The Ball Is Rolling

Have you ever experienced a sequence of events that have snowballed unexpectedly from one thing to another?

Mine had to do with a slice of time in the mid-1800 and the ball started back in June while playing tourist at Black Creek Pioneer Village.  Black Creek is an open-air heritage museum – made up of structures from the mid-1800s that have been preserved and relocated from around the Toronto area.

I found the visit quite fascinating and the snowball started rolling when one of the workers doing demonstrations on a spinning wheel, mentioned a book written by Canadian author, Margaret Atwood.

I’m actually a Margaret Atwood fan (people seem to either love her work or hate it), but I had never heard of this particular book called Alias Grace – based on the true story of Grace Marks convicted of murder in 1843.

The book is full of details on day-to-day life during this time period and since I love this kind of stuff, I got the book.

In reading this story, I discovered several references to the Rebellion of 1837.

Whaaat?!!

I don’t remember learning about any Rebellion.  In fact I’ve had a tendency to sneer at Canadian history – no revolutions, no grand uprisings, nothing dramatic, only bland and boring. The only constant in Canadian history seems to have been the unending bickering between the French and English.

Of course the hint of a Rebellion led me to do some quick research.  As soon as I read “Family Compact”, a dim light bulb came on.

Ah yes – the rich and powerful dominating all affairs in the colony – blah, blah, blah – excessive patronage – blah, blah, blah – discontent stirred up by American rabble rousers {insert smile}.

The Rebellion was poorly organized and quickly squelched, but – blah, blah, blah – a pivotal point in the creation of Canada as a nation – blah, blah, blah.

Oh yes – not exactly riveting stuff when you’re in primary school.

But the snowball was rolling and now gaining momentum.

On my recent visit to the Necropolis I found the grave of William Lyon MacKenzie – you guessed it, the leader of the Rebellion.  He  also happened to be the first mayor of Toronto, but I digress.

With the spectacular failure of the Rebellion, MacKenzie fled to the US where he lived for many years, later to return to Toronto when a general pardon was granted.

Not so lucky were two of his supporters who were caught and subsequently hanged for treason.  They, too, are buried at the Necropolis.

Fifty-five years after their death, a monument was erected at their grave by “their friends and sympathizers”.

Incredibly, another 100 years later, a plaque was then erected by “family and friends”.

These poor guys became the scapegoats in this sad affair. They were the only rebels executed for their efforts – all the others either escaped to the US or were exiled to Australia, and eventually all those who survived made their way back to Canada.

Ever wonder why there is a suburb in Sydney, Australia called Canada Bay?  You guessed it … because of the Canadian rebels exiled following the Rebellion of 1837.

And the snowball keeps rolling ….