Susanna Moodie (born Strickland; 6 December 1803 – 8 April 1885) was an English-born Canadian author who wrote about her experiences as a settler in Canada, which was a British colony at the time.
Biography
Susanna Moodie was born in
Bungay
Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a mean ...
, on the
River Waveney
The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The "ey" part of the name means "river" thus the name is tautological.
Course
The source of the River Waven ...
in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. She was the youngest sister in a family of writers, including
Agnes Strickland,
Jane Margaret Strickland and
Catharine Parr Traill
Catharine Parr Traill (born Strickland; 9 January 1802 – 29 August 1899) was an English-Canadian author and naturalist who wrote about life in Canada, particularly what is now Ontario (then the colony of Upper Canada). In the 1830s, Can ...
. She wrote her first children's book in 1822 and published other children's stories in London, including books about
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisi ...
and
Jugurtha
Jugurtha or Jugurthen (Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Ad ...
. In London she was also involved in the
Anti-Slavery Society, transcribing the narrative of the former Caribbean slave
Mary Prince. On 4 April 1831, she married
John Moodie, a retired officer who had served in the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
.
In 1832, with her husband, a British Army officer, and daughter, Moodie immigrated to
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
. The family settled on a farm in
Douro
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...
township, near
Lakefield, north of
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
, where her brother Samuel Strickland (1804–1867) worked as a surveyor, and where artifacts are housed in a museum. Founded by Samuel, the museum was formerly an Anglican church and overlooks the
Otonabee River
The Otonabee River is a river in Peterborough County in Central Ontario, Canada. The river flows from Katchewanooka Lake, at the north end of the community of Lakefield, through the city of Peterborough to Rice Lake. It is in the Great Lakes Ba ...
where Susanna once canoed. It also displays artifacts concerning Samuel, as well as her elder sister and fellow writer Catharine, who married a friend of John Moodie's and emigrated to the same area a few weeks before Susanna and John.
Moodie continued to write in Canada, and her letters and journals contain valuable information about life in the colony. She observed life in what was then the backwoods of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, including
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entertai ...
customs, the climate, the wildlife, relations between the Canadian population and recent American settlers, and the strong sense of community and the communal work, known as "bees" (which she, incidentally, hated). She suffered through the economic
depression in 1836, and her husband served in the
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
against
William Lyon Mackenzie
William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify elite members of Upper Canada. He represented Yo ...
in the
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...
in 1837.
As a middle-class Englishwoman, Moodie did not particularly enjoy "the bush", as she called it. In 1840, she and her husband moved to
Belleville, which she referred to as "the clearings." She studied the
Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
and became sympathetic to the moderate reformers led by
Robert Baldwin
Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...
, while remaining critical of radical reformers such as William Lyon Mackenzie. This caused problems for her husband, who shared her views, but, as sheriff of Belleville, had to work with members and supporters of the Family Compact.
In 1852, she published ''
Roughing it in the Bush'', detailing her experiences on the farm in the 1830s. In 1853, she published ''Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush'', about her time in Belleville. She remained in Belleville, living with various family members (particularly her son Robert) after her husband's death, and lived to see
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...
. She died in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anc ...
, Ontario on 8 April 1885 and is buried in
Belleville Cemetery.
Her greatest literary success was ''
Roughing it in the Bush''. The inspiration for the memoir came from a suggestion by her editor that she write an "emigrant's guide" for British people looking to move to Canada. Moodie wrote of the trials and tribulations she found as a "New Canadian", rather than the advantages to be had in the colony. She claimed that her intention was not to discourage immigrants but to prepare people like herself, raised in relative wealth and with no prior experience as farmers, for what life in Canada would be like.
Moodie taught her daughter
Agnes how to paint flowers and Agnes later illustrated ''Canadian Wild Flowers'', published in 1868.
Recognition
Moodie's books and poetry inspired
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ni ...
's collection of poetry, ''
The Journals of Susanna Moodie'', published in 1970. It was also an important influence on one of Atwood's later novels, ''
Alias Grace'', based on an account of murder convict
Grace Marks
Grace Marks (c. July 1828 – after c. 1873) was an Irish-Canadian maid who was involved in the 1843 murder of her employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery, in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Her conviction for the murder of Kinne ...
which appeared in ''Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush''. She has also been a source of inspiration for
Carol Shields
Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel '' The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well a ...
, who published a critical analysis of Moodie's work, ''Susanna Moodie: Voice and Vision''. Additionally, the central character of Shields' novel, ''Small Ceremonies'', is working on a biography of Moodie.
Commemorative postage stamp
On 8 September 2003, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
National Library of Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
,
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operati ...
released a special commemorative series, "The Writers of Canada", with a design by Katalina Kovats, featuring two English-Canadian and two French-Canadian stamps. Three million stamps were issued. Moodie and her sister
Catherine Parr Traill were featured on one of the English-Canadian stamps.
[50th Anniversary of the National Library / Canadian Authors]
," Canada Post, Web, 28 March 2011.
Bibliography
Novels
* ''Mark Hurdlestone'' – 1853
* ''Flora Lyndsay'' – 1854
* ''Matrimonial Speculations'' – 1854
* ''Geoffrey Moncton'' – 1855
* ''The World Before Them'' – 1868
Poetry
* ''Patriotic Songs'' – 1830 (with Agnes Strickland)
* ''Enthusiasm and Other Poems'' – 1831
Children's books
* ''Spartacus'' – 1822
* ''The Little Quaker''
* ''The Sailor Brother''
* ''The Little Prisoner''
* ''Hugh Latimer'' – 1828
* ''Rowland Massingham''
* ''Profession and Principle''
* ''George Leatrim'' – 1875
Memoirs
* ''
Roughing it in the Bush'' – 1852
* ''Life in the Backwoods''; A Sequel to ''Roughing It in the Bush''
* ''Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush'' – 1853
Letters
* ''Letters of a Lifetime'' – 1985 (edited by Carl Ballstadt, Elizabeth Hopkins, and Michael Peterman)
References
External links
*
*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''*
*
*
*
* Moodie, Susanna
Life in the clearings versus the bush London : Richard Bentley, 1853. Accessed 18 July 2012, in PDF format.
* Records collection related to Susanna Moddi
(Susanna Moodie collection, R10880)are held at
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
* Archives related to Susanna Moodie and her famil
(Moddie, Strickland, Vickers, Ewing family fonds, R11782)are held at
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moodie, Susanna
Canadian children's writers
Canadian women short story writers
Canadian women novelists
Canadian women poets
English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario
English women writers
English short story writers
British women short story writers
English memoirists
19th-century English novelists
19th-century English poets
Victorian women writers
People from Bungay
1803 births
1885 deaths
19th-century Canadian women writers
19th-century Canadian poets
19th-century Canadian novelists
19th-century Canadian short story writers
Immigrants to Upper Canada
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
British women memoirists
Canadian women children's writers