box
Report a Mistake- Date Made 1838
- Event 1837-1838 Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions
- Affiliation Canadian
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer Reid, William
- Object Number 986.28.1 a-b
- Place of Origin Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Ontario, Municipality - Toronto (tbv)
- Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Ontario, Municipality - Toronto, Township / District - YorkContinent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Ontario, Municipality - Toronto, Township / District - York, Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Ontario, Municipality - London, Township / District - Middlesex, County of
- Category Communication artifacts
- Sub-category Documentary artifact
- Department History
- Museum CMH
- Earliest 1838/01/01
- Latest 1838/12/31
- Inscription (front) to A.P. Lawrence/from William Reid/in prison (one side of container) Toronto 1838 (other side of container) Alas! for/Lount & Mathews (back) In prison bound I this prepare Amid great trials gloom & care,/Tho' chains dark cells & bolts surround/My mind is strong my heart is sound/I'm clinging to the massy grate,/Uncertain as to future fate,/To catch a glimpse of Hev'n's pure light/But trust in God to set all right. (bottom of container) D.G.P.
- Materials Wood, Cherry
- Person / Institution Associated party
- Measurements Height 6.4 cm, Width 9.5 cm, Depth 4.0 cm
- Caption Prisoner's box, 1838
- Additional Information This wooden box with half-barrel lid and scrolled handles was made by a prisoner taken during the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada and held in the Toronto Gaol. While awaiting trial, many of the prisoners -- mostly farmers, artisans and mechanics, accustomed to working with their hands -- painstakingly carved little boxes from the firewood piled on the cell floors, using pocketknives or pieces of broken glass as primitive tools.