Bookshelf

It is fairly easy to obtain a copy of this book from second-hand booksellers, but so far I have not found one with a dust-jacket. If someone has a copy, a scan would be very welcome.

On page 106 we discover that he spent the winter of 1899 - 1900 at Fort Wrigley in the company of Christy Harding - the Hudson's Bay Company representative, and six Indians. They saw nobody else for five months, until the spring came, as the nearest neighbours were 150 miles away.

Christy Harding spent the whole of his life, up until retirement, working for the Hudson Bay Company, being posted to one isolated settlement after another. Although this book only includes two or three pages about Camsell's time at Fort Wrigley, I think it gives an enthralling picture of life in the frozen North, which must have been very similar to that enjoyed by Christy.

On a slightly strange footnote, Christy Harding later married Cecilia Camsell, and thus became Charles' brother-in-law, but there is no mention of this at all.

Agnes Dean Cameron (1863-1912) was a famous pioneer of women's suffrage from British Columbia. She was B.C.'s first female high school teacher and then first female school principal (1894). Her support for women’s equality led to friction with school administrators, who dismissed her in 1906 for a minor infraction.

Following this she undertook an amazing journey through Canada's Northwest, up as far as the Arctic. The story of this epic journey is illustrated by the many photographs she took along the way. Like Camsell's Son of the North, this book is a wonderful tale of the hard life experienced by the Indians and fur traders in the far North, but of particular interest is her meeting up with Mrs. Harding, returning to Fort Resolution following a visit to her mother in Winnipeg. This of course was Cecilia Harding, wife of Christy Harding, who was by now a Hudson's Bay Post Manager.

Seton was an Anglo-Canadian (and later naturalised US citizen) best known for his works as an author, naturalist and wildlife artist. He was also a pioneer of the scouting movements, his early works on woodcraft having great influence on Baden-Powell, with whom he corresponded for several years.

In 1907 he undertook a 2000 mile canoe journey in Canada's Northwest, which is the subject of this book. This occurred at much the same time as Agnes Cameron's travels in the north, and the book provides an interesting comparison. Along the way there are several encounters with Christy Harding, of Fort Resolution, and other officers of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Julian Godsell worked for the Hudson's Bay Company for twenty years or more, from 1906, and spent most of this time in the North. Godsell knew Christy Harding and he gets several mentions in this memoir. For example, this is from the description of the HBC 250th anniversary celebrations:

"Chris Harding, veteran of the Arctic who had carried the red flag of the Company to the land of the unknown and savage Cogmollock Eskimos of Victoria Land."

In addition, this is an entertaining story of the hard life and colourful characters of the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Arctic regions.

In 1930 two novice paddlers - Eric Sevareid and Walter C. Port - launched a secondhand 18-foot canvas canoe into the Minnesota Rover at Fort Snelling for an ambitious summer-long journey from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. Without benefit of radio, motor, or good maps, the teenagers made their way over 2,250 miles of rivers, lakes, and difficult portages. Nearly four months later , after shooting hundreds of sets of rapids and surviving exceedingly bad advice, the ragged, hungry adventurers arrived in York Factory on Hudson Bay - with winter freeze up on their heels.

In the growing dusk, buildings came into view on the left embankment. This was York Factory, site of the greatest of all trading posts a century ago, port of entry for thousands of pioneers. Here warships of England and France had fought for the great fur country through which we had just come. A few dogs yelped at the sight of us; a few Indians peered curiously over the banks... Our benumbed legs buckled under us and we nearly fell. That day we had paddled the canoe sixty miles... We staggered up the steps, ... frozen fingers pounded the heavy door. It was jerked open by a tall, heavy-set, mustached man.... "Factor Harding?"

Under the most primitive of conditions, the missionary doctor conducts his first major operation. His patient is a fourteen year old girl from a village near Songdo, who is deathly ill from the presence of a "devil" in her back. Little does Doctor Reid know that the girl he saves this day will return to the mission station to complete her education, become a member of a team of Koreans, evangelize a large area of central Korea, and establish twenty-four Methodist churches.

The author, Eloise Reid Frary, was born in Seoul in 1911 and lived in Korea until 1928. She was the daughter of missionary parents, Dr Wightman Reid and Sidney Mary Williams, a trained nurse.

It was the author's second book about Korea and neatly complements South of the Mountain. Although written in the 1940s it was eventually published in 2007 by her daughter, Sidney.

These books by Eloise Reid Frary can be found via the usual online booksellers.

This book describes the author's visits to his estates in Jamaica in 1815-16 and 1817, after the abolition of the slave trade, but before emancipation. The author was an opponent of slavery, although he did not campaign for its abolition, instead working to improve conditions for the 400 slaves who worked on his estate. This, together with his friendship with William Wilberforce, made him unpopular with other plantation owners.

Written in an engaging and witty style, Lewis' journal provides a fascinating account of life on a Jamaican sugar plantation during the period when the abolition of slavery in the British Empire was an important political issue.

There is a brief mention on page 112 of Mr Williams, "a neighbouring magistrate". I have not yet identified which Williams this was. Not mentioned in the book, are connections between the Lewis and Williams families going back to the 1670s (for example Lewis Williams m. Priscilla Lewis around 1680) – Matthew Lewis was a descendant of these early Lewis settlers.

"Lady Maria Nugent's Journal, written during her stay on the island from 1801-1807 as the wife of Governor General George Nugent, is perhaps one of the most intriguing primary sources of Jamaican history available today. Recently re-released by the UWI press, Lady Nugent's Journal, clearly unintended for publication and written without literary pretensions, provides an insight into domestic life in early nineteenth century Jamaica.

Jamaica was an enigma to Lady Nugent. Although many of her references are to her love for her husband and children, a good portion of the journal documents her attempt to come to some understanding of the unique form of society she encountered. This interest led her to go beyond trivial comments such as "only our family at dinner tonight," and "to bed at eight" to provide actual documentation of the cultural impact of Empire on colonial administrator/colonizer and slave. As such her journal stands as much more than a record of her personal life. It contains an anthropological slant that is a rare find in primary sources. "
Full article by Dr. Rebecca Tortello is available at the Jamaica Gleaner.

Like Matthew Lewis's journal, this book provides a fascinating description of life two hundred years ago, with its tales of privilege and deprivation. In this case however, there is more material of a personal interest. Maria Nugent's brother Jonathan Downes Skinner, was married to Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Lewis Williams of Luana. Mrs Skinner is frequently mentioned, along with her daughter Bonella Williams, and sister Mary Williams. On one occasion they attend a sermon given by the Rev. Raby Williams, and Mrs Skinner often travels to Kingston to visit her relatives there. Finally, there is a map of plantations including one attributed to the "Williams's".

Richard Farewell Williams was a distant cousin from another branch of the Williams family, also well embedded in Jamaican history. He was a descendant of Rowland Williams' eldest son Joseph (1702-1732) whereas the main line of interest on this website traces descent from the second son Lewis (1703-1770). The first chapter discusses family history and is a very useful source of background information as well as providing additional confirmation for some of the earlier genealogical data.

Williams was a renowned agriculturalist, with interests in cattle and bananas. As well as managing his own farms he also served in a number of capacities at national level, making for a very interesting book about the development of Jamaica's agriculture and economy during the 20th century.

Dr. Cicely Williams was probably the most famous member of the Williams family, at least in recent times. She was the sister of R.F. Williams, and thus a distant cousin also. She was one of the first female graduates of Oxford University and her subsequent training as a paediatrician was followed by work in London's East End, Greece, and West Africa, where she identified the condition kwashiorkor, associated with malnutrition. She went on to Malaya where she initiated the Milk and Murder campaign against infant food manufacturers (notably Nestlé). Following the Japanese invasion she was interned for three and half years in Singapore's notorious Changi prison. The post-war years saw her continue her work as head of Mother and Child Health at the World Health Organization in Geneva.