Tea Time…. Soon?

Fascinating is an understatement. The building is a testament to the importance of William Kennedy in the history of Red River North, Manitoba, and indeed Canada.

Why is Kennedy so important you ask? Well, in keeping with the overall title of “Red River Reasons,” let me list some reasons, not necessarily in order of importance:

Reason 1

Captain Kennedy was a renowned explorer. He was considered a hero of the British Empire for his exploits in the Arctic. Famous Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton honoured him. His discoveries, and his conclusion that the Northwest Passage would be uneconomical and impractical changed the popular opinion of the day. He was a founder of the Manitoba Scientific an Historical Society and stated this opinion in the first presentation of the organization in 1879. Sir John Franklin’s widow chose him to lead the search for her husband in 1851. Unique among such missions, he and his whole crew returned safely from the voyage, attributed to his leadership ability. While the mission did not find Franklin, its members returned overflowing with valuable ground-breaking knowledge of the Arctic. It should also be noted that Kennedy’s missions reached the furthest tip of the North American continent, and four places in the Canadian Arctic are named in his honour.

Reason 2

William Kennedy was a nation builder, a peacemaker, a conciliator, a believer in democracy. He played a key role in ensuring that the Northwest became part of Canada, NOT the United States. He gathered 575 names on a petition asking for more autonomy for the Red River colony, thus linking the settlement’s future to Canada. He and his nephew, Alexander Kennedy Isbister, presented a petition the British Parliament on behalf of the people of Red River that helped to protect the colony’s sovereignty, effectively breaking the Hudson Bay Company’s monopoly rule, thus bringing more democracy to the Red River. From his sick bed he counseled Louis Riel not to shed blood during the resistance of 1869-70. He left the HBC because it used alcohol in trading with Indigenous people and ignored the negative effects of doing so. Many felt that it was his strictness about liquor that helped to make his expeditions so successful.

Reason 3

Kennedy was a respected Métis. He was a very proper person, and the construction of the Gothic Revival style house on River Road on his Cree mother’s property indicated his wealth and prestige. In this age of reconciliation, it is fitting to honour him. He was comfortable with both Indigenous and settlers, with working class and aristocracy. He married an Algonquin woman of the Bird Clan, Sarah Stevens, in 1835, and had two sons with her, William and Anthony. When he left for his posting with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Labrador, she and the boys remained behind, and settled in Waterloo County, Ontario. In 1859, he married Eleanor E. Cripps, a well-educated upper-class Englishwoman, who was a friend and distant relative of Lady Franklin. They had two children, a son, and a daughter. At his burial in St. Andrew’s-on-the-Red cemetery in 1890, his daughter remembered him as generous to a fault, and Anishinaabe Chief Henry Prince referred to him as “one of our country’s gentlemen”.

Reason 4

William Kennedy was a businessperson, merchant, and magistrate for Manitoba. He was a Director of the North-West Transportation, Navigation and Railway Company, and helped establish mail service between Toronto and the Red River Settlement. He ran a store in Kingston, opened a fishery at the mouth of the Saugeen River in lower Ontario, and ran a store at Lower Fort Garry. He was a founding member of The Winnipeg Board of Trade. He lobbied for a railway to Churchill, Manitoba.

Reason 5

Captain William Kennedy was a man of principle. He and wife Eleanor were a devoutly religious couple. They spent a year as Anglican missionaries and educators in Fairford, MB. He had previously tried to establish a mission in the Lake of the Woods area. Kennedy had a strong Christian upbringing from his Cree mother. Kennedy served on Manitoba’s Board of Education and was active in St. Andrew’s Church until his death in 1890.

These are, in my mind, enough reasons for some fast action on the repair and restoration of Maple Grove, as the house was known, and the re-opening of this popular amenity. Spring is here, Manitoba government, and my 94-year-old mother-in-law is waiting. I certainly hope she will be having tea there this summer, because as I always say…