Explore art and history through a photographic art show and lecture by Barry Hillman, a professionally trained photographer and artist with works displayed in Europe, Canada, and Hawaii.

In talking about this exhibit Barry said:

“In this exhibition, I have taken bits and pieces of flowers and combined them in a new photograph to create something different from the original subject. In the creating of new photographic images from the original, hidden images and shapes begin to appear. These images and shapes are what I refer to as flower spirits hiding in the garden.”

This free programming is made possible through Safe at Home Manitoba.

“In winter, farmers in Headingley participated in ‘balls’ given by various members of the community and a great deal of effort was taken to find the proper fiddler for the occasion and to prepare sufficient food for the guests. Taylor wrote that at one such ball, more than 110 people sat down to dinner. These social occasions lasted often until dawn and were attended at times by fights between the participants. The Headingley Agricultural Society frequently held lectures during the Winter months and in the early Spring as well.

The main political contests also took place during this time, and the local offices and vestry positions were usually hotly contested. A close reading of Taylor’s Journals indicates large turn-outs for elections, an admiration for speeches, and large crowds for political rallies and parades. Magnus Brown was involved in politics during his years in Headingley and, in 1904, William Brown Jr. was elected as Councillor.

December was also tax time and residents paid municipal taxes wherever they held land – sometimes in several parishes. The Browns paid most of their tax bill for the Parish of Headingley, but William Brown and James Brown also held lands outside Headingley which they had used to secure debts. John Taylor sued William Brown Jr., for example, for lands in Baie St. Paul which William had borrowed against in the early 1890’s.

December was the time at which the residents paid the government and, in the same spirit, it was normally the time at which they began to look for those who might be in debt to them. Lawsuits appear to increase during the last portion of the year and continue at a strong pace during the first two or three months of each new year. Many of the lawsuits involved property claims (particularly before 1880) and many of them arose from vigorous political campaigning. For example, William Brown Sr. sued Hugh Cameron in May 1848 for defamation of character. He won the suit and was awarded 5 shillings plus costs. Thomas Brown sued J. Omand over the ownership of a horse and lost the case. Magnus Brown was sued by a man who claimed that Magnus did him an injury during political campaigning. Taylor also recorded that he and the Browns appealed their tax assessments on a regular basis. It should be noted that they had mixed results.”¹

John Taylor of Headingley recorded the following in his journal during the winter months:

• “I was up to St. Francois Xavier and paid my taxes to the Treasurer P. Levallée $37.50. He paid me back $2.50 on former taxes.” (December 7, 1889)
• “There was a ball at Brandon’s, quite a number were at it. His house caught fire while the dancing was going on but was in time to put it out.” (February 8, 1889)
• “I attended the Council it is our first meeting of the new Council. All the Councillors were present. A party was got up and kept up a dance all night at McLean’s before his leaving for Ontario.” (January 14, 1890)
• “This is election day in Winnipeg for a member to serve in the House of Commons. Martin and Campbell are the candidates.” (November 22, 1893)

¹ B.G. Hunter-Eastwood, “Report on the William Brown Heritage House,” Prepared for the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia, Winnipeg, 1988, p. 69-70.

Sources for this section include the Taylor Journals and Provincial Archives of Manitoba, District of Assiniboia General Quarterly Court Records, MG 2B4-1. Minute Books of Trials held before the Quarterly Court: 21 Nov. – 1844-Aug. 1851; 20 Nov. 1851-25 Feb. 1863; 25 Feb. 1863-20 May 1872.

Extracted from B.G. Hunter-Eastwood, “Report on the William Brown Heritage House,” Prepared for the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia, Winnipeg, 1988, p. 61-62, 71.

“The author of [the Taylor Journals], the Honorable John Taylor, married one of William Brown’s daughters, Francis Jane, and he served as a Member of Parliament. He taught school, gave music lessons in his younger years, was a participant in the events of the Riel Rebellion, and was an acute observer of events which he recorded in daily Journal over a period of more than 40 years.”

“The Taylor Journals…clearly establish that the life of a farmer in Headingley had a certain rhythm: plowing, planting and harrowing in the Spring; weeding, haying, repairs, and construction in the Summer; harvesting in the Fall; threshing and sale/storage of crops in late Fall; politicking and partying in Winter; cutting ice, storing fish, and tending to new-born livestock in late Winter. These activities could be briefly interrupted for addition to the human family, by deaths and funerals, by disease, or be severe forms of weather, but the underlying pattern was strong, and the interruptions appear brief if only in retrospect.

The general pattern was also interrupted and supplemented by the introduction of new technology. John Taylor recorded the use of several technological developments during the time period under review and it is useful to keep these in mind as we proceed. The use of steam power for milling and, later on, for threshing was established in 1880; a self-binder was available and in use in harvesting by 1878. The disk harrow appears to have been in use by the late 1880’s and Taylor purchased a ‘horse-power’ in 1895, paying $65.00 for a 4 horse-power motor. The rail-road ran to Headingley by late 1881 and electric lights were lit up to Headingley in December 1911. Taylor also records that he installed a furnace and electric lights in the new house which his son Rupert constructed for him in the same year.

The general image that Taylor provides is one of reasonably rapid adaptation to new technology. Each new device for which Taylor record an appearance was also accompanied by visits from the neighbours who wanted to see how the equipment worked. Taylor also shows that mechanical skills were accessible and often led to the use of a home-made part which functioned better than that produced in a factory. This was particularly the case with respect to novel machinery such as the self-binder, and with respect to break-down during harvest.

William Brown Sr. and his family were very much part of this pattern. They purchased a self-binder before Taylor did; they had a mill in the early years; they ran a blacksmith shop for a short time, and they often helped to run the steam threshing machines during the Fall. William Brown’s sons helped to build the ferry which crossed the river near Headingley, as well. In the early 1900’s, the Browns also ran a Hotel and canvassed for support for a licence to serve alcohol.”

If these walls could talk, what stories would they tell? – It’s a question that often runs through our minds as we work in the Museum’s historic buildings. The 1856 Red River Frame House hosted meetings of Orangemen during the Red River Resistance, it witnessed the seasonal rhythms of farm life in Headingley and provided a home for descendants of the Brown family for 80 years. The 1911 Municipal Hall served as the civic hub of the expansive and booming Rural Municipality of Assiniboia. Over the years, the building was used by the municipal council and police of Assiniboia and St. James, community groups such as the St. James Art Club, and students from Sturgeon Creek School.

Follow along with this blog for stories about the people and events witnessed by these heritage buildings that now house the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia.

Join Charlotte Taylor for a visit through her grandparent’s (William Brown and Charlotte Omand) 1856 Red River Frame House.

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.