The Survivor (28 page)
Authors: Paul Almond
Tags: #Fiction, #Historical, #General, #Cultural Heritage
December 1819 — Third Historical Document: Grant of Land to James
Claim by James Almond of Hopetown, farmer, for lot #40 in Hope aforesaid containing 200 acres on a front of 5 acres, bounded on the west by lot #39, on the East by the Shigawake brook, which divides it from #1 Port Daniel, in front by the Bay de Chaleurs and in rear by waste lands of the Crown Division on lateral lines No. 5 West magnetically — occupancy for six years last past. Witness examined 29 July 1820: James A. Nielsen published in both languages in the Quebec Gazette in 1823.
November 1817 — Reference to John and William Junior, Debtors Prison
On Nov 6th, 1817 the Garrett brothers William Jr and John built and registered the schooner LARK (official number 9017137) in Quebec City. The Lark may have arrived in Quebec on Aug 10, 1817 with a cargo of fish and oil. The prison records for Quebec City have a William Garrett Jr and a John Garrett in prison for debt (for the sails and other ship parts?) and unpaid bills in November 1817. Subsequently released Nov 10th by order of Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Esq
re
. Sheriff.
Raymond Garrett, genealogist.
Source: Centre d’archives de Québec, E17 (1960-01-036/1569-1578)
Registre de la prison de Québec: 1813–1823, vol. 1, f. 81 Numero: 740
The Year of No Summer, 1816
In 1815 on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia, a handsome and long-quiescent mountain named Tambora exploded spectacularly, killing a hundred thousand people with its blast and associated tsunamis.
It was the biggest volcanic explosion in ten thousand years — 150 times the size of Mount St. Helens, equivalent to sixty thousand Hiroshima-sized atom bombs. Thirty-six cubic miles of smoky ash, dust and grit had diffused through the atmosphere, obscuring the sun’s rays and causing the earth to cool.
Source: Bill Bryson,
A Short History of Nearly Everything
(Toronto: Anchor Canada, 2004)
There is a time lag between a volcanic eruption and a change in weather patterns caused by the length of time needed for stratospheric winds to distribute the volcanic dust particles around the world.
Between May and September 1816, southern Quebec was affected by a series of cold waves that killed crops and led to near famine conditions in some parts. During one such cold spell between June 6th and 10th, 30–36cms snow lay on the ground in Quebec City. Meanwhile on June 6th and 8th it snowed in Montreal (Neil Davids, 1976). Sub-zero temperatures during June blackened crops and froze ponds, killing wildfowl. Some mornings in July and August were decidedly chilly and probably frosty, whilst hard frosts on 11th, 12th and 27th September ended the already shortened growing season.
Source: Dan Suri,
www.dandantheweatherman.com
Report on Typhus in the Year of No Summer, 1816
Weather in Europe and other regions of the globe was abnormal in 1816. In Europe, the cold and wet weather contributed to a disastrous harvest as crops rotted in the field. Famine, food riots, grain hoarding, and government embargoes resulted. These cold, moist weather patterns may have contributed to the typhus epidemic of 1816–1819 in Europe that killed approximately 200,000 people, and the cholera outbreak of 1816–1817 which originated in Bengal and spread throughout the world.
Source: The Verner E. Suomi Virtual Museum
Paul Almond
is one of Canada’s pre-eminent film and television directors, and he has directed and produced over 130 television dramas for the CBC, BBC, ABC and Granada Television. Paul Almond lives on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec and Malibu, California. For a reading group guide, further historical background and more, visit him online at
www.thealfordsaga.com
Photograph © Joan Almond
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Chapter Twenty-Six: Spring 1816
