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.
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.
