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Title

Fonds consists of

24 lower level description(s)

Arrangement structure

Accession

Agnes Macdonald, Baroness of Earnscliffe fonds [graphic material] (1999-01420-0)

Date(s)

[1880-1886]

Place of creation

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent

Language of material

English

Scope and content

Fonds comprises twenty-four watercolours by Agnes Macdonald, Baroness of Earnscliffe (1836-1920), the second wife of Sir John A. Macdonald. The works depict, primarily, rustic scenes in and around the Macdonald's vacation home at Rivière du Loup where Susan Agnes would often spend the summer months with their ailing daughter Mary Theodora Macdonald. Letters from Sir John A. Macdonald to his sister Louisa frequently mention the salutary effect of their visits to Rivière du Loup. Several of the watercolours depict views of the river from their boathouse as well as beach scenes and generic forest vales. A single work features a young woman seated before a blazing fireplace. Also included are a few Ottawa views, notably 'Lovers' Walk', below the Parliament buildings.

Conditions of access

Terms of use

No restrictions on access or on use for reproduction or publication.

Finding aid

Watercolours have been item-level catalogued in the Minisis-ICON database. (Electronic)

Creator / Provenance

Macdonald of Earnscliffe, Agnes Macdonald, 1836-1920. Baroness,

Biography / Administrative history

Susan Agnes Macdonald, Baroness of Earnscliffe (1836-1920), the second wife of Sir John A. Macdonald, was born in Jamaica to Thomas James Bernard and and Theodora Foulkes Hewitt. Political upheavals and family tragedy caused the removal, in 1854, of Susan Agnes and her mother to Ontario where they joined Agnes' brother Hewitt Bernard. Hewitt, a practising lawyer, was soon serving as Secretary to Macdonald. Tiring of the frequent moves between Quebec City and Toronto prior to the establishment of Ottawa as the capital, the two women re-settled in England. While Macdonald was in London working out the final details and passage of the British North American Act, Susan Agnes and Macdonald were re-acquainted. Their wedding took place shortly afterwards, in London in February 1867. By July of that year, they had returned to Ottawa as Macdonald was sworn in as the Dominion's first Prime Minister.

As a political wife, Susan Agnes was ceaselessly supportive of her husband through his political triumphs and defeats. She was occasionally known for published commentaries on Canadian life and politics. Sadly, their only child Mary (1869-1933), to whom both were devoted, suffered from the effects of hydrocephalus. In recognition of Sir John A. Macdonald's service and loyalty, Queen Victoria awarded Agnes a peerage; she became Baroness of Earnscliffe, a title based on the name of their Ottawa residence. For the next thirty years, admittedly rootless and bereft following her husband's death, she chose to travel through Europe, settling frequently in England where she died in Eastbourne in 1920.

Additional information

Source

Private

Related control no.

1999-01420-0

MIKAN no.

161120