Join Charlotte as she tells the story of her grandparents’ house and teaches us about the Red River Frame style of architecture.

Charlotte Taylor, the daughter of John Taylor and granddaughter of William Brown and Charlotte Omand, lives in Headingly in the year 1890, where she attends school and visits her grandparents to help them around the farm. Charlotte loves company and has many stories to share about her grandparents and life on the farm.

Historical Context from Charlotte’s Stories

Red River Frame House

Red River Frame houses, also known as post on sill, were common throughout Western Canada during the nineteenth century. The precise origin of the technique is unknown, but it was likely adapted by the Métis people from house designs along the Saint Lawrence River in eastern Canada.

Upright posts were erected along the sill, a log running horizontally along the foundation of the house. These upright posts included grooves into which square logs were fitted to form walls. Since the logs were fitted into place, there was little need to use nails in the construction. Walls were then chinked with mud and straw for insulation.

An advantage of the Red River Frame house was that it could be easily dismantled and re-assembled in a new location. Red River Frame houses were durable and eliminated the cost for expensive nails. One disadavantage was that as the wood expanded and contracted, cracks in the chinking could occur, making the building quite cold.

The Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia is home to a two-storey Red River Frame house, the original home of William Brown and Charlotte Omand (grandparents to Charlotte). The house was moved from Headingley, where it was built in 1856, to the museum at 3180 Portage Avenue in 1973.

Join Charlotte as she introduces us to her grandparents and talks about her grandad William Brown’s work with the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Charlotte Taylor, the daughter of John Taylor and granddaughter of William Brown and Charlotte Omand, lives in Headingly in the year 1890, where she attends school and visits her grandparents to help them around the farm. Charlotte loves company and has many stories to share about her grandparents and life on the farm.

Historical Context from Charlotte’s Stories

Hudson’s Bay Company

Incorporated in England in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay company set off to find a northwest passage to the Pacific, to occupy the land around the Hudson’s Bay, and to seek out profitable business available in these lands.

For many years, the Hudson’s Bay Company had sole control of the fur trade occurring throughout most of what is now present-day Canada. The Hudson’s Bay Company’s role in the fur trade played a crucial role in the colonization of British North America and as a result the development of Canada as a country.

In 1870, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold their territory to the Canadian government. However, this sale did not recognize the claim on the land by the Indigenous people of North America who had already settled and inhabited the land.

Métis

The Library and Archives of Canada define the Métis Nation as the following:

“The Métis people originated in the 1700s when French and Scottish fur traders married Aboriginal women, such as the Cree, and Anishinabe (Ojibway). Their descendants formed a distinct culture, collective consciousness and nationhood in the Northwest. 

“Distinct Métis communities developed along the fur trade routes. This Métis Nation Homeland includes the three Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta), as well as, parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Northern United States. 

“The Métis Nation grew into a distinct culture and became a people in the Northwest prior to that territory becoming part of Canada.”

Red River Settlement

In 1811 Lord Selkirk bought 116 000 square miles from the Hudson’s Bay Company to form a settlement at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. This area included the Red River Valley, the Assiniboine Basin, east to Lake of the Woods and north to include part of Lake of the Woods. This area covered what is now parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. This settlement was called Assiniboia, after the Indigenous peoples of the area, the Assiniboines.

In 1818 the forty-ninth parallel was declared the border between the American and British territories, cutting off the southern half of Assiniboia.

In 1835, 1542 river lots were marked along the Red River from modern day St. Norbert to Selkirk, and along the Assiniboine through what later became St. James, St. Charles, Headingley and St. Francois-Xavier. The river lots were provided for farms to accommodate for the increasing number of people who wished to settle in the Red River Settlement.

Thousands of Canadians will celebrate Canada #HistoricPlacesDay by virtually visiting historic places around the country #AllSummerLong. We’ve joined the celebration as an official participating historic place. Join us for fun with the whole family. Learn more at historicplacesday.ca!

Selfie Contest

Take a selfie at the museum and you could win $1000 from Canada Historic Places Day.

From July 4th to July 31st, post your selfie with #historicplacesday, tag and follow The Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia and @nationaltrustca. Your selfie will be placed in a random draw to win $1000 for yourself and $1000 for the museum! You can post one selfie per day.

Self-isolating? Take a virtual selfie by downloading our backdrop at historicplacesday.ca

Giveaway

Do you have a fond memory of visiting The Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia? Submit a photo and a blurb describing your experience with us for Canada #HistoricPlacesDay by July 31 for a chance to win awesome prizes, like a @VIA_Rail travel voucher! Submit your photo at historicplacesday.ca

Take a peek at the collection of the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia as our staff highlights artifacts from our collection.

Take a peek at the collection of the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia as our staff highlights artifacts from our collection.

Learn about local St. James business, Rudolph’s Beauty Parlour, and some items that may have been used in Beauty Parlours in the early 1900s including a permanent wave machine and lemon squeezer.

Rudolph’s Beauty Parlour

W. Rudolph Barber Shop and Beauty Salon was established by Austrian/German immigrants William and Meta Rudolph in 1924. Originally located at Ferry Road and Ness, the business relocated in 1927 to the corner of Inglewood ad Ness.

The Rudolph’s daughter, Elsie (Hossack), began helping in the shop in 1931, at the age of 11 years. By 1935 she was a full-time employee.

From 1939 the barber portion of the shop was rented out. Elsie continued to work at the beauty parlour, the first in St. James, until its closing in 1966.

The Toc H movement was officially founded in November 1915 and the oil lamp became a symbol of the light of fellowship that soldiers visiting Talbot House had experienced in the darkness of war.

Take a peek at the collection of the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia as our staff highlights artifacts from our collection.

Toc H

Toc H was a non-denominational Christian movement that began in Europe in WWI and spread worldwide in the 1920s and 30s. Reverend Philip “Tubby” Clayton was an Army Chaplain in Poperinge, Flanders, Belgium. To give soldiers in Poperinge a break from the anxiety of war and an alternative to the local night life, Reverend Clayton established a club in a house which was later named Talbot House, in memory of a lieutenant killed in action. The homelike atmosphere, upstairs chapel, and egalitarian principles were elements of the club that drew soldiers from all over the world to Talbot House. Posted on the door of Clayton’s study was the motto: “All rank abandon ye who enter here.” Eventually Talbot House was shortened to Toc H because the British signaller’s code for T was “TOC” and H was “H.”

Clayton returned to England after the War and began to write about Talbot House and communicate with the soldiers he had met there. The movement was officially founded in November 1915 and the oil lamp became a symbol of the light of fellowship that soldiers visiting Talbot House had experienced in the darkness of war. The four main principles of the movement were fair-mindedness, fellowship, witness of the kingdom of God, and service. Additionally, the movement became a “living monument” for those who had lost their lives in the Great War. A 1923 article in the Winnipeg Evening Tribune explained that the Toc H movement “would outlive a monument of stone, and was therefore a much finer memorial to those who had served in the war tha (sic) anything else could possibly be.” Soldiers that had been to Talbot House, many of whom were from Canada and Australia, brought the principles of Toc H back home with them and started local movements. Each new branch was given a Toc H lamp to symbolize the continuing vitality of Toc H. In 1922, Governor General Lord Byng invited Clayton to do a lecture tour in Canada. Shortly after his visit to Winnipeg, the city became the first overseas branch to receive a lamp. The Winnipeg branch, which was designated as the headquarters for the movement in Canada, officially opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1923 at 11 Kennedy St.

By 1928 St. James had its own Toc H branch which met weekly at their hall at the corner of Portage and Marjorie St. In many communities, Toc H cooperated with the Boy Scouts and Cubs because Toc H provided scout leaders, as well as an opportunity for continued community involvement for boys who outgrew the Scout program. The St. James Toc H in particular, specialized in boys’ activities. A hockey league with two divisions was organized for boys that didn’t belong to a church society and an outdoor rink with electric lights and a changing shack was built. Other activities of the St. James Toc H included hosting a dance in support of the Empty Stocking Fund and an annual memorial service to honour fallen soldiers.

Lamp of Maintenance

The Lamp of Maintenance was a symbolic representation of the vitality of the Toc H movement and the light it brought into peoples’ lives, but it was also utilized in the rituals of the organization. Each Toc H meeting began with the lighting of the lamp and a short prayer for those killed in the Great War. Each new Toc H branch received a lamp lit by the Prince of Wales. The first 40 lamps were lit in London in 1922. The lamps are decorated with the double cross which is also appear in the arms of the city of Ypres. The Latin inscription reads “We will see the light in Your light.”

This Lamp of Maintenance was bestowed in memory of George Parkin, a Nova Scotian who was an educator, a strong voice in support of imperial unity in the 1880s, and later the Secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship Trust in England.