some
19 other way. The Prince of Wales issue associates. West of Government House evaporated. Instead, controversy raged a "handsome little new home for the over the "unreasonable rent" of $1,200 nursing women, fitted up with all the to be paid annually to Sir. W. W. Sulli- conveniences of a comfortable resi- van, the Island's chief justice, whose dence," was taking shape. To the east spacious residence in Brighton was rose a 200-bed main building, 200 feet to provide a home to the incumbent by 40 feet. A number of outbuildings lieutenant governor. The Examiner had were to follow. Architects for the project to point out that this sum was roughly were Chappell and Hunter; the contrac- equal to the current cost of maintaining tors were Messrs. Parkman, Hennessey, Government House. and Power. There would be equipment for all kinds of treatment — including electro-, hydro-, and mechanotherapy, The Convalescent Hospital X-ray apparatus, a gymnasium for thera- peutic exercise, and facilities for voca- By now public attention was directed to tional training. "Nothing is too good some momentous events: the Russian for those who bravely fought for us, and Revolution, the Halifax Explosion, and having been wounded or sickened, a bitterly contested Dominion election. escaped with their lives," declared But there were occasional references in the Examiner. the papers to two winter works projects By the summer of 1918, not quite a Nursing Sister Rena McLean lost her under way in the province. The Military year after Lieutenant Governor Mac- life in the sinking of the hospital ship Hospitals Commission was increasing donald's patriotic offer, all was ready. Llandovery Castle in 1918. In 1919, her the capacity of the Charles Dalton Sani- The Guardian reported the official name was given to the new convales- tarium in North Wiltshire by construct- opening, which was held on August 4 to cent hospital at Government House. ing a 150-bed wing, and (the Examiner celebrate Remembrance Day (the anni- reported) good progress was being made versary of Great Britain's entry into the on the grounds of Government House. Great War four years earlier). There cadets from West Kent School. Ladies of Employment was available for all was a grand parade to the new hospital, the various patriotic societies provided able and willing to work in the "pitiless led by the fourth Regimental Band and afternoon tea and evening refreshments, winter" weather. The old residence was followed by returned soldiers, VAD's with proceeds to be used for comforts undergoing elaborate repairs as a home (women of the Voluntary Aid Detach- and necessities for the soldiers. There for the medical superintendent and his ment) in their distinctive costumes, and were six speeches, dutifully reported in the Guardian — and some unwel- come rain, which started early in the afternoon. Actually, the hospital was not put into use until November, when 22 veter- ans arrived to become its first conva- lescents. The following summer, the new hospital acquired a name. On June 27, •fiOf^^r^ 1919, the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment, which operated the institution, officially named it the Rena McLean Memorial Hospital, in memory of a young Island nurse who had per- 100 ished exactly a year earlier in the tor- !o. e /oefj pedoing of the hospital ship Llandov- ery Castle by a German submarine. In the end, the Rena McLean Hospi- epi •ntii- tal was under-utilized. Even before the first patients had arrived, the War had ended on November 11,1918. The return of peace no doubt invalidated earlier estimates of the number of Islanders that would require recuperative care. Some veterans unfortunately had to be cared for on a permanent basis in Camp Hill Hospital. Meanwhile, the salubri- ous effects of the soothing breezes off Charlottetown harbour and the serenity of the historic grounds may well have contributed to early recoveries for many of the patients at the McLean Hospital. 'IT In March 1920, the Prince Edward Island Patriot reported a partial clos- >' u/r/' -L -, - - - 7 - . — r . " ^ ing of the institution, since there were only seven men being treated in facili- Undated site plan of Government House as a convalescent hospital. ties staffed for 100 patients. At $29 per patient day, the cost of operating the
20 establishment was just too much. The the Patriot printed a letter from W. M. Once again, the conversion of Govern- Patriot announced that the main build- Lea, Commissioner of Agriculture, com- ment House was made with a minimum ing (Government House) would now be menting on a report that the Rena of delay, and once again, there was a fitted up as a clinic to meet the needs McLean Memorial Hospital was going gala ceremony, this time to mark the of all the province's returning soldiers, to be converted into a technical school. official opening, on December 6, 1920, with a medical officer always on hand The Commissioner was taking issue of the Prince Edward Island Agricul- for emergencies. The last seven pa- with a former Islander, Professor Cyrus tural and Technical School. (Classes had tients would be sent to local hospitals J. MacMillan of McGill University, who already begun on November 5.) The of their choice, but vocational training thought the conversion cost of $18,000 dignitaries present included Lieutenant for some 300 veterans would continue could be better spent on upgrading the Governor Murdoch MacKinnon; R. H. indefinitely. province's regular education system. Rogers, Chief Superintendent of Edu- And so, the Rena McLean Memorial The new direction was an outgrowth cation; Vernon Crockett, the new Prin- Hospital had a life span of less than of federal policy. As a postwar rehabili- cipal; Premier J. H. Bell; and W. M. Lea, three years. As a federal institution, the tation measure, the Dominion Govern- Commissioner of Agriculture (and fu- building had been no drain on the pro- ment had in 1919 voted $10,000,000 for ture premier). Prior to the inevitable vincial treasury. The only relevant items the support of technical education, speeches, there were vocal solos by listed in the Public Accounts under the supplementing an earlier appropriation Miss Dorothy Sutherland and Colonel heading "War Expenditures" are these: of $10,000,000, made in 1913 and ear- Parker Hooper. There were some, Mr. marked for agricultural education. By Crockett noted in his remarks, who 1917 - Delegation to Ottawa the terms of the new federal Technical would declare that "the place is too re Hospital for Returned Education Act, the Minister of Labour good for farmers' sons." Not so, he Soldiers - A.E. Arsenault 85.00 could distribute $700,000 annually out asserted: "The building and its historic Military Hospital - S.R. of the fund: a basic $10,000 to each pro- associations are a liberal education in Jenkins, M.D. 127.50 vince, with the excess apportioned ac- themselves. Architectural beauty and 1918 - Operating Convalescent cording to population. The money was harmony of proportion will have a bene- Home - total 137.33 intended for new educational projects, ficial effect on these young men." 1919 - Convalescent Home not to continue or expand those already A copy of the school's calendar for the - supplies 13.50 in existence. 1922-23 session provides some insight So, Professor MacMillan's motion was into the life and times of Prince Edward Without patients, however, the medical out of order. But his figures were accu- Island in the early 1920s and the pre centre had lost the chief reason for its rate: the province received $17,963.35 in vailing attitudes toward the education existence. Its career as a hospital was 1920 out of the federal program. The process. The new institution's objectives over, but Government House was not Hospital became the property of the were stated unequivocally: yet to revert to its traditional role. The Prince Edward Island government, but historic building was soon to go through not without some cost. Funding was a second metamorphosis. available according to the following The work carried on at the school is formula: 1/3 from the federal Agricul- distinctly agricultural and for these tural Education fund, 1/3 from the reasons: Technical Education fund, and 1/3 from (1) We want to keep our young people The Agricultural and its own resources. This money would at home. Technical School eventually be supplemented by some (2) We want to make life in the coun- rather modest fees for board and texts, try so pleasant and so profitable that Once again, the local press charted the about $15.00 per month per student. our young people will want to stay in course of events. On September 30,1920, There was no charge for tuition. the province.
Vice-regal exiles: (left to right) A. C. Macdonald, who surrendered Government House as a patriotic gesture; Murdoch MacKinnon; and Frank R. Heartz.
21 (3) We want to give our young people the kind of training and education that will enable them to make the best use of their opportunities. (4) We want to stop this continuous migration to the West and the South, and to the cities; and this can be done mainly by centring our atten- tion upon rural life problems and by directing the thoughts of our young people towards rural occupations.
The rationale for the agricultural orientation was simple. As Principal Crockett stated in his annual report for 1922, "In this province agriculture is the basic industry Technical educa- tion then, if we have any, must assume an agricultural bias." AGRICl'LTl'RAL CLASS - AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL In spite of its avowed agricultural Charlottetown, P. E. Island, 1921 1922 orientation, centred on livestock and field crops, the school's curriculum gave "A\f
. l* ;i(.•••..... I. I* I..:..-..*, S.ii...i'C . I ...... " M I . . . .. , >- i.i ' > jt l. r. • • ! » A....H..L" ical drawing, show card writing, and r>.. A* M.1...U-S. K.-KuWu-k* 1! «)•«.:*.-. L- 'hi CSII'II U-:l. K. K...cnhiH. A >U.Ki«»v the new glamour technology of "wire- less telegraphy." The courses were open to anyone over 15 years of age. The Motor mechanics class - agricultural and technical school. decision to take them rested with the applicant. As the catalogue declared, "A desire and a determination to profit by the instruction given is the only acknowledge either parental worry or of the era. Crockett could not help refer- requisite." the existence of third-rate boarding ring to a problem that today receives Evidently, the school provided board houses in Charlottetown: "Good accom- only sporadic attention, the economics but not lodging. In his first annual modation can be secured in the city at a of the work ethic: report, included with the Annual Report very reasonable price/' it blandly of the Department of Agriculture for advised. "To assist in paying board a Just a word about economics. The 1920, Principal Crockett complained bonus at the rate of $2.00 per week is successful farmer is a student of eco- that suitable board and lodgings were paid to all long-course students who nomics whether he knows it or not. impossible to find in Charlottetown. come from rural districts and live in the More attention is given to this sub- Claiming that parents wanted their town. Students who drive in daily will ject than ever before in the world's boys accommodated on the premises, be provided with stabling accommoda- history. Practically all the ills of the "under wise and judicious control at all tion for their horses." world are due to economic causes, times," he recommended a dormitory. The Principal's report for 1921-22 pro- and it seems to me that an intelligent But the 1922-23 Calendar did not vides further insights into the concerns appreciation of the economic laws
22 governing the production, distribu- Everett Platts grew up on a farm in Closure tion, and consumption of wealth Kildare Capes, where the family owned would put an end to much of the a Model T Ford. At 16, he came to the All in all, the Department of Agricul- unrest, and the bitterness and the Agricultural and Technical School to ture reported to the House in 1923, the foolishness which characterizes our take the course in motor mechanics. future looked bright for the Agricultu- handling of economic problems at Principal Crockett's opinion to the con- ral and Technical School. In its first the present time. The coal miners of trary, Platts was happy with his board- year of operation, the institution had the world are asking for a six hour ing house. "Ralph Raynor and I stayed enrolled 105 students. By the mid-way day with two holidays a week. Eco- at Mrs. MacEachern's on Richmond mark of 1921-22,127 students had reg- nomic law under the old dispensa- Street close to Pownal," he recalls. "The istered. The figure was 107 for night tion was as follows: "Six days shalt meals were great and we had a lovely classes alone the following year (out of thou labor and do all thy work, and room." a total of 172), and in 1923-24, the total on the seventh day thou shalt rest." Mr. Platts remembers how meticu- enrollment stood at 301. Although sta- Recently this old fashioned economic lous and demanding his motor mechan- tistics were significantly lacking, the and moral code has been revised and ics instructor, H. H. Whitlock,* was: 1924 report remained optimistic: "A now it reads: "One day shalt thou "He always wore a white dress shirt very satisfactory attendance was regis- labour and do all thy work and for and necktie, and if we were practicing, tered at both the regular and short six days thou shalt rest." That is the say, valve grinding, we would have to courses put on at the Agricultural and kind of economics that is being bring him the parts afterward for Technical School." preached all over the country today inspection, and before doing so he would Then came this terse statement in and the sooner we realize whence we check them for cleanliness by wiping 1925: "Short courses in Woodworking, are drifting, and get back to Car- them off on his sleeve. We soon learned Motor Mechanics, Blacksmithing and lyle 's gospel of work the better for all to be fussy ourselves." The school had Agriculture were conducted in the Agri- concerned. I would like to see a prac- the use of a Model T, and on the basis of culture Building, Fitzroy Street." The tical course in economics taught in his prior experience, Platts was made a Agricultural and Technical School had every educational institution in the part-time driving instructor. In the disappeared. country. winter the driving practice was often What went wrong? Simply put, the carried out on the harbour ice in front of money ran out. The $10,000,000 voted the school, where vehicular traffic was by the federal government in 1913 to Students and Teachers minimal. Mr. Platts still has among his provide assistance to the provinces in possessions his diploma, signed by eight the realm of agricultural education had Although the Prince Edward Island officials and teachers, certifying that been used up over the ensuing decade Agricultural and Technical School con- he graduated in Motor Mechanics with and the program was not renewed. The stitutes a fleeting episode in the history first class standing on April 10,1922. Maritime Provinces had more impor- of Government House, several people tant grievances to press against the still remembered for their public or federal government in the early 1920s: vocational service to the province were lack of resources, lack of markets, dis- connected with it. The photograph of criminatory freight rates and tariffs. the 1921-22 agriculture class includes a * Whitlock is one of the Great War fliers mentioned The region's woes were reflected in its in Clinton Morrison's "Death from Above: Island number of men who were to become Fliers in World War I," which was featured in Issue declining population, which the Agri- prominent agriculturalists and busi- 22(Fall-Winter, 1987). cultural and Technical School, despite nessmen. One of them, J. A. Thompson of North Tryon, was valedictorian and "winner of the gold medal for all round proficiency." As Principal Crockett re- ported, "We have no gold medal but if we had one it would go to Mr. Thompson." Some of the instructors are also deserving of mention. Keith S. Rogers, founder of radio station CFCY, was instructor in wireless telegraphy. Wal- ter Shaw, a future premier, served as instructor in live Stock and Field Crops. Wallace Scantlebury gave a night school course in show card writing. F. Walter Hyndman was running a radio school to prepare operators for service in the merchant marine when he was recom- mended by Mr. Rogers to take over his work at the school. Hyndman recalls that the vocational department of the school was well furnished with modern radio equipment. The students in his part-time courses included veterans of the Great War as well as local teen- agers. Thirty-five years later Mr. Hynd- man was to move his own ham radio equipment into the rear wing of Govern- No. 116 and 118 Brighton Road, formerly the nurses home at the Rena McLean ment House during his term as Lieut- Memorial Hospital, are all that remain of the new construction undertaken for enant Governor. Government House's medical and educational roles.
23 the bravado of its statement of objec- continued to live — at his own expense the two chief founders of the silver fox tives, had been unable to prevent on — at "Edgewater," his gracious resi- industry, bringing a measure of glam- Prince Edward Island. dence on West Street in Charlottetown. our and prosperity to the whole Island A second factor involved a change in Nevertheless, Lieutenant Governor over the previous two decades. In the government. The provincial Conserva- Heartz was "determined to restore Speech from the Throne opening the tives under Premier James David Ste- Government House and the office of the 1931 session of the Legislature, Sir wart had come to power in the election Governorship to some of its former sta- Charles was able to announce that year of 1923. In the 1925 legislative ses- ture," and he was able to induce the "Government House, generously vacat- sion, the Premier made no apologies provincial government to have the out- ed by the late Lieutenant Governor whatever for closing the school, which buildings removed and to start renovat- A. C. Macdonald for use as a hospital had operated in the fall of 1923 and ing Government House. during the Great War, is now under- spring of 1924 (that is, for one term after Except for the nurses' residence, all of going much needed alterations and will his party took office). As usual, the the buildings associated with Fanning- be available for occupation as a resi- incoming government claimed that the bank's most recent careers were demol- dence for the Lieutenant Governor at previous administration had left fi- ished — the hospital/school and the an early date." nances in a mess, and it was decided various workshops for the vocational According to the Public Accounts for that the money now required for the courses. The nurses' residence was cut 1931 and 1932, the Department of Pub- Agricultural and Technical School's in half and towed across the fields to lic Works spent a total of $20,678.65 on operation and upkeep could not be justi- the west end of Brighton Road, where capital account in restoring the historic fied. In the Premier's opinion, the pro- the halves were converted into private old edifice. Finally, in 1932, Sir Charles vince simply could not afford it. So, the dwellings. Lieutenant Governor Heartz's Dalton was able to move his effects in school was closed. In its place, it was term ended in 1930, before Government and begin permanent residency. The announced, short courses would be House was ready to be used as a full- Queen's Representative on Prince Ed- offered (in keeping with the available time residence again, but he was able to ward Island had come home again at finances), partly in Agriculture Hall make use of the building from time to last. and partly at Prince of Wales College. time for formal balls and other social Thus, in seven years Government events. Meanwhile, the property occa- House had suffered through a traumatic sionally took on one of its former func- Sources experience. Its manicured grounds had tions as the Governor's Farm. Walter been studded with outbuildings. Its Hyndman recalls that the grounds were The material for this article comes from gracious interior had been renovated almost entirely given over t o an aide-de- the Journals of the House of Assembly (including structural alterations, con- camp, Colonel Parker Hooper, for grow- of Prince Edward Island and the Reports trary to promises made) for mundane ing potatoes: "I well remember watch- of the debates in the Island legislature. administrative purposes. It had been a ing the front lawn being plowed up for Three local newspapers were also con- hospital and a school, and now it sat that purpose." Nor was the property's sulted: the Charlottetown Guardian, vacant. Seven years would pass before connection with medicine entirely Charlottetown Examiner, and Prince it was occupied as a residence again. severed. In 1930, five acres of land "at Edward Island Patriot The 1922-23 the back of old Government House" Calendar for the Prince Edward Island were sold to the Trustees of the Prince Agricultural and Technical School was Vacancy Edward Island Hospital to become the also a valuable source. It is the only site of a new general hospital. extant calendar for the school in the By 1924, the Island had another Lieut- Public Archives of Prince Edward enant Governor, Charlottetown busi- Island, and the archivists would most nessman Frank R. Heartz, who had Home Again certainly be delighted to know if anyone succeeded Murdoch MacKinnon. Heartz has a copy of calendars for other aca- did not need to occupy the property Frank Heartz was succeeded as Lieu- demic years, if, indeed, any others were rented from Sir W. W. Sullivan. Nor did tenant Governor by Sir Charles Dalton, published. Reference was also made to he return to Fanningbank. Instead, he an octogenarian who had been one of Canada's Smallest Province, edited by Dr. F. W. P. Bolger, and to Ruth Heartz MacKenzie's One Branch on the Island Tree. It is difficult today to visualize the constant bustle of activity that must have been commonplace at Fanning- bank during those seven turbulent post- war years. Today, the environment of Government House is all serenity and order, and it is not likely to be again disturbed, even for such purposes as the authorities deemed worthy 70 years ago. Both the interior and exterior of the residence have been restored to match its original splendour, and the gardens and grounds are immaculate. Let us hope that such concern for the historical significance and visual aesthetics of Government House will always prevail. iai
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