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As usual miss came this morning after lessons we were playing soldier after dinner we played snowballing and sailing boats and tried to make whistle of alder but could not after tea I put a lot of specimens in boxes for papa I was asked over to Baynses but could not go.
April 5th 1861
Miss came this morning after lessons we played soldier after dinner we played tag with the girls and snowball <with> and top with the boys. I practised half an hour in the afternoon mama read to us a little after tea and when I was in bed
April 6th. 1861.
We played soldier & top this foornoon after dinner <we playe> I had to stay in till 3 after that we played top papa came and took me over to the indian remains after tea I arainged some specemens some of the students came tonight
April 7th. 1861.
I read a little to william and took rankine out for a walk this fornoon after dinner I went down with papa to the bible class but prince followed us and I had to go home with him mama read some to us before tea after tea I learnt a hymn for papa went to bed early
April 8th. 1861.
miss Macdonald came this morning after lessons we played soldier after dinner we played soldier hide and go seek and shortly before I went in I played top after tea I learnt my lessons went to bed preety early as I was tired
April 9th. 1861.
Miss came today after lessons I went out a little while after dinner I went down town with papa he went to Frothinghams and Dawsons I met mama at the bible depositary on our way up we called on Mrs Torrance23 after I came home I went to the stabels and helped Tom to cut hay after tea had some music.
April 10th. 1861.
Miss came this morning after lessons I went out a little while after dinner I went down town with Ohara & william we bought a bow and arrows and some sweaties when we came home we practised with our bow and <an> arrows and played marbles.
April 11th. 1861.
Had a bad headache
April 12th. 1861.
Miss came this morning got on very well with lessons after lessons we went out with our bows and arrows after dinner we made a dam and sailed boats and played top mama bought me 3 arrows today some ladies and gentlemen were in tonight
On 13 April this diary ceases. The “journal” as George calls it, he evidently made himself. The cover was of light cardboard, with a design of small blue flowers and the pages were held together at the back with a fold of orange cloth. It also contained a set of directions on how to make colours to paint slides for the magic lantern.
17William C. Baynes was McGill’s secretary, registrar and bursar from 1856 to 1887 and the Baynes family also lived in the East Wing of the Arts Building (now Dawson Hall) on the McGill campus. Obviously, the children of the two families visited back and forth between family apartments in the East Wing.
18Rankine Dawson (1863-1913) was George’s youngest brother. He graduated from McGill Medical School in 1882 and after spending time as a medical officer for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Manitoba, he left for further training in London, England. For four years, Rankine acted as surgeon on liners of the P & O Company before settling in London. In 1896, he married Gloranna Coats and they had one child, Margaret Rita. Always prone to depression and instability, Rankine uprooted his family and moved back to Montreal but, never achieving permanency there, they returned to London where Gloranna left him. Depressed, estranged from his family, and separated from his Montreal relatives, Rankine died in a London nursing home.
19Dan O’Hara was a boyhood friend who later dropped out of McGill and qualified as a notary.
20A reference to the writings of children’s author Martha Mary Sherwood, whose works, including Little Henry & His Bearer & The History of the Fairchild Family, were staples of Victorian children.
21Probably berries from wild hawthorn or haw, Crataegus spp.
22Or foraminifera, unicellular protozoa important as zone fossils especially in the Tertiary Period, some two and a half to sixty-five million years ago, where they may be locally present in sufficient numbers to be major rock-building constituents.
23Probably Jane Torrance (1812-1875) the wife of David Torrance, a prominent Montreal merchan later president of the Bank of Montreal.
A VOYAGE TO GREAT BRITAIN WITH FATHER
In 1865, Sir William took George and Anna for a trip to Great Britain. The excerpts below, from George’s diary written as he turned sixteen, will give some account of his impressions and activities on this his first trip across the Atlantic to the British Isles.
July 8, 1865
Sailed from Quebec this morning about nine. The St David sailed about 1/4 of an hour before us. Saw the falls of Montmorrency. met Magnet steamer going up, below Murry
