Fun Fact Friday #21 - Hard Work Pays Off! 🔨

       Did you know that most settlers that prospered in the early 1800's were not the most proper or wealthy?

What a settlement might have
looked like in 19th century Upper Canada

      During the early 19th century, members of the British gentry believed that they would easily rise to the top of the colonial society in Canada. They thought that with their brains, manners, and education they would be at the top of the list for owning land compared to their "poor and ignorant" fellow immigrants. 

      Upon arriving in Upper Canada they found that they were completely incorrect. They lacked the essential skills and abilities required of pioneers is a hostile frontier landscape. Unlike the "poor and ignorant" settlers, the "proper" settlers did not know how to hunt, farm, build, or even handle the extreme weather conditions found in this part of the world. Most found themselves suffering with the threat of forest fires, wild animals, frostbite, and starvation.

      Canada during the 19th century was a place for hard working people to start a fresh life and prosper with the skills they had. The four founding families in the Talbot Settlement were a few of those hard working people. 

Come find out more about them at the Backus-Page House Museum:

29424 Lakeview Line, Wallacetown, ON

519-762-3072