Jean McKishnie Blewett 1862-1934
Text from the plaque
Born at Scotia, Upper Canada, and educated at St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, Jean McKishnie was for many years a member of the staff of the Toronto Globe, continuing as an active journalist until 1925. Between 1897 and 1922 she published several volumes of poetry which was admired by her contemporaries "for the directness and simplicity of theme and form and for the occasional whimsical note". She died at Chatham, Ontario.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Chatham, on the main floor inside the rear door of the
Chatham-Kent Public Library at the southwest corner of
Queen Street and Cross Street
N 42 24.184 W 82 11.168
Recorded June 2009. Check current access before visiting.
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Visitors' notes
February 28, 2011
If McKishnie (Blewett) was born in 1862, as the plaque says, then she wasn't born in Upper Canada, as the plaque says she was. Upper Canada ceased to exist in 1841, when the Province of Canada was created, joining Upper and Lower Canada into a single new entity. To distinguish parts of the new province, the terms 'Canada West' and 'Canada East' were used. Although they were not politically separate, they were handy for describing areas of the province formerly known as Upper and Lower Canada, respectively. Items from this era (stoves, maps, etc.) often have "C.W." on them, for example. The Province of Canada lasted until Confederation in 1867, when it was divided into Ontario and Quebec. The upshot: McKishnie was born in Scotia, C.W. -Wayne
February 25, 2011
I wish I had known about this plaque. She was my father's great aunt. He would have loved to have seen it.
February 25, 2011
I wish I had known about this plaque, she was my father's great aunt. He would have loved to have seen it.