John and Elizabeth Simcoe and Water, Power, and Empire in Upper Canada, 1791-1796
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Colonising Space and Producing Territory: John and Elizabeth Simcoe and Water, Power, and Empire in Upper Canada, 1791-1796 by Romalie Murphy A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2018, Romalie Murphy Abstract This dissertation examines how John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, and his wife, Elizabeth, manifested imperial expressions of power, sovereignty, security, and population within the new colony in the 1790s. There are also three chapters that focus on how territorial and route surveying played a critical role for both Simcoes, serving as a scientific foundation for reframing Upper Canada as a territory and a population. It does so by offering a re-examination of both their well- known private and public correspondence written in this decade, and also some select paintings and maps through which their ideas of governance and political and cultural visions were expressed. The dissertation’s reading and contextualisation of this archive is informed by Michel Foucault’s lectures on governmentality, critical cartographic histories, and imperial and colonial historiographies, all of which are brought into conversation with historical studies of Upper Canada. There are two central arguments in this dissertation. First, it demonstrates the ways that the actions of both Simcoes were imperial in nature and were not directed towards the establishment of an independent Province. Towards this end, it reconsiders Elizabeth’s collection of writings as evidence of the ways that she embodied and administered imperial interpretations of power and knowledge as a faithful observer and cataloguer of the colony through scientific methods including cartography. Second, this dissertations argues that the Simcoes’ work in and about Upper Canada were expressions of an early modern imperial governmentality that predated and thus operated somewhat ii differently from the historiographically well-known liberal governmentality that emerged in Canada in the early-to-middle decades of the nineteenth century. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my father, Dr. Jack Warren Murphy (1939-2000). He was my first teacher: he taught me how to learn and how to love learning; he taught me that PhD stood for “Piled higher and Deeper.” He was one of the most intelligent and well-read people I have encountered in my life, and yet he remained also one of the most curious and humble of men in the presence of new ideas. Some of my favourite memories of him are of his genuine love of watching his children learn and his unmitigated pleasure in having us teach him things he did not know—or perhaps things that he rediscovered through our eyes. His belief in me and my abilities continues to inspire, humble, and challenge me. Even now, each time I encounter a new idea or a concept that excites or intrigues me, my first impulse is still to share it with him. Thank you to the readers and examiners of my dissertation: Dr. Jeffers Lennox of Wesleyan University, Dr. Jennifer Henderson, Dr. Dominique Marshall, and Dr. James Opp of Carleton University for their engagement with, challenges to, contextualisation of, and gracious insights on this project. I am thankful for Dr. John Walsh and his enthusiasm for my topic through its evolutions throughout my studies, and especially his patience working across the distance between Ottawa and Washington State. I cannot imagine this project without his support and guidance and for helping me to see that it was possible that I had something to say about Upper Canada. My doctoral studies were funded in part by Carleton University and I appreciate the means it provided me in pursuit of this degree. I have deep gratitude for my grandparents, Ware and Betty King, whose generosity enabled me to attend university and who gave me courage to apply for academia in the first place. iv There are too many people to mention who have invested in me their support, their encouragement, and their belief in me. Sara Belk was influential in encouraging me to find my voice and confidence. I would not have ended up in the discipline of History had it not been for Robynne Rogers Healey; I am grateful for her advice, her collaboration, her example, and her friendship throughout my academic journey. These supporters also include my family, near and far, especially Rachel, Jamin and Havilah, Jono and Melissa, Katrina (whose editing advice could not have come at a better time), Jemimah and Shannon; they are friends like Laura, Sylvia, Val, Cal, Don and Janet. They are my colleagues and customers at Starbucks; they are friends in Ottawa, British Columbia, Washington State, and around the world who have shown me care in this effort in ways large and small: thank you. Finally, I want to recognise Phillip Sieler whose patience has been unmeasurable and whose confidence in me and determination for me to finish well has been unwavering. To Felipe and Cassia who have really only ever known me to be preoccupied by the eighteenth century: thank you for accepting me in your present. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Illustrations .......................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 Description of Chapters ................................................................................................................. 32 Chapter Two: Water and Imperial Networks of Power.............................................. 39 Representing and Knowing Water ................................................................................................. 44 Water, Boundaries, and Imagining Territory ................................................................................. 50 Imperial Networks of Power .......................................................................................................... 58 Chapter Three: Elizabeth Simcoe’s Diary: Cataloguing and Registering Imperial Truths ............................................................................................................................... 79 Cartography and Imperial Administration ..................................................................................... 81 Culture as Empire .......................................................................................................................... 89 Measurements as Expressions and Impositions of Empire .......................................................... 108 Chapter Four: Surveying as an Extension of Imperial Power ................................. 126 An Historical Survey of Surveying .............................................................................................. 131 The Importance of Technologies of Surveying in British North America ................................... 143 Chapter Five: Creating a Population and Territory ................................................. 164 Towards Creating a “Loyal” Population ...................................................................................... 167 John Simcoe’s Exploratory Journey to Lake Huron .................................................................... 182 Chapter Six: The Canals of Upper Canada ................................................................ 205 John Simcoe’s Legacy in Upper Canadian Canal Projects .......................................................... 216 Chapter Seven: Conclusion .......................................................................................... 240 Postscript ...................................................................................................................................... 250 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 254 vi List of Illustrations Figure 1: Elizabeth P. Simcoe, “Sketch” of Upper Canada,” (1793). ............................... 1 Figure 2: “Letter from [John Graves Simcoe] [de Jure Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada] at Wolford Lodge [Honiton, Devon] (1792).” ..................................... 12 Figure 3: “Letter from Henry Dundas to John Graves Simcoe,” (1791). ......................... 14 Figure 4: Elizabeth Simcoe, “A bend in the St. Lawrence River,” (c. 1792). .................. 48 Figure 5: Elizabeth Simcoe, “Thousand Islands, 26 July, (c. 1796).” .............................. 49 Figure 6: Partie Occidentale de la Nouvelle France ou de Canada, Jacques Nicholas Bellin and Father Pierre Charlevoix, (1755). ...................................................... 85 Figure 7: Elizabeth P. Simcoe, “Sketch” of Upper Canada,” (1793). ............................. 88 Figure 8: Outline of Governor Simcoe’s Route from Niagara to Detroit, (1793), (From a Drawing by Lieutenant Pilkington, copied by Mrs. Simcoe). .......................... 107 Figure 9: Phillippe Bauch, Carte Physique des Terreins