A Kingston Album. Marion Van de Wetering

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       Glimpses of the Way We Were

       Marion Van de Wetering

       Copyright © Marion Van de Wetering 1999

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Hounslow Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency..

       Hounslow Press

      A Member of the Dundurn Group

      Publisher: Anthony Hawke

      Editor: Barry Jowett

      Design: Scott Reid

      Printer: Transcontinental Printing Inc.

       Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

      Van de Wetering, Marion

      A Kingston album: glimpses of the way we were

       ISBN 0-88882-200-6

      1. Kingston (Ont.) — History — Pictorial works. I. Title.

      FC3099.K5V36 1999 971.3'72'00222 C98-931586-X F1059.5.K5V36 1999

      1 2 3 4 5 03 02 01 00 99

      We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

      Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

      Printed and bound in Canada.

      Printed on recycled paper.

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      Acknowledgements

      This book could never have been written without the help of many very understanding people. First, as always, come my family, who are ever patient, kind, and understanding of the last minute mix-ups and emergencies which inevitably crop up. Their support, from meals and child care to computer time and critiques, has been greatly appreciated. My sincere thanks in this regard go to Ria Van Holten, Jan Van de Wetering, Marie-Francoise Guédon, Anne-Marie, Reine and Joelle Guédon, Sven Van de Wetering, and Birgit Gießer.

      Thanks also go to those who have helped steer me in my quest to find obscure sources and beautiful photos. For these professionals, no problem is too insignificant to listen to, or too great to be overcome. Many thanks in this regard go to all the staff at the National Archives of Canada, The National Library of Canada, Queen’s University Archives, and the Archives of Ontario.

In a similar vein, this work would be truly impossible without the work of those who’ve gone before, who have painstakingly researched material for papers presented at historical society functions, or history books and pamphlets on their areas of interest and expertise. Thanks also to all the people who have donated their historic photos to archives, without whom this book would be merely a collection of stories.* Every effort has been made to trace the origin of photos used throughout, and any omissions in this regard are solely my fault.

      Tony Hawke, publisher at Hounslow deserves special thanks, both for giving me a shot the first time around, and for sticking with me the second time. In addition, Barry Jowett has, once again, done an outstanding job of editing my rough draft.

      Kaye Fulton also merits special recognition here, both for her fervent enthusiasm for An Ottawa Album, and for loaning me some of the rare gems from her personal library as source material for A Kingston Album.

      Finally and most of all, this work would never have even begun without the love and support of my husband, Mark, and daughter, Maia, who go cheerfully on with their days no matter what crisis I happen to come up with.

* Special thanks in this regard go to Rob Buttle and Irene Mooney, for allowing me to use their photos, and to Charles Panet, for pointing me in the right direction.

      For my family, who have to put up with me, and for my friends, who do anyway.

      Introduction

      Kingston is a study in contrasts: the British military base with French origins, the quick rise to prominence followed by the languid decline, the centre of a shipping system in the age of air travel.

      It would be easy to say that decisions not of Kingston’s making have forced it to become less than it could have been. The city’s rise to prominence as the principal point of transshipment on the Great Lakes, where cargoes going inland had to be transferred from small bateaux to the great sailing ships which plied the lakes, was followed by a gradual decline as market forces and improvements in the St. Lawrence Seaway dictated.

      The city’s initial position as one of the most important fortifications in the British colonies was later undermined as troops were recalled with the advent of Confederation. Similarly, Kingston’s dream of retaining its position as capital of a united Canada fell by the wayside, a casualty of political expediency.

      And yet, there is something about the city, something rare and beautiful, which captivates visitors, leaving them spellbound.

      Perhaps it is that sense of history, so often paved over or subdivided into condos in other cities, that lends Kingston its particular charm. Perhaps it is the fact that its people have “beaten their swords into ploughshares” by turning their military installations, such as Fort Henry and Murney Tower, into museums, allowing the uninitiated a glimpse of the glory days of the British Empire. Perhaps it is the sense of living history – evident in the fact that so many of the surnames of Kingston’s original citizens, like Grass and Richardson, still survive there today – that makes Kingston special.

      Or perhaps it is the sense that Kingston has continued to build according to its own vision of its potential that has led it to prosper despite its misfortunes. The founding of Queen’s College (later Queen’s University) and the Royal Military College were decisions that have continued to profit the city in innumerable ways. The vision of the city council that built City Hall has finally been vindicated, as the structure is one of the most striking of its kind in the land. And, although the many penal institutions in the immediate vicinity lend Kingston a somewhat notorious air, there is no doubt that these facilities lend an aura of stability to the community.

      Despite