Christmas in 1812 was a very different affair than it is today. Heck, Charles Dickens wasn’t even born until early 1812, and even his holiday classic portrays a Christmas far different than modern customs dictate – and the Victorian celebrations are arguably the basis for our current ways. (Think Christmas cards and trees – the latter particularly in Britain.)
In early Upper Canada, Christmas was much more a religious day of observance, with a brief holiday from work of perhaps a half or full day. As Robert Henderson notes in a recent blog post on the subject:
“For French Canadians and Scots, New Years Day was the focal point of their seasonal festivities. In contrast to this, the protestant Upper Canadians and newly-arrived American settlers, looked scornfully upon Christmas celebrations, particularly its decorations, as a “rag of Romanism”. An English immigrant coming to Canada noted in the 1820s: “I was much surprised at the cold indifference which most people showed in their observance of Christmas day -with the exception of the then few residing English families, the church was scantily attended.”
While the first Christmas tree lit in Canada was reported to be in 1781 in Sorel, Quebec, given the accounts shared by Mr. Henderson above, it is likely that most Christmas trees or evergreen decorations where in the homes of German Canadians. And, in fact, it wasn’t until the reign of Queen Victoria, with her German connections, that most British households began adopting the custom.
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of accounts remaining of civilian Christmas in Upper Canada in 1812. With land travel being difficult at the best of times, and as Mr. Henderson notes, waterways not being entirely frozen in December, any observance of Christmas was likely to be very close to home.
Author Dianne Graves found a brief account from Christmas in 1813, in the diary of Lady Katherine Sherbrooke, wife of Nova Scotia’s lieutenant-governor, Sir John Sherbrooke. Lady Katherine had noted that the couple had “a very good plum pudding at dinner” and attended church on Christmas day, while “the sun shone and the windows were frosted over from morning till night”
One good thing did come about on Christmas during the War of 1812: The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24th, 1814. Unfortunately, no one in North America was aware until some time after.
