English Immigrant Cragg’s Beech Farm – circa 2020 – Courtesy Christine Cross
Introduction
The diary of English Immigrant David Cragg to Canada in 1833 utterly inspires and enthralls, culminating in his founding of Greenbank, Ontario. Born in 1769, Cragg’s incredible story lays in three simple, yet jaw-dropping facts. Firstly, Cragg was born in April 1769, four months before Napoleon Bonaparte made his entrance into the world. Secondly, well-schooled in the Quaker faith, Cragg faithfully wrote about his daily life from the tender age of eighteen until just before his death forty years later. Thirdly, Barbara Dickson has a copy of his diaries.
David Cragg could claim no spectacular accomplishment in his life. Just an ordinary man, he carried out his life in England’s countryside, like the humanity around him. He took a wife, had eight children, and worked to feed his family. He experienced profound joy and suffered great sorrow – things that all mankind encounters and endures.
From the minutiae that made up daily life to sweeping world events, Cragg recorded it all. He chronicled day-to-day weather reports, and his growing displeasure in the pettiness of his church. He wrote about the impact of the Napoleonic Wars to the tragic consequences of the Industrial Revolution. He recounted the devastation in his family borne by a grand consumption, scarlet fever, and the dreaded lake fever.
Widowed and penniless, Cragg sailed from his beloved England with his children, enduring a harrowing trip across the Atlantic, immigrating to Upper Canada in 1833.
Cragg’s humble diary entries offer an unbelievable opportunity, to not only read about his life, but to sneak an intimate glimpse into the world as it was over 230 years ago.
The diary of this humble English immigrant is extraordinary, much like the man who wrote it.
 English Immigrant Cragg Memorial – Greenbank, Ontario © Barbara Dickson |
The Diary of English Immigrant David Cragg:Read about David Cragg’s life as told through his descendant Georgina Fandrey who transcribed his diaries, adding her own reflections. |
 English Immigrant Cragg Rides the Rapids West of Montreal, Quebec in 1833 © Barbara Dickson |
Cragg’s Harrowing Adventure up the St. Lawrence Rapids in 1833David Cragg climbed aboard a decrepit Durham boat at Montreal with his exhausted family in June, 1833. While they already had survived the perilous journey across the North Atlantic in a storm-battered sailing ship, their trip was far from over. The treacherous La Chine and Cascade Rapids west of Montreal awaited… |
 Toronto in the 1800’s |
A Rare Snapshot in Time: Toronto in 1833David Cragg landed at the docks of York (Toronto) at ten o’clock in the evening of June 17, 1833. He piled their meagre but treasured belongings on the wharf, and his oldest son, Isaac guarded the boxes while David and his younger children sought shelter at a public house for the night. David was about to discover if leaving England for the New World had been a wise decision. Did the streets of Muddy York offer hope for the Cragg family, or more despair? |
 Stone Inscription on the Cragg’s Homestead, Wyersdale, England |
David’s Great Grandfather, Timothy Cragg (1657 – 1724) Speaks UpTimothy Cragg was born the second day of the tenth month, 1657 in Wyersdale, England. Remarkably, he was not only literate but he took the time to write his life story before he died. He wrote about his conscription into the military and being forced to fight for a King and Monarch he didn’t believe in. He wrote about his personal joys and sorrows including the birth of his 11 children. Three little ones died. Sadly, infant mortality and war were not uncommon during the era in which he lived… |
26 comments for “Diary of English Immigrant’s Journey to Canada in 1833”