Uncertain Outcomes

Sign at the Titanic Belfast exhibit

Ever wish for a crystal ball when outcomes are uncertain? Given what is happening in the world today, it would be nice to see how things turn out, but, then again, maybe it is better not to know. It is often hard to remember that it was the same way in the past.

I am currently reading Anthony McCarten's Darkest Hour: How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink and it is very clear that the outcome of who would take leadership in Britain and what response there would be to the Nazi actions in Europe was not a foregone conclusion in 1940. This political uncertainty cast a slightly different light on the mind set of the men and women who volunteered for the armed services in Britain and the Commonwealth. Perhaps the feeling wasn't the "we're all in this together" mentality that we have been sold with the benefit of hindsight, but rather a personal choice made in light of family tradition, the need for a regular income or the thirst for adventure. It would be interesting to read the news that was filtered down to the populous during that time. What messages was my father receiving that led him to enlist in the summer of 1939?

Uncertain outcomes didn't only happen in wartime. Many other changes that our families went through came about because of decisions they made, probably hoping for the best or, at least, for an improvement in their lot. How else can we explain the droves of immigrants who came to the new world? In some cases, there were relatives and acquaintances who had already made the move and had improved their circumstances who urged those back home to join them. The odds were better for those who followed but did they know for sure that their ship would not founder? Even migrations that didn't involve a sea voyage couldn't guarantee a better outcome. How many men and women were lured to London by the hope of a job only to find a life of poverty shortened by living in the big smoke?

I am, of course, thinking of some of my own ancestors who ended up on the lower rungs of London society. But there were other examples of questionable decisions which altered lives. This was evidenced by the history of two of the Strickland sisters who came to Canada in the 1830s with their gentlemen husbands as recounted in Charlotte Grey's Sisters in the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill. The two couples were not the kind of rough tough settlers needed to tame the Canadian wilderness in the early days but, if they hadn't come, the classics of Canadian literature which the sisters  penned would not have been written and the historical record would be the poorer for that. Perhaps the majority of life changing decisions have both good and bad consequences but whatever those consequences, the people making decisions would have had only a very limited understanding of what might happen. We need to remember that. 

 

Creating the Legend of Paul Revere

The image of Paul Revere appropriately riding out of obscurity

Words can be powerful. When woven into a story, words can fire the imagination and give birth to a legend. Such was the case of the story of Paul Revere.

I had grown up hearing of the legendary ride, in fact, I believe that there was a Disney rendering of the story at one point. The legend was so well known that I thought it must have been common knowledge from the start. Not so, according to the exhibits on display at the New York Historical Society. Paul Revere was a respected silversmith and businessman who enhanced his standing through the masonic lodge, the networking mecca of the day.

Examples of his work were on display at the New York Historical Society as part of the exhibit about his life. It was interesting to see what a fine craftsman he was before he branched out into manufacturing, a necessary and lucrative business given the times. The display also featured information about his ride to warn people about the coming of the British on that fateful night. But this event in his life was not well known until the story was told in the famous poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. The last stanza is quoted here:

     So through the night rode Paul Revere;

     And so through the night went his cry of alarm

     To every Middlesex village and farm, - 

     A cry of defiance and not of fear,

     A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,

     And a word that shall echo forevermore!

     For, borne on the night-wind  of the Past,

     Through all our history, to the last,

     In the hour of darkness and peril and need,

     The people will waken and listen and hear

     The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,

     And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

It was stirring words like these that made Paul Revere's ride part of the story of the American War of Independence.

Longfellow was able to take this one event and fashion a story that passed the test of time. That says as much about Longfellow's writing as it does about our love of story. Telling enthralling stories about events in our ancestors' lives that live on in people's memories is something that family historians can aspire to. Who knows, they might become legends.

 Information which appeared under the punch bowl and ladle shown in the preceding picture

Sources:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44637/the-landlords-tale-paul-reveres-ride 

Last stanza of The Landlord's Tale. Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow  

      

Washday Blues

Laundry, there is just no way to get away from it. Sooner or later clothes and other household items need cleaning. That means sorting dirty duds into piles before putting them in a machine with soap and waiting for the last spin cycle before hanging them to dry or sticking them in the drier. I can think of better uses of my time. But we have it easy compared to many in our present world and to the majority of people the further back in history that we go.

Washing was usually a task relegated to women although there were exceptions such as Chinese houseboys or the entrepreneurs who made money off the men who flocked to gold rushes. Those speculators needed clean clothes too.

The women who settled in the North American bush would have had no access to running water in their houses which made laundry an even more daunting task. No wonder people then didn't wash their clothes as much as we do today. Soap was not something bought at the store but a commodity made by the housewife and hot water was not an easy thing to come by either.

As towns sprang up commercial laundries became available. Many a housewife must have been tempted to part with a few coins to get away from the washday blues.  Of course, the better off members of society would have had servants to take care of their laundry. When touring through larger historic houses you will often find a room dedicated to household laundry. Being the laundress for a large household must have been a thankless and never-ending task.

There was some relief in sight, in the later half of the 19th century city water became available as did washing powder. That improved some parts of the chore. New machinery to help with some of the heavier tasks that washdays required were invented and water tanks that were attached to the kitchen stove provided a steady source of hot water for bathing and laundry.

That might sound like a great improvement over heating water on the stove for those uses but it had its draw backs. I can remember one old house that we lived in which had an oil stove in the kitchen which heated the hot water in a tank in the bathroom. Hot water became scarce in the summer when temperatures soared as oil stoves throw off a lot of heat. Some of the machinery was not all that safe,  either. It was heavy and sometimes too fast for small fingers or even arms. Another memory I have is of having a healthy respect for my gran's wringer washer. It was capable of wringing more than cloth!

My grandmother's wringer washer was powered by electricity. That was another improvement that took care of some of the grunt work. Previous machines had still required man or woman power to manipulate the moving parts. Electricity made washing easier but laundry still had to be hung to dry until driers became a regular part of household equipment. In most households that didn't happen until the later half of the 20th century.

While laundry is not one of my favourite chores at least it is not the time-consuming event it used to be in the past. I can hear the washer and drier working away as I sit here at my computer. Not that hard to take really.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothes_dryer 

Neering, Rosemary. The Canadian Housewife: An Affectionate History. Whitecap Books, North Vancouver, 2005.

 
 

Seafaring History in Portsmouth, England

I got sidetracked in the last two weeks, following up on my grandfather's time as a "seaman". Until I looked further, I had no idea that his duties didn't include time on ships but rather time on airplanes, a new technology in WWI. Now I'm back to where I was prior to those posts and this one will be ship related.

One of the ports of call on my spring trip was Southampton. We didn't have much time there, just time enough for a quick trip to Portsmouth, a place my travelling companion was interested in. She wanted to visit Portsmouth Harbour. My 3x great-grandfather had died there, so I was game. Maybe I would find some info about him there. Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard was so much more than I was expecting!

The museum I visited had many interesting exhibits but the main draw was the historic ships. We made a beeline for the HMS Victory, Nelson's ship in the Battle of Trafalgar. The decks were open to explore. Nelson's spacious
quarters and solitary bed contrasted with the close quarters of the men. It must have taken a few cooks to feed the whole crew. But eating and sleeping would have been put on hold when the enemy was engaged. We were told that the paneling behind Nelson's desk would have been removed during battle. Conditions there were probably a touch easier than on the gun deck during the fight.

Being able to explore the ship from top to bottom brought the reality of a sailor's life home. I know there were some sailors who went to sea in my family's background but have no idea if any of my family were in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. But there are ways to find out. Check out http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/trafalgarancestors/ to see if your ancestors took part in that famous battle.

I haven't found any sailors in my family back that far yet but maybe someday that link might come in handy. We had too short a time to take in all there was to do and see at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. A return trip looks like it is called for. The Victory was a great ship to explore but I would love to see the Tudor ship, the Mary Rose, and maybe a trip on the waterbus would show me where the hulk that served as my 3x great-grandfather's prison had been stationed.