535-03 Page 137�, Lord Elgin's Visit in 1849 Proved CI
One of the Most Historic Tours
To Be Made in Western Ontaric NT
By Fred Landon
The visit made to Western On-
tario by Lord Elgin, governor-
Dgeneral of Canada, in the au-
tumn of 1849 is one of the most
historic tours ever made In this
country by the representative of
the crown.
It came a few months after
the wild outbreak in Montreal
over the Rebellion Losses Bill
which led to rioting, the burn-
' Ing of the Parliament Buildings
in Montreal and the loss to that
city of its place as the seat of
Canadian Government.
The 1849 tour was one of good
will and it succeeded admirably
In quieting the passions which
had been aroused over a bill
which was described as "paying
rebels for rebellion."
/l
ip
76
Much less has been written
about the tour which Lord Elgin
made through Western On-
tario in -1850. By this time the
heat of the previous year had
largely disappeared but Elgin
showed himself the perfect diplo-
mat by coming once again
among the people, meeting them
face to face and seeing what
they were doing. An admirable
account of his visit to Sarnia is
contained in the issue of Sep-
tember 10, 1850, of the North
American, a Toronto newspaper.
Elgin's journey In 1849 __bad
been -made on horseback�accom-
paW ed__lly o�s�vanty but In
185U he traveled aboard the Mo-
hawk, a small Government ves-
sel. The account of the visit to
Sarnia is dated August 29. The
governor-general had spent Sun-
day in Chatham and came to
Sarnia on the following Tues-
day. During Monday the vessel
had been steaming across Lake
St. Clair River. When evening
came the vessel anchored at
Sutherland's, a few miles below
Sarnia, and stayed there over-
night, moving up to Sarnia dur-
ing the following morning.
A platform had been erected
,cat the new municipal wharf
and between 300 and 400 people
assembled to greet the dis-
tinguished visitor, "the beauty
t of Sarnia", says the despatch.
The officers from the neighbor-
Ing American garrison at Fort
Gratiot were also present with
their wives as special guests. A
complimentary address was pre-
sented by the member for the
county, following which the
official party and special guests
adjourned to the new Baptist
Chapel where a luncheon was,
served.
Following the luncheon car-
riages were waiting and Lord
Elgin was taken to the Indian
reserve on the bank of the St.
Clair south of Sarnia. He visited
the mission house and also called
at the home of the Ahief. Here
he was astonished to find "the
son of Wawanosh, a pure Indian"
who had in operation a perfect
Daguerrotype machine and had
taken a great many likepesses.
He found that this young man
had been at Upper Canada Col-
lege at York. Next the mission
school was visited and an ad-
dress was presented on behalf
of the tribe.
On the drive back to Sarnia
the governor noted the fact that
in the 10 miles there were 19
churches, four being brick build-
ings, and that there were seven
resident clergymen. When pass-
ing an Episcopal Church he
found that a wedding was In
progress, the bride being the
daughter of one of Sarnia's
oldest Inhabitants. Captain R.
E. Vidal, R.N. The gover-
nor's party entered the
church where the ceremony was
beginning and found that the
officiating clergyman, Rev. Mr.
Jameson, was being assisted by
Bishop McCloskey of the Diocese
of Michigan. Lord Elgin was in-
vited to be a witness to the wed-
ding registration documents.
Back in Sarnia the governor-
general was driven about the
town and to the military reser-
vation on Lake Huron after
which a dinner was served at
three o'clock with speeches and
toasts. He returned to the Mo-
hawk after the dinner and the
vessel left for Lake Huron ports
on the following morning. As the
Mohawk passed Fort Gratiot
at five o'clock, just before en-
tering the lake, a royal salute
was fired by the American garri-
-1 iµ 0.0(4
w'M,V al" A
son. The lake tour extended to
5
Penetanguishene where Lord El-
gin disembarked and proceeded
to Barrie and to Toronto.
This was probably the first
time that a governor-general of
Canada had ever visited Sarnia.
Lord Elgin, in his previous tour
of the western portion of the
province, had not gone further
westward than London so that
in 1850 he was completing his
good will journey. Ills visit to
London in 1849 had been marked
by a good deal of tumult and
disorder, the political excite-
ment at that time running high
over the same question that had
is
stirred rioting in Montreal.
Jk
The Free Press of the day gave
I:
a long account of Lord Elgin's
visit to London in 1849. Those
h
who were friendly to him had
t
erected arches and other decor-
ations along Dundee street from
the court house eastward to
about Wellington street and bad
li
gone out Dundee street to greet
him as he came toward the
s;
Village from the direction of
o
Woodstock. While they wbre
away from the city on this loyal
,l
errand those of opposing politi-
.r
cat opinions knocked down all
:s
the arches and other indications
of welcome to the distinguished
n
visitor and when he finally came
_
through the streets it was it
scene solatio
Again, at the Dort house,
where he spoke from the bal-
cony of Robinson Hall, imme-
diately opposite, he was greeted
with noise and uproar and what
had the appearance of a free
it
fight developed when he ap-
L'
peared. The school children, who
t
had been brought to the place,
t
were hastily taken away and it
U
was some time before order was
sufficiently restored to permit
r
the governor to give his message.
Writing to Lord Grey in Eng-
n
land at a later date he referred
;
to the disorder at London but
dismissed it as due to current
.I
political excitement. Had he re-
,
turned in 1860 he would doubtless
have had as cordial a welcome
,
from London citizens as be re-
ceived when he visited the port
ii
on the St. Clair River.
i,
a
ws fvd Cs
LORD ELGIN
Governor-General of Canada, 1846-54