An English Immigrants Christmas - installment #1

There are a million memes out there asking what you like/remember about Christmases past and present. I considered responding but thought it might be more enjoyable to write about my Christmas memories.

Like Mary P said about Christmas memories in her Blog

“They all sort of blend together [and] . . . I don't have a favourite.”

The first Christmases I have any memory of as a child were in Mum’s semidetached bungalow in our small southern Ontario town. We lived next to our English grandparents and in reality we lived with them. We thought little of just wandering from one unit to the next as we shared a common entrance. As kids we would show our friends around the house and, as I am told, tour them through our grandparents place as well. This became a common joke, “here is the living room this is the hall and that’s my Grandad siting over there.”

My Granddad loved Christmas, but the traditional one, not the Santa stuff. He was very critical of organized religion but Christmas was Christmas and you celebrated it even if you thought that a lot of the story was bunk. So we sung Carols and watched Dickens a Christmas carol on our old B&W television, except when we watched it on Grandad’s TV which was colour, not that it really mattered because we usually watched the Alistair Sims one which was black and white anyhow. Grandad, my aunt and later my sister would play Christmas carols on the piano. Sometimes our two dogs would howl as we sang. Mainly though it was the younger dog Rolly that would howl first, he never wanted to be left out of anything.

Out came all the decorations and Grandad would dig out a copy of Handel’s Messiah , other collections of other classical Christmas music, Perry Como’s Christmas music for my granny and an ancient Burl Ives, Christmas album (I guess it wasn’t ancient then) which he would play on an old cabinet stereo. Actually then the stereo wasn’t quite so old either, when I inherited it, it was old and I did it no justice, by playing my scratched and abused albums on it.
I remember eggnog but I don’t think Grandad liked it, that was more a Mum & Granny thing. We had Frys Cocoa more often than we had hot chocolate. Grandad would drink tea I don’t think he really liked much else in the way of hot drinks. He never really ate much as I recall. I think much of his blood was orange pekoe tea (Red Rose to be specific) and he substituted cigarette and pipe smoke for oxygen. I don’t smoke but I like the smell of pipe smoke, because it reminds me of home. Christmas was one of the rare times we had alcohol in the house, not because anyone was against it, it was just not a thing we did. Grandad, so I am told, couldn’t drink much, probably because he was a very small man and it effected his asthma, and about the only alcohol that Granny drank was sherry. Mum drank some but not much but she would drink wine and port and such. For some reason we always had a collection of cheap wine, like Baby duck and other Barnes products. I think the Baby duck was mainly for my aunt, who generally didn’t drink so the sweet taste of Baby duck appealed to her over the dry stuff that I prefer. Also the local small town liquor store didn’t carry much else. It wasn’t until much latter when the occasional case of beer would enter the festivities (I think that was mainly for guests, maybe my uncle, and me when I was old enough to drink.) Decorating the tree was fun, both units had a tree so we would decorate with Gran and Grandad and then with Mum and sometimes the other way around. Some years we had a real tree but most of the early years both Mum and our Grandparents had these funny silver tinsel trees. My next oldest sister ALWAYS wanted a real tree. I hope she still feels this way I prefer real trees too. The tinsel trees were basically a wooden pole with straight twisted wire branches, covered in fuzzy silver tinsel. You could hang one maybe two ornaments on each branch we had balls and bells and other odd things and every year we would have to buy new ones as the dogs and us kids would have broken a few. That said some survived for years. This past weekend I helped Mum put up her tree and we found two plastic bells that Granny had bought in 1951 or 52 when the first came to Canada. The bells survived because they are plastic covered with chrome. When all the decorations were on the tree for some weird reason we would put more tinsel onto the tinsel tree. Then we would put these old glass Christmas lights on the tree. There was always the big fight with the lights to untangle them and then the procedure of finding which darn bulb was blown. The tree was thus a mass of sparkles and when the lights were on the tree and the room lights off the colours of the bulbs would leave cool patterns on the walls. I used to sneak out of my room on nights before Christmas plug in the tree and just stare at it. It was beautiful. In reality the poor old things were losing tinsel and were really not that big but Mum did not really have much left over cash at Christmas for a new tree. Before the presents went under the tree there was this big gap and the rather ugly metal base could be seen but before long a mountain (from my three foot high vantage point) of presents under the tree.

That was the beginning of the season and it usually happened around December 1st.

Plymouth Brethren Church History (notes for a further study)

I used to attend Pinewoods Gospel Chapel in Angus Ontario. Pinewoods had its roots in the Plymouth Brethren Church but Pinewoods has evoled through persistent and diligent study of scripture to a bible centered church very different from the Plymouth Brethren. As many people have asked me to say where I got such a good basis in biblical knowledge I thought it only fair to give Pinewoods that credit. Below is a brief write up on the Plymouth Brethren, you will note that through out the history of the church they stressed learning, and teaching. This is the most important feature of the Plymouth Brethren that Pinewoods has retained IMHO.


Founders and Notable Persons in Plymouth Brethren Church History

1. Anthony N. Groves
2. Edward Cronin
3. Francis Hutchinson Original Seven
4. William Stokes So Called
5. John G. Bellett
6. J.N. Darby
7. E. Wilson

Edward Irving
B.W. Newton

Concepts of the Brethren

Ground of Gathering
Corporate worship
Priesthood of all believers
Apostasy of the established church
Milleniumism, Post and Pre-Milleniumism
Individual anti-Christ
(virtually unknown amongst Protestants till Darby’s writings)
Substitutionary atonement.
Practicle Godliness
Infalibility of scripture
No creeds and no name.

Notable Events

1825 Dr. Edward Cronin and Edward Wilson begin meeting Sundays for Breaking of Bread (based on Matthew 18:20)

1830 Darby leaves the priesthood

1832 B..W. Newton invites Darby to speak at Ebrington St. Plymouth assembly

Darby Bible

1845 Clericalism at Ebrington St. Plymouth
Newton espouses Post-
-milleniumism.
Darby effectively excommunicates Newton and Ebrington assembly.

1845 Beginnings of the exclusive brethren
Darby vs Muller.

Further divisions: Darbyites, Newtonites,
Mullerites, Granitites, Kellyites,
Stuartites, Ravenites, and Taylorites

Key Verses
______________________________________________________________________________

Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.

1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body.

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.

1 Corinthians 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made righteousness of God in him.

Colossians 1:20
And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

History Notes

From Unity to disunity is probably the best way to describe the history of the brethren church.
First it has to be pointed out that there is no real Plymouth Brethren church in an of itself as the brethren hold no creed and no name. They strive to be as close to what they believe to be the New testament church as they can.
A Movement is the best possible description of the Brethren.. The origins of the movement can be traced back to the dissatisfaction that had arisen in the Church of England during the late 18 century, that same dissatisfaction that had produced the Campbellites and the Glasites. Like the Campbelites the Brethren were antisesordotal and stressed a degree of libertarianism. The movements origins can be seen in it’s founders. The founders predominantly came from inside the Anglican church itself. While there are seven recognized founders of the movement there are four that have made a major impact on the movement by their teachings. The Plymouth Brethren are noted for the scholastic nature of their assemblies and that is the reason why teachers played such a major role. The movement also can be said to have been influenced by the social disparity between rich and poor ..

The movement began as a group of scholastic clerics that meet to study pray and break bread on Sunday as they believed the first Christians did in the new testament church. This Four member group consisted of Anthony N Groves, John Darby, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson. Each of these men had considerable influence on the development of the movement and arguably the devolution of the movement.


One of the earliest sources of what could be called Plymouth brethren thought was Anthony N. Groves. Groves his convictions lead him to the conclusion that there was something wrong with society an he set out to make a difference in a personal way giving most of what he owned to the poor and volunteering for foreign missions. He studied at trinity college in Dublin in order to prepare himself for a mission to the east notably to Baghdad. In his frequent trips to Dublin he came in contact with a select group of men with somewhat the same thoughts on biblical doctrine. During this period he experienced several major set backs that lead to his in ability to finance his schooling ( a burglary stool his tuition) From this Groves determined to continue his mission decide to go as a laymen . This development arguably changed his mindset on ordination and he began studying scriptures independently . He became convinced from his readings that believers baptism was a necessity and accepted baptism prior to his departure for missionary work . After the ceremony a friend came to him and said “of course, you must be a baptist now you are baptized” to which groves replied with what is now seen as a general Plymouth brethren attitude toward denominations, and the unity of the brethren..
No I desire to follow all in those things in which they follow Christ; but I would not, by joining one party, cut myself off from the others. Then taking up the ring on which his keys were hung, he said, “if these keys were to hold by one another, all would go if one fell; but as each of them is attached to this strong ring, so should we each take hold of Christ, not of any of the systems of men and then we shall be safe and united: we should keep together, not because of any human system, but because Jesus is one.
It would seem that with this new tenant Groves break with the church was complete but that of the other members of their study and fellowship group weren’t. Darby in particular had not come to

Darby

The most notable member of the Brethren was John Nelson Darby . Darby was born into a upper class English family whose family home was Leap Castle Offally.. An expression of this upper class position is seen in John Nelson Darby’s middle name which came from his uncles long time friend Lord Nelson. Fitting to his position Darby attended Trinity College in Dublin to study law, graduating at age 19. In 1825 he was ordained as an Anglican deacon and quickly made his way up to the rank of parish priest in Wicklow Ireland. After 2 years Darby became dissatisfied with the Church of England he in association with Anthony N Groves, Edward Cronin, John Bellett and Francis Hutchinson, began to preach the apostasy of the church. The apostasy they saw was the distance the church had come from the new testament church model Darby question the tenants the church treated as truths. He believed that the passion of Christ (the Crucification and resurrection) was not a simple act of sacrifice but an act of Substitutionary Atonement as he said the sacrificial death of Christ “is the sole ground of remission .... and there is none without shedding of blood ... and that by which Christ has made peace; Col 1:20 By this Darby saw that without this substitution man must bear the guilt of his sin and the punishment as well. This is something that brought Darby and the brethren much criticism. Writing in 1897 Rev. Edward Hartley Dewart described the beliefs of the Brethren as “herseys ... {and} contrary to Scripture and reason.” he directly attacks the Brethren’s substitutionary atonement saying “I object to this theory of atonement because Gods claims on us were not of the nature of a debt; and Christs work of atonement was not a commercial transaction.” He goes on to say that “this view results from forcing a coarsely literal interpretation on figurative statements.” The accusation of over literal interpretation may have some weight as the Brethren strongly adhere to the concept of the infallibility of the scriptures and would rather err on the side of literal then exclude any part of scripture.

The Origins and Nature of Public Education in the Province of Ontario: Universal Social Control

By Wilhelm (Bill) Arends


The Origins and Nature of Public Education in the Province of Ontario: Universal but not Egalitarian

The story of public education in the province of Ontario, extends back to the pre-confederation period, but it was at the beginning of Confederation that the nature of the system was being defined. It is difficult to fully understand the system of education during the latter part of the nineteenth century, as the structure of the school system was still in its infancy.
The education system from the middle to the end of the nineteenth century was in a stage of transition. Ontario’s universal education system would grow from a very informal one in the mid-nineteenth century to a very structured one. Domestic schooling was the most common type of schooling up to the middle of the century. This system was to drastically change as Ontario entered the confederation era.
The system that developed was structured to meet the needs of society according to a protestant upper class model. Therefore the structure of the system that developed was one based on upper-class Protestant ideals. Egerton Ryerson and the universal school system would forever change education in Ontario and give it a protestant upper class structure that was far from socially representative of class.
Alison Prentice in her book the School Promoters: Education and social Class in Mid-Nineteenth Century Upper Canada points out that Education history in Ontario was written by “schoolmen” and followed the American model that used a “congratulatory approach.” The two authors that Prentice sees as exemplifying this style of history are J. George Hodgins and J. Harold Putman. Putman’s first major work centered around the character of Egerton Ryerson it was entitled Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada. In this work he clearly states the objective of his writing as “to give a succinct idea of the nature and history of our Ontario School legislation [and] this legislation is so bound up with the name of Egerton Ryerson that to give its history is to relate the work of his life.” This great man centered approach though negates the fact that society helped to create the system as much as Ryerson the man. Society imposed forces on education that would inevitably change its character as much as the efforts of Ryerson. Marvin Lazerson in his article “Canadian Educational Historiography: Some Observations,” writes that “Ryerson’s role as historians are coming to understand, was to both help build a new system and to accommodate to social trends over which he had little control.” In a letter to Bishop Bethune Ryerson states that “My own humble efforts to invest our school system with a Christian Character and spirit have been seconded from the beginning by the cordial and unanimous cooperation of the council of public Instruction and without that cooperation my own individual efforts would have availed little.”
The growth of schooling in Ontario was not simply a byproduct of Ryerson’s efforts but due to the growing school house phenomenon. Domestic schooling predominated the first half of the nineteenth century. Many of these domestic schools or home schools were a means to supplement a family’s income, but often they had roots in religious societies and churches. As Johanna Selles points out in her article “A girl at Cheltenham: The Diary as an Historical Source” domestic religious education was commonly practiced by the Quakers which organized in “private households.” Susan E. Houston and Alison Prentice expand on this in their book Schooling and Scholars in Nineteenth Century Ontario, stating that the Quakers and the presbyterians also practiced domestic education but had developed a more formal school house centered education. In 1816 the Quakers had built their own school house and the presbyterians were not far behind in this education innovation, building their own school house in 1817. The trend toward a more formal approach to education was well under way.
The Common School Act of 1816 had allowed for government grants to towns villages or townships that wanted to set up their own schools, but had not endorsed a public educational system envisioned by Ryerson. Ryerson’s call for universal education was not to improve a student’s chances for advancement but to mold his or her behavior to a preconceived norm. All students were to be taught a set curriculum regardless of their class or ethnicity hat fit Ryerson’s upper class preconceptions of education and its purposes. This purpose being to a large degree a form of social control. He saw Christianity and morality as the key to good human conduct, and education as a means to that end. In an Editorial in the Christian Guardian Ryerson stated that “moral theory becomes a viable norm for human conduct only when it is integrated in and grounded on the all-encompassing truths of Christianity.” This belief was by no means unique to Ryerson as he was simply expressing opinions that were endemic to the educational system that existed before confederation. The Regulations on the constitution and government of schools in respect to religious and moral instruction, prescribed by the council of public instruction for Upper Canada, up held at the time a very Christian position. The regulations stated that “As Christianity is the basis of our whole system of elementary education, that principle should pervade it throughout.”
Ryerson’s chief accomplishment as Superintendent of schools from 1846 to 1876 was to centralize education in Ontario. He was to leave the system of trustees in place but removed their authority to a degree. Putman points out that Ryerson’s chief task was, that he “lessened local, and strengthened central, control, and did it so gradually, so wisely, and so tactfully, that local prejudices were soothed and in many cases the people scarcely recognized what was being done until the thing was accomplished.” Robin S. Harris in his work entitled “Quiet Evolution: A study of the Educational System of Ontario, believes that the system of education created by Ryerson was basically complete by 1867 but was simply a “ground floor.” Harris States that for Ryerson “it required twenty years of steady effort to build the ground floor, but by 1867 the job was essentially done.” Harris points out that while societal forces were influential in shaping the school system “ it was Ryerson who organized, related, and defined the basic elements and who provided the philosophic ideas which gave the developing system cohesion, inner consistency, and fulness.”
Ryerson’s biographical information sheds light on how societal influence helped to contribute to his construction of the School system. He was a Methodist Minister and the son of a United Empire Loyalist. He was the first editor of the first Methodist newspaper in Canada The Christian Guardian and the principal of the first college with university powers in Canada, the Methodist Upper Canada Academy. These experiences were to shape Ryerson’s views on education as he helped to shape the educational system of Ontario. His background as a Loyalist was to produce a particular direction to his ideas on education. Ryerson’s family having come from America, retained aspects of American ideals. As J. Donald Wilson points out in his article The Ryerson Years in Canada West, “like his American counterparts, Ryerson looked on the school as a vehicle for inculcating loyalty and patriotism, fostering social cohesion and self-reliance, and insuring domestic tranquility.” Patriotism according to Ryerson was inherent in the education system and lack of attention to this aspect of education could present problems for domestic tranquility. In a 1847 report to the Assembly of Canada Ryerson showed how strong his belief in this object of education was. He blamed American influences on Education for some of the radicalism that led to the 1837 rebellions. He stated that “in precisely those parts of Upper Canada where . . . United States schoolbooks had been used most extensively, there the spirit of the insurrection in 1837 and 1838 was most prevalent.” Ryerson tied the ideals of religion and order together. He believed that social order that had been rocked by rebellion required the lessons of religious sanctity to bring it back together. As Prentice states “The ‘world of men’ as Egerton Ryerson called it, seemed evil, Chaotic. The movement to send all children to school was, above all, a movement to bring Sanctity and order to human affairs.” Ryerson’s goal was to improve the mind of Children for religious reasons as well. Prentice points out that “The mind [Ryerson] argued in the 1870s was that which man had ‘in common with the angels and with God.’ ” According to Prentice Ryerson saw that “While political economy, science and education were important, they were meaningless if strictly secular.”
Drawing From Census data Michael B. Katz in his article, Who went to School, uses the employment of servants to determine economic and class distinction in early Ontario. His research shows that “there is a direct association between the employment of Servants and economic rank [and] the proportion of children attending school generally increased with the number of servants in a family.” The middle class morality that was therefore preached in schools stressed a life style of sobriety free of sin, and this moral education was endemic to Ryerson’s system of education. He believed there was “no guarantee that a man’s conscience would lead him away from the paths of Sin, for moral law was not innate, [and] could only be introduced to the mind by Christian revelation, and thus by Christian education.” Ryerson endeavored to include this Christian moral education into the New Provinces system of education. In a report on the Systems of popular education on the continent of Europe, in 1868, Ryerson concludes that examples of Christian education in Europe should be the model for education in Ontario. He states that “on the creation of legislature, and the inauguration of a new system of government, it seems appropriate to review the principles and progress of our system of education . . . [and] to be second to no country in our plans to secure . . . [the] blessings of a sound. Christian education.”
The System of Education that therefore developed was based on what upper class society believed to be needed to produce good moral Christian citizens, based on upper-class Protestant ideals. Katz in his article though does not see Ryerson’s attempts as highly successful and states that they did not alter the morals of the students to produce better class students. Katz states the “expansion of educational facilities reflected rather than altered the relations between social and ethnic groups.” Egerton Ryerson and the universal school system would make education in Ontario a protestant upper class tool that was far from egalitarian or representative of the students culture and ethnicity which sought to teach.



Bibliography

Prentice, Alison. The School Promoters: education and social Class in Mid-Century Upper
Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1999

Putman ,J. Harold. Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada. Toronto: William
Briggs, 1912

Selles - Roney, Johanna. “A girl at Cheltenham: The Diary as an Historical Source.” In
Historical Studies in Education. Vol. 3. No.1 (Spring 1991), 93 - 103.

Houston Susan E. and Alison Prentice. Schooling and Scholars in Nineteenth Century Ontario.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988

Ryerson. Egerton to Bishop Bethune, 13 July 1872. In Historical and Other Papers and
Documents Illustrative of the Educational System of Ontario, 1855 - 1872, Forming an
Appendix to the Annual Report of the Minister of Education. Ed. J. George Hodgins.
Toronto: L. K. Cameron, 1911. P. 71.

Lazerson, Marvin “Canadian Educational Historiography: Some Observations” in Egerton
Ryerson and His Times. Eds. Neil McDonald and Alf Chaiton. Toronto: Macmillan,
1978. pp. 3-8.

Egerton Ryerson, editorial in The Christian Guardian, 18 January, 1832, p. 116, c. 3.

Regulations on the Constitution and Government of Schools in Respect to Religious and Moral
Instruction, in Historical and Other Papers and Documents Illustrative of the Educational
System of Ontario, 1855 - 1872, Forming an Appendix to the Annual Report of the
Minister of Education. Ed. J. George Hodgins. (Toronto: L. K. Cameron, 1911) 58.

Harris, Robin S. Quiet Evolution: A Study of the Educational System of Ontario, Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1967
Wilson , J.Donald “The Ryerson Years in Canada West”. In Education in Canada an
Interpretation. Eds. E. Brian Titley and Peter J. Miller.(Calgary: Detselig Enterprises,
1982. pp. 61-109.
Wilson, J. Donald“The Pre- Ryerson Years” In Egerton Ryerson and His Times. (Toronto:
Macmillan, 1978) pp. 9- 42.

Katz, Michael B. “Who Went to School” In Education and Social Change. Ed.Michael B. Katz
and Paul H. Mattingly. New York: New York University Press. 1975. pp.271- 293

Ryerson Egerton “Report on the Systems of Popular Education on the Continent of Europe ,
1868" In Historical and Other Papers and Documents Illustrative of the Educational
System of Ontario, 1855 - 1872, Forming an Appendix to the Annual Report of the
Minister of Education. Ed. J. George Hodgins. Toronto: L. K. Cameron, 1911. pp. 248-
278.

Considerations When Buying a New Vehicle (2005)

CR Good Bets

These are the best of both worlds: vehicles that have performed well in Consumer Reports road tests over the years and have proved to have several or more years of better-than-average overall reliability. They are listed alphabetically.


Acura Integra
Acura MDX
Acura RL
Acura RSX
Acura TL
Buick Regal
Chevrolet/Geo Prizm
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Ford Crown Victoria
Ford Escort, ZX2
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda CR-V (SUV)
Honda Odyssey
Honda Prelude
Honda S2000
Infiniti G20
Infiniti I30, I35
Infiniti Q45
Infiniti QX4
Lexus ES300, ES330
Lexus GS300/ GS400,
GS430
Lexus IS300
Lexus LS400, LS430
Lexus RX300, RX330
Lincoln Town Car
Mazda 626
Mazda Millenia
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda Protegé
Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Tracer
Mitsubishi Galant
Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Forester
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Solara
Toyota Celica
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Echo
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Tundra


CR Bad Bets

Be especially careful when considering these models. They have shown several years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability in their 1997 to 2004 models. They are listed alphabetically.

Audi A6
BMW 7 Series
Chevrolet Astro
Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet Express1500
Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Chevrolet TrailBlazer
Chrysler Town & Country (AWD)
Dodge Dakota (4WD)
Dodge Grand Caravan (AWD)
Ford WindstarGMC Envoy
GMC Jimmy
GMC Safari
GMC Savana 1500
GMC Sonoma (4WD)
Jaguar S-Type
Jaguar X-Type
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Land Rover Discovery
Lincoln Navigator
Mercedes-Benz C-Class (V6)
Mercedes-Benz CLK
Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Oldsmobile Bravada
Oldsmobile Cutlass
Plymouth Neon
Pontiac AztekSaturn Vue
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Jetta
Volkswagen
New Beetle
Volvo S80