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These pictures relate to the grave of Elizabeth Brooking who died the 4th of Clay, 1862 and is buried in the Indian Burial Grounds on Chief Island. The stories behind this photograph and behind Robert Brooking and his wife are extremely interesting and important from an historical standpoint. Elizabeth Brooking’s grave in the early days of this century was completely neglected. The tombstone had been knocked down and broken. The Frost family lived a large part of the time on the lakeshore and with boats and familiarity with the lake the existence of the Brooking grave was known. As part of the Centenary celebrations of 1932 the cairn shown on the picture was erected and the broken tombstone was imbedded in the same. The originator of this idea was the Women’s Missionary Society of which Mrs. W. S. Frost was president. Years after the erection of this cairn the original Brooking diaries and documents came into the possession of the Hon. Leslie M. Frost, then Prime Minister of Ontario. The originals have been placed in the archives of Victoria University. Copies, however, were placed by Mr. Frost in the Orillia Public Library with the other papers of historical value placed there by him. Robert Brooking was a Wesleyan Missionary. He first of all went to Africa with his wife, Elizabeth, who was a very dedicated and extremely delicate person. The accounts of their African Mission are extremely interesting and tell of the very primitive conditions and the low value placed on human life in those days. The scene of their mission was on the Gold Coast of Africa. From here many of the slaves had been taken to America. The tribesmen were in a very primitive state. Mrs. Brooking took seriously ill while in Africa and was compelled to return to England leaving her husband in Africa. After convalescence she returned to Africa by sailing vessel and suffered many tribulations. On arriving at the seaport in Africa before she landed she was advised that a day or two previously her husband had returned to England. Accordingly she herself returned. The accounts of her feelings are given in her diary. After a period in England the Rev. Mr. Brooking and his wife, Elizabeth, came to Canada and were sent by the then Wesleyan Church as missionaries to the Canadian West. References are made to them in the writings of Rev. John Rdyerson and the Champlain Society. The Brooking’s, however, left their own accounts of what had taken place. The site of their missionary endeavours was at Norway House on Lake Winnipeg. There they met with the utmost rigours. In the late 50’s, after very considerable service, they returned again to Upper Canada, now Ontario. They served at various stations among the Indians but one of the most important was at Rama where Mrs. Brooking died. Her Doctor was Dr. John Ardagh to whom reference has been made in this volume. The Brooking diaries are extremely interesting and important. Among other things they tell of the almost appalling hardships suffered by the early missionaries of those days about which comparatively little has been written at this time (1965). |
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