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Home >> From 1600 to 1867 >> The Land: People & Places >> Articles/Diaries/Ephemera/Journals

Many Canadian places and regions have a historical significance which can be traced back to the fur trade and the Métis Nation. Geography also exerted its influence on how fur trade operations were built.


Image 1
Author: Emma Caffin Jeffrey
Publisher: Unpublished
Location: HBCA - Archives of Manitoba, E.381/1
Copyright Holder: Expired; no restrictions on use.
  -27- Emma Caffin Jeffrey: Snowshoeing

At the time she kept this diary, Emma Caffin Jeffrey was serving as a lady's maid and companion to Catherine McTavish, the new wife of Chief Factor John George McTavish. Here she describes going snowshoeing on a Sunday.

"Sunday 3 March [1833]... a short time after Mrs. McTavish, Miss Mary and myself proceeded for a long walk upon snow shoes round this Island one of the Dogs which followed us was caught in a Fox Trap but being a strong dog was soon extricated, we continued our walk without any further interruptions. Mr. McTavish met us with the cariole about a mile from the Factory the change of riding we found very agreeable though the wind was excessively cold. I found little Elizabeth quite delighted to see me.

This day completes my agreement with Mrs. McTavish - it being 3 years since I left home. Sunday night thermometer 9 below."


Other Related Material
Read another excerpt from Emma's diary - enter 'Jeffrey' in the search box to your left.

Check the Beaver Index - e.g., servants, McTavish, immigration, snowshoes, etc.

Did You Know?
Domestic service was a common work experience for young men and women in 18th- and 19th-century Britain: around two-thirds of young people in England and Scotland had left home and entered service by their late teens. Almost half of all English households and perhaps as many as two-thirds of Scottish and Orkney households contained servants.