Episode 1 Brave New World


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A land of spectacular contrast,

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vast prairies and dense forests,

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bounded by three oceans,

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Canada is the second-largest country in the world.

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You could fit the whole of Northern Ireland

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inside one of its national parks.

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Yet people from Ulster have had a remarkable influence

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on the history and geography of this vast nation,

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spanning two centuries and across 5,000 miles.

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Today, 4.5 million Canadians

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can trace their roots back to Ireland.

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But there was a time when the Irish

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made up a quarter of the population here...

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..and the majority came from the nine counties of Ulster.

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English-speaking Canada had a noticeable Ulster accent.

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This is the story of people from Ulster who, from the 18th century

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to the present day, have made this country their home,

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of how they came here in such large numbers that they didn't merely adapt

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to the Canadian way of life, they helped to shape its culture,

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its society, its politics and its economy.

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I'm starting my Canadian journey in Halifax, Nova Scotia,

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at Pier 21, Canada's Museum Of Immigration.

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Once known as the Gateway to Canada, over a million immigrants

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passed through its doors between 1928 and 1971.

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Today, one in five Canadians can trace their roots through Pier 21.

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70 or 80 years ago, this place would have been packed with people

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who had literally just stepped off the boat.

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After an arduous journey at sea,

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this is where they first set foot on Canadian soil.

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Young men and women seeking work,

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families fleeing religious persecution and poverty,

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evacuees and refugees.

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Whatever the reason for leaving their homeland, for all of them,

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Canada represented a second chance,

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an opportunity for a better life.

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Here they were processed through immigration and customs,

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before taking the train to their final destination,

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Montreal, Quebec or Toronto, the prairie provinces or

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the pacific coast of British Columbia.

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Among the Germans, Dutch, English and Scots,

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there were people from Londonderry, Tyrone, Antrim and Down.

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This is the Monteith family, who passed through Pier 21 in 1929.

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The photograph was taken by a photographer

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working for the Derry Standard

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and it shows the family on board the Seamore,

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the paddle steamer that took immigrants from Londonderry to

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Moville, where they connected with the transatlantic liner

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that would bring them to Canada.

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And you can see here, marked on their luggage, their destination...

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Halifax.

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The Monteiths came from near Castlederg in County Tyrone

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and it's thought that they were travelling west to Ontario

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to join relatives or begin farming there.

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What's really poignant about this photograph is the date - 1929.

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Just as the Monteiths were beginning their new life in Canada,

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the world's economy was plunged into a great depression

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in the Wall Street crash and within just a couple of years,

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severe dust storms in the prairies of Canada and America

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forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms.

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The story of Ulster migration to Canada began in Nova Scotia

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long before Pier 21 opened its doors to families like the Monteiths.

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BAGPIPES PLAY

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If the kilts and bagpipes aren't enough of a clue,

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the name Nova Scotia gives it away.

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Latin for New Scotland,

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this province wears its Scottish heritage as a badge of honour.

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30% of Nova Scotians have Scottish ancestry and many are descended from

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the thousands of Scots who came here in the 19th century, whole villages

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and entire clans evicted from the land during the Highland Clearances.

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What's less well known is that, before the mass immigration

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of the Scots, there had been a small but significant settlement

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here of people from Ulster.

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Like much of Eastern Canada, the maritime provinces were

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originally a French colony, known as Acadia,

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but when, in 1713, the British took control, they expelled the French

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colonists and set about planting the region with loyal British subjects.

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To find suitable candidates,

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they just have to look across the border to New England

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and you can see here just how close New England is to Eastern Canada.

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For all intents and purposes,

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this was all British North America back then.

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And the people in New England had already proven themselves

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successful pioneers, so in 1759, the Governor of Nova Scotia

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placed an ad in the Boston Gazette, offering land in the new colony.

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One of those who read the advertisement with interest

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was an immigrant from the north of Ireland,

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an army officer called Alexander McNutt.

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Sensing a business opportunity, he struck a deal with

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the Governor of Nova Scotia -

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he would provide suitable settlers in return for land for himself.

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And in April 1761, 50 families

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arrived in Halifax from Londonderry, New Hampshire.

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Among those first planter families were the Archibalds,

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who had emigrated to New Hampshire from County Londonderry, Ireland,

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just 50 years before.

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To find out more about them and the remarkable success they had

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in Canada, I'm meeting one of their descendants, Allan Marble.

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What persuaded the Archibald family to leave New Hampshire

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and move to Canada?

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The good land in around Londonderry, in New Hampshire

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and along the Merrimack River,

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all that land has now been used up or taken up.

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So when they hear that there is excellent land in Nova Scotia

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that they're going to be given free, and not only that,

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but a large amount of land, 1,200 acres, they decide,

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"OK, let's leave, let's go and do it."

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So they come to Nova Scotia.

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The instigator of the family's move from New Hampshire to Truro,

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in Nova Scotia, was David Archibald.

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He appears to have been a leader, because when he arrived,

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he was immediately made the Justice of the Peace,

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the Major of the Militia.

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He became very important for Truro because he was responsible

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for building the first school, for bringing in the first minister.

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Archibalds are very, very focused on education

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and that all comes from David.

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When you think of the 18th century, you know, I hate to say it,

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but it was true that very few women could write, OK?

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And his daughters could write.

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I have evidence that they could write

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and that's an indication that he did not just want to promote

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education among his sons, but among his daughters.

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With a strong work ethic and a good education behind them,

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the Archibalds became influential citizens of the new colony.

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When you look at the first election in Nova Scotia

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for the House of Assembly, I mean, David Archibald is elected

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to represent that area.

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His son was elected to represent the area, his grandson becomes the

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Attorney General of Nova Scotia and the Chief Justice of Nova Scotia.

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It just goes on and on, so that they're very involved in politics,

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in anything to do with leadership.

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David's great grandson, Adams George Archibald, made a huge contribution

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to Canadian history when, in 1867, as Attorney General of Nova Scotia,

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he was one of the signatories that united the colonies of New Brunswick,

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Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, creating the Confederation of Canada.

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Archibald just was one of those people who was considered to be one

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of the leaders to contribute to this creating of a country.

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How successful do you think the Archibald family

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has been in the history of Canada?

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I would say the most successful family in Canada.

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One of the leading opera singers in the world now

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is one of the Archibalds from Truro.

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One of the leading players in the National Hockey League

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is an Archibald.

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The golfing champion for Germany during Hitler's time

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was an Archibald.

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And Hitler refused to give him the medal.

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It's like a family of Forrest Gumps! They keep showing up.

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That's right! And an amazing family and...

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I think the...

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the idea that David, and his brothers, because he wasn't alone,

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they instilled this idea of,

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you can do anything with your life, you know.

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You just have to do it.

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Those first settler families like the Archibalds

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were exactly what the new colony wanted.

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They were loyal to the Crown,

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Protestant and financially independent.

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And the man who brought them here, Alexander McNutt,

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was already drawing up plans to bring up to 10,000 more

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Protestant Irish to Nova Scotia.

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In the end, his plans were thwarted by the Privy Council,

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who were alarmed at the prospect of mass immigration

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from the Protestant districts of Ireland.

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They thought that could have dangerous consequences.

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But had McNutt realised his dream

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of Ulster Protestant colonization in Nova Scotia,

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we might today have a Red Hand of Ulster

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rather than a saltire on the Nova Scotian flag.

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McNutt had helped lay the foundations for emigration from the north

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of Ireland to Canada and, within a generation, tens of thousands

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of Irish men and women were making their way to the new colony.

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I'm travelling northwest from Halifax to the province of New Brunswick,

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for it was here in the 1820s

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that many of those Irish immigrants settled.

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Driven by poor economic conditions at home and the prospect of land

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and job opportunities in Canada,

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many, perhaps most of those migrants, came from the North,

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because Armagh, Antrim and Down

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were the most densely populated counties in Ireland.

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I've come to Gagetown in the Saint John River Valley

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to meet historian Bradford Gaunce, who has been studying

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the settlement of this area by people originally from Fermanagh.

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You've done a lot of research into this area.

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What have you discovered about the settlers who came here?

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There was a concentrated chain migration beginning in 1815

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from the town land of Ederney in County Fermanagh to Gagetown.

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Family members, cousins, uncles, they were all arriving.

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You can envision them crossing the Atlantic, looking for opportunity,

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leaving the Ulster that was essentially devastated economically.

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The settlers in general that came from Ulster to this region

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and much of New Brunswick probably had some resources

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when they arrived, they weren't the poorest of the poor.

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They were able to set themselves up nicely within probably a generation.

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And once the hard work of clearing the land for farming was done,

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these immigrants built churches and schools and many Protestant

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settlements, such as Gagetown, also established an Orange Lodge.

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But Bradford has discovered something about the people who came here

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from County Fermanagh that is both unusual and unexpected.

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I discovered something unique.

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Upon researching the 1901 Census, there was a question on line 33

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which asked, "Mother tongue?"

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Some of these individuals were recorded as

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"Mother tongue - Irish speakers."

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Now, that goes against the grain, considering we normally

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associate Catholics with speaking the Irish language.

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So, we have this community from Ederney

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that was carrying the language over with them.

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And so in the Orange Hall that we have here in the village,

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you would've had some members of the Orange Hall who speak Irish?

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Yeah, I've found in total 22 members who were recorded as

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mother tongue or ancestors of those recorded as mother tongue.

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Did you discover any of your own personal story

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-in the historical research you've done?

-I did.

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I found, through the research, that my family was involved in this

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chain migration from Ederney and, being a historian, it was exciting

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to find you're involved in this unusual mix of circumstances.

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You kind of appreciate the historical significance.

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Like the network of Orange Lodges and memories of townlands back home,

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the Irish language was all but forgotten, as those who spoke it

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ceased to be Ulster immigrants and became new Canadians.

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I've come 400 miles west to Quebec,

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the most distinctly French of all Canadian cities.

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A Unesco World Heritage Site,

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Quebec is the last remaining walled city in North America,

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but these walls would not be here today if it wasn't for a man

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from County Down, one of the British Empire's most successful diplomats.

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In 1872, Frederick Temple Blackwood,

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the first Marquees of Dufferin and Ava,

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became the third Governor General of Canada and one of its most popular.

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There's scarcely a town or city in the province that doesn't have

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a Dufferin Street or a Dufferin Avenue.

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When Lord Dufferin came to Canada,

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he immediately set about raising the profile of the Governor General,

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taking a much more proactive role than any of his predecessors.

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He believed that, by getting to know the country and its people,

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he would not only help unify the new Canadian Confederation, he would

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also help boost the position of the British Empire in North America.

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To this aim, Lord Dufferin and his family toured parts of the new nation

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no Governor General had visited before.

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They threw grand parties in their residence in Ottawa

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and opened a public ice rink in its grounds.

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The Dufferins genuinely enjoyed exploring Canada.

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Lady Dufferin, who was a prolific letter writer,

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often wrote home about their adventures river rafting,

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fishing and camping with the children

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and about how easy she found Canadian society to get on with.

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But it was in Quebec where they felt most at home.

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Lady Dufferin wrote, "If only we can find a house at Quebec,

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"we shall go there - for the more we see of that place,

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"the more we like it."

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But they did find a suitable home in Quebec here at the Citadelle,

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which was built in the early 19th century as a fortress

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to protect the colony from the Americans.

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Lady Dufferin described it to her mother,

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"All the books about Canada will tell you how splendid

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"is the situation of the Citadelle.

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"I sit out and look down hundreds of feet upon the town

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"lying below me or at the St Lawrence itself and the blue hills

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"far away - in fact, at one of the most celebrated views of the world!"

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It was in Quebec City that Lord Dufferin made his final

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public appearance as Governor General when he laid the foundation stone

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for Dufferin Terrace, built to his own design.

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Dufferin Terrace certainly lives up to its reputation

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as one of the most scenic promenades in the world.

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But it's for his role in saving the city walls

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that Dufferin is himself best remembered here.

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Built by the French to protect the city from attack,

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Quebec's walls had huge historical significance,

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so when he heard that city officials had begun to tear them down,

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Dufferin stepped in to protect and restore them for future generations.

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In some ways, Lord Dufferin wasn't so very different to any other migrant.

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He hoped Canada would give him an opportunity to further his career,

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and it did.

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In 1884, he became the eighth Viceroy of India.

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Not all of his countrymen were so fortunate.

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Just 20 miles from here, in the middle of the St Lawrence River,

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is Grosse Ile.

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In 1832, the island was set up as a quarantine station to contain

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a cholera epidemic and later to stop the spread of typhus that had been

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contracted by immigrants fleeing the famine in Ireland.

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More than half a million Irish people passed through Grosse Ile

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and thousands died there.

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They came from all social and religious backgrounds

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and from every part of Ireland.

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500 miles west of Quebec,

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Buxton, Ontario, is just an hour from the American border.

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And back in the mid-19th century, if you were a black American,

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that border meant the difference between freedom and slavery.

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I've come here to find out about one extraordinary Ulsterman's journey

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from slave owner to abolitionist and about the role he played

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in what became known as the Underground Railroad.

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Set amid fields of flaxseed, corn and rye,

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Buxton is a rural community of just 200 people.

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Yet 150 years ago, it had ten times that population

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and was making headlines all across North America, for this was

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a settlement of black Americans who had escaped slavery

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and it was the brainchild of the Reverend William King from Limavady.

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Born in 1812, William King studied Greek and Latin at university

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in Glasgow, before emigrating to America at the age of 21.

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He took up a job as a teacher in Louisiana, where his students

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were the sons of slave owners, a system that appalled him.

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Yet, when he married the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner,

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William King became a slave owner himself.

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To find out more about William King and the Buxton settlement,

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I've come to meet the curator of the Buxton Museum, Shannon Price,

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herself the direct descendent of slaves who came here from Tennessee.

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So, these are some of the artefacts that we have in the museum,

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and...they're - again, they're very, very powerful.

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These are original ankle shackles.

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When they boarded the slave ships, they would usually brand them

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so the master would know who you belonged to.

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And the men would get it someplace on their face and the women would

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get it on the front of their shoulder

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or the back of their shoulder,

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so you might have numerous brands

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depending on how many times you were bought or sold. Yeah.

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This is a slave collar

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they would put on slaves,

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-and it weighs maybe 25 pounds or so.

-Yeah.

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But they would put that,

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but they would make it fit everyone's individual neck.

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So, this was punishment if you tried to run away.

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If you were a runner that tried it several times,

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the punishment would be more severe,

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so what they would do, they would take a metal bar

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and they would attach it to the top of your neck harness.

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It would come all the way down your back, but they would hinge it at

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your thigh so you could at least bend over to pick your cotton,

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-and then attach it to your ankle shackles...

-Oh.

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..so you have to work and sleep with this on.

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-You wouldn't run very far wearing that.

-No, you wouldn't.

-Yeah.

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-Very heavy.

-No. Between the weight...

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-And then even trying to sleep with it on.

-Oh!

-Yeah.

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How do you feel when you're holding these...?

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Well, you know, to me, it's...

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-They're powerful but then it's a reminder... I'm going to cry.

-Yeah.

0:23:310:23:36

..of what our ancestors overcame.

0:23:360:23:40

Sometimes it is emotional, like it is now, and other times it's just,

0:23:400:23:45

I'm very blessed to be able to add another chapter to that book that

0:23:450:23:49

my ancestors started,

0:23:490:23:51

so now I can continue that legacy with my family, you know,

0:23:510:23:54

so we don't repeat the past.

0:23:540:23:56

But they are a reminder...

0:23:560:23:58

-Horrible. It's horrible.

-..of what our ancestors had to endure.

0:23:580:24:01

We think of William King today as an abolitionist.

0:24:080:24:11

How did he become a slave owner?

0:24:110:24:13

He married into a slave-holding family,

0:24:130:24:16

and because of his views against... toward slavery,

0:24:160:24:20

he felt that even though he married

0:24:200:24:22

into this family, he would be able to do something,

0:24:220:24:25

to liberate them, but was misled that he was not able to do such.

0:24:250:24:30

-Because of the laws in...

-Because of the laws in the United States, yes.

0:24:300:24:34

He grappled with this idea on what to do,

0:24:340:24:36

-and it just tore him apart, you know...

-Yeah.

0:24:360:24:39

..dealing with this issue of slavery,

0:24:390:24:41

and what he, you know, as a person, a human being, could do.

0:24:410:24:45

King decided he could no longer live in a slave-owning society

0:24:470:24:51

and returned to Scotland to train for the Presbyterian ministry.

0:24:510:24:56

But while he was there, his wife and child tragically died

0:24:560:24:59

and King found himself the sole owner of 15 slaves in Louisiana.

0:24:590:25:05

After he graduated from school,

0:25:070:25:09

his first appointment as a minister was to the Presbyterian Synod

0:25:090:25:13

here in Toronto,

0:25:130:25:15

and when they heard that here was this white man coming to

0:25:150:25:18

the land of freedom with slaves,

0:25:180:25:20

they were quite appalled because slavery had been abolished here,

0:25:200:25:23

so, basically, Reverend King turned the tables, if you will,

0:25:230:25:27

and asked them if there was some place where he could bring

0:25:270:25:30

his 15 slaves and where other blacks

0:25:300:25:33

could come for the better opportunities of life.

0:25:330:25:37

With the help of the church, King raised enough money to

0:25:370:25:40

purchase 9,000 acres, with plans for housing built to a high standard,

0:25:400:25:45

and 50 acres of land for every family,

0:25:450:25:48

to be paid off over ten years.

0:25:480:25:50

So, the plan was to bring them from the United States,

0:25:520:25:55

across the border, and that border meant freedom?

0:25:550:25:59

That border meant freedom.

0:25:590:26:00

-What is the Underground Railroad?

-The Underground Railroad was

0:26:000:26:03

neither a railroad, it was not underground.

0:26:030:26:07

It was a secret network, comprised of people and places,

0:26:070:26:11

both black and white,

0:26:110:26:12

that were assisting enslaved blacks

0:26:120:26:15

to make it to freedom,

0:26:150:26:17

whether in the northern states or up here to Canada.

0:26:170:26:19

William King used this underground network to smuggle his 15 slaves

0:26:220:26:27

north from Louisiana, and in November 1849,

0:26:270:26:31

they became the first residents of Buxton.

0:26:310:26:34

When he secured the land, he said, you know,

0:26:390:26:42

"I'm founding this land on three principles."

0:26:420:26:44

You know, "One, I have the land. Two, there's going to be that

0:26:440:26:47

"education and, three, there's going to be religion."

0:26:470:26:50

You know, once he had the land, and then he built the schools

0:26:500:26:53

and then the churches.

0:26:530:26:54

When was this school built?

0:27:010:27:03

The school was built right here in 1861, and it was built due to

0:27:030:27:07

the overcrowding at the other end of the settlement.

0:27:070:27:10

-And a fully integrated school?

-Fully integrated school.

0:27:100:27:13

What kind of curriculum did they have?

0:27:130:27:15

It was referred to as a classical education,

0:27:150:27:18

so everything, plus Greek, Latin,

0:27:180:27:20

in a Christian-based education was provided for the students,

0:27:200:27:24

because that religious component

0:27:240:27:25

was very, very important to Reverend King.

0:27:250:27:28

-Do you know much about the children who were educated here?

-Yes, we do.

0:27:300:27:34

There was... Quite a few went on to

0:27:340:27:36

become, like, the first great, uh, the first black doctor in Canada,

0:27:360:27:39

the first congressman, speaker in the state legislature,

0:27:390:27:42

circuit court judge riders,

0:27:420:27:44

principals of university and high school,

0:27:440:27:47

educated here in Buxton, but went back to the United States.

0:27:470:27:50

So, that tells a lot about why

0:27:500:27:52

people were coming to Canada for freedom,

0:27:520:27:55

but coming to Buxton to educate their children.

0:27:550:27:57

How do you feel about him, personally?

0:28:030:28:05

Well, I admire him because of the path in his life that he chose.

0:28:050:28:10

This would not happen,

0:28:100:28:11

would not have been here because of him, you know.

0:28:110:28:14

-Would you have been here?

-No, I would not have been here,

0:28:140:28:17

because of what he had chosen in his life, so we, as, you know,

0:28:170:28:22

ancestors and descendants are very, very grateful to him.

0:28:220:28:26

This really is an extraordinary story

0:28:320:28:35

and, at the heart of it, is an Ulsterman with a passion for freedom,

0:28:350:28:39

who wanted to share that freedom with those he met here in the New World.

0:28:390:28:44

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