Susanna Moodie. Anne Cimon

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      “My blue stockings, since I became a wife,” Susanna joked to James Bird, in a letter dated April 9, 1831, “have turned so pale that I think they will soon be quite white, or at least only tinged with a hue of London smoke.”

      By August, Susanna, now pregnant, wanted to be near her mother and sister’s. John found them a cottage near Reydon Hall in the village of Southwold. It was close enough that her family could walk over every day.

      Soon, a visitor arrived. Thomas Traill, a boyhood friend and fellow officer of John’s, was a widower. Susanna liked him. He had studied at Oxford and loved to read. Whenever Catharine was in the room, Thomas seemed to be so cheered by her that Susanna encouraged her pretty, sweet-natured sister to visit often. But Susanna had more to keep her busy than matchmaking. In late February, she gave birth to a baby girl promptly named Catherine, later Katie for short.

      Now that she and John had the baby’s future to consider, how could they better their financial situation?

      John attended the popular lectures on emigration to Upper Canada, which were given by a certain William Cattermole. Cattermole was a huckster who. described the young colony in his talks and pamphlets as a paradise where people could expect to prosper easily. Thousands of desperate British citizens followed the carrot he dangled before them. John was accompanied to these lectures by his friend Tom Wales, a younger man from a wealthy background who wanted to emigrate to Canada. Susanna and her sister’s, who knew Tom Wales, found this funny.

      Susanna would later describe Tom in her book Roughing It in the Bush as “a man in a mist, who seemed afraid of moving for fear of knocking his head against a tree …a man as helpless and indolent as a baby.”

      When John asked him if he was qualified for a life of toil and hardship, Tom answered back:

      “Are you?” and added prophetically: “Gentlemen can’t work like labourers, and if they could, they won’t. You expect by going to Canada, to make your fortune, or at least secure a comfortable independence. But the refined habits in which you have been brought up, and your unfortunate literary propensities, will make you an object of mistrust and envy…”

      Another visitor to Reydon Hall dismissed Tom’s unattractive description. Robert Reid was a well-to-do settler in Upper Canada and father-in-law of Susanna’s brother Samuel, who was also doing well in the colony. Reid, who had ten children, charmed the family with his Canadian anecdotes and promises of wealth. Retired half-pay officers such as John Moodie were eligible for grants of free land, and this became the final selling point. Susanna’s brother would take care of securing land for the Moodies near his own, while the couple made their preparations to emigrate.

      As the time for their departure drew near, Susanna became despondent.

      The prospect of leaving her friends and native country was so intensely painful she couldn’t sleep. The woods were bursting into green leaves and the meadows and hedgerows echoed with the song of birds and the humming of bees. To leave England, Susanna mused, is dreadful – to leave in Spring is doubly so.

      On May 13, 1832, Susanna and John attended the wedding of Catharine and Thomas at St. Margaret Church in the village of Reydon. The whole family was in attendance, despite the fact that Mrs. Strickland didn’t approve of Thomas, and neither did Agnes or Jane, who were bridesmaids. They saw only a tall, balding, impoverished widower, nine years older than their beautiful kind Catharine. But Susanna saw Thomas differently. As she watched him gently slip the gold band onto Catharine’s finger, she sensed that he truly loved her sister, and that alone was what mattered.

      And Susanna had another reason to rejoice in the wedding. Catharine and Thomas had decided to emigrate to Canada. Thomas had attended the lectures by William Cattermole along with John and had been convinced of the benefits of leaving England as soon as possible. Susanna wouldn’t be separated from her favourite sister after all.

      As Agnes and Jane stood by Catharine’s side at the altar, they couldn’t understand how she, like Susanna, could choose to go to a far-off colony where there were no theatres or libraries and where their homes would be made of crude materials.

4 The Crossing

      Parties of emigrants and their friends were gathered together in small picturesque groups on the pier. The cheeks of the women were pale and wet with tears. The words of blessing and farewell, spoken to those near and dear to them, were often interrupted by low, pitiful wails, and heartbreaking sobs.

      – Susanna Moodie, Flora Lyndsay

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