for three hours Montreal … heralded the arrival of the Prince of Wales by an endless blaze of light - from horizon to zenith all was brilliant …

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"Wood engraving | Grand Finale of Fire-Works in Honor of the Prince of Wales and the Successful Completion of the Victoria Bridge, Montreal, Canada East. | M975.62.263.3"

The Grand Finale of fireworks for the opening of the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, August 25, 1860

From The Montreal Witness, August 29th 1860

There were many transatlantic and American visitors in the city, and their unanimous declaration was that the lighting up of Great St. James, from Victoria Square to the Place d'Armes, had never been surpassed. The sight in the harbour was magnificent; the war steamers, the Canadian Mail steamer, and the Glasgow steamer "United Kingdom" were illuminated; while from all the decks shot up flights of rockets, and brilliant lights flashed from every port-hole, Rockets and Bengal lights were fired from St. Helen's; while from the Great Bridge the display was magnificent. Every Street added its contribution of candle light or glare of gas, so that for three hours Montreal, so to speak, heralded the arrival of the Prince of Wales by an endless blaze of light - from horizon to zenith all was brilliant, outviewing oriental splendour and magnificence... All the public squares were tastefully decorated with transparencies and coloured lanterns profusely interspersed among its foliage... The dome of the City Hall was brilliantly lighted up with 3,000 jets of gas, and the windows of the large building were variegated with transparencies and Chinese lanterns." 

The Victoria Bridge was known as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ at the time of its construction in 1860 – and believe it or not, it was and to some extent, still is. The Victoria Bridge, with its original piers is standing yet, and is still used for train travel, and now vehicles. In 1860 it was the longest bridge in the world – here in Canada – not the US with its greater number of railway lines, not Britain from where the engineers and designers to make the bridge were hired.

Montreal depended on the river and ferries in the summer and ice roads in the winter to do business with the States and the rest of Canada – but when the river wasn’t usable because it was in the process of freezing or thawing, Montreal came to a standstill. A bridge across the St. Lawrence River seemed impossible – it was nearly 2 miles across and the river froze solid in winter and had huge ice dams when the spring came. Anything in the water would have to withstand the continued freezing and thawing – and the current which was really strong at 11 kilometers an hour. It’s not like it is today – the distance across isn’t as wide anymore as some of the river has been filled with landfill and this has also helped tame the current.

But in 1860 everything was about progress, about how we could create a more perfect world – innovation, change, the new possibilities of what the human mind, and body, could do – from tightrope walking over Niagara Falls or even stilt walking along the edge like Farini (William Hunt – of Port Hope, Ontario), to building impossible bridges. Famous Robert Stephenson came along with his tubular bridge – one where trains travelled through large tubes made of iron plates (steel wasn’t invented yet and iron is a lot heavier than steel so his design was ingenious) supported on piers. In the case of the Victoria Bridge he decided on piers shaped like ships’ hulls to break up the spring ice. The piers were placed at an angle as well to help with breaking the ice apart and having it move downstream instead of building up at the piers where the ice created dangerous pressure. ... There's even a stained glass window in Westminster Abbey of Stephenson's bridges - the Victoria Bridge alongside his one on the Nile.    

 There oughta be a replica of that window here, don't you think?

As a side note, the Prince of Wales was Albert Edward, the son of Queen Victoria. He reigned as King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. At the time of his visit he wasn’t yet married – he married in 1863, had lots of affairs. His first son was born in 1864, 2 months early and died at age 28, breaking the hearts of both his mother and father.

The Loyalist Bartletts

The Bartlett Family needs you

My friend Joe Koenig, the film-maker and pioneer of interactive teaching software, has reconceived and relaunched an old favourite called "The Loyalist Bartletts," with help from a team that includes me,

"The Bartletts" is a simulation game about a loyalist refugee family settling on the Niagara Peninsula in 1784.  If you play with skill and judgment, using the informational resources provided, the Bartletts prosper.

Though "The Bartletts" was mostly created with elementary and middle school history classes in mind, Joe and the team are making it fully available on the internet -- no fees, no membership, no limits. Just link here. The game works solo, but can be fun with a small group working together. There's a registration option, but that's just so you can save your progress and return to where you were.

If you are a school history teacher in particular -- or anyone who is interested or amused -- you are invited to consider "The Bartletts" as a teaching resource. If you have suggestions, comments, questions, or would like to be involved in the continued refinement of the game, get in touch. The development team's email is loyalistbartletts[at]gmail.com. Feel free to share news of "The Bartletts" with friends, family, colleagues.

Admin Note, Aug 12: the blog will be mostly inactive until about Labour Day.  Play the game, or keep up with history news with the links at right.  New stuff in the fall...

More on the 1921 census release

Just a couple of weeks ago, we were noting demographer Lisa Dillon's complaint that Library and Archives Canada has not made the 1921 census available, even though it is now legally in the public domain. She raised flags about LAC's recent inclination to strike deals with private agencies rather than scholars and genealogical organizations.

Today Ancestry.ca announces the 1921 census is now available free in limited form -- from Ancestry.

We thought you would be excited to know that Ancestry.ca is now officially offering free online access to images from the 1921 Census of Canada. Right now, you can be one of the first people to view select images, while we work hard to index the collection, providing a fully searchable experience later this year.  

The Ancestry site is here. And LAC has a release out today, setting out what's free and not, and what is available via the LAC itself. Searchable online? By subscription, it looks.

Update, September 6, 2013:  Genealogist John Reid has more on the agreements between LAC and Ancestry.

What became of the War of 1812?

Now, last summer, it seemed, the War of 1812 was in all the media.  It was impressive how much coverage War of 1812 events seemed to command.

This summer -- well, it was a slow summer for landmark battles, and even more so for media coverage. Even the American capture of Toronto didn't seem to really hit the headlines last spring, and except for Laura Secord's walk to Beaver Dams last month, the War of 1812 commemorations this summer seem to be drawing less coverage.

Tomorrow marks the 200th anniversary of the sinking of two American vessels, Hamilton and Scourge in Lake Ontario -- which became a bit of a buzz a few decades ago when their nearly intact remains were located on the deep dark cold bottom of the lake. There was a temporary buzz about raising one or both for display in Hamilton, but reality intruded pretty quick. They are now listed as National Historic Sites -- and still way down there.

Image from The Orderly Book which has the story.

Historians honoured: Natalie Zemon Davis

NZD by David Levine, (NYRB)

Natalie Zemon Davis, historian at Princeton University and professor emeritus of the University of Toronto history department, was recently presented with the American National Humanities Award by President Obama.

At the New York Review of Books blog, Davis describes how the FBI helped shape her historical career -- and (though she does not say it here) made her and her husband longtime Torontonians. Indeed she received the Order of Canada a year before the Humanities Award.

I have wanted to be a historian of hope. We can take heart from the fact that no matter how dire the situation, some will find means to resist, some will find means to cope, and some will remember and tell stories about what happened.

The weekend at the end of civilization

LAC, PA-117658 (post 1920)

Ninety-nine years ago, this was the weekend the world came to an end. Most everyone had a good time on the August long weekend of 1914 -- what they called Bank Holiday then. Then on the Tuesday, Britain declared war on Germany and the European conflict became a world war.

“This war is the suicide of civilization,” Prime Minister Robert Borden wrote privately, even as he gave up his Muskoka holiday to prepare Canada's participation in it. The remark rather does him credit, I think.

So enjoy the weekend, even if it rains or you are stuck at home. There have been worse ones!