14 



school a little further dowin the river 

 to which was given the name of St. 

 Cross. This was the same building 

 enlarged with which we were familiar 

 a few years ago as St. John's Boys' 

 college, and which has lately been tak- 

 en down. Mrs. Mills is said to have 

 been very thorough in her instruction 

 and management. The young ladies 

 were trained in all the social etiquette 

 of the day in addition to the more solid 

 education imparted. Miss Mills as- 

 sisted her mother with the music and 

 modern languages. Miss Harriet Milla 

 being younger, was more of a com- 

 panion to the girls, and accompanied 

 them on walks, in winter on the frozen 

 river, in summer towards the plain, 

 and unless her maturer years belie 

 the record of her girlhood we may 

 imagine she was a very lively and 

 agreeable companion. In addi- 

 tion to her regular school dut- 

 ies Mrs. Mills had a class for girls 

 who were beyond school age. She also 

 gave assistance in Sunday school 

 work. 



We may picture to ourselves what 

 would be the events of interest in the 

 school life of that time, how the boys 

 and girls, some of them from the far 

 north, would watch for the passing of 

 the brigades of York boats in the 

 spring, saying, "These men will see 

 our homes." The Tork boat with its 

 wing like sail would seem to them as 

 stately as the majestic merchantman 

 to the denizens of a seaport town. 

 Again they would look for the return 

 of the brigades in the autumn bringing 

 news from the distant fur-trading 

 posts and the coming of the ice that 

 would make of the river a highway 

 in which their friends could travel in 

 the gay comfort of a dog train. 



An event occurred early in 

 the history of Mrs. Mills' 

 school which must have caus- 

 ed considerable excitement. This 

 was the flood of 1852, when the Red 

 river overflowed its banks and drove 

 many of the settlers from their homes. 

 Bishop Anderson, who has written a 

 little book called "Notes on the Flood," 

 seems to have occupied one of the 

 wings of St. John's Boys' school. The 

 bishop speaks of the gradual rising of 

 the flood until his library was en- 

 dangered and it had to be removed 

 into St. Cross, as being a new building 

 and more likely to withstand the pres- 

 sure of the water. The young ladies 

 cheerfully assisted in the transfer but 



very soon Mrs. Mills and her youthful 

 charges had to be removed to a place 

 of safety. 



In 1856 Miss Mills was 

 married to Francis Johnson, record- 

 er of Rupert's Land, afterwards Judge 

 Johnson, and for a time governor of 

 Assiniboia, who, later still, was creat- 

 ed Sir Francis Johnson, and a judge 

 of the supreme court of Canada. It 

 may have been noticed that Lady 

 Johnson died recently in Montreal, 

 having survived her husband several 

 years. Soon after her daughter's mar- 

 riage Mrs. Mills left Red river. She 

 afterwards took charge of the Hel- 

 muth Ladifes' college, in London, Ont. 

 Miss Harriet Mills, though not Cana- 

 dian born, yet from long residence, 

 ranks among Canadian women au- 

 thors. After leaving Red river she 

 married a Mr. Roche, whom she ac- 

 companied to South Africa, and her 

 book, "On Trek in the Transvaal," was 

 published in London, Eng., in 1876. It 

 is now out of print, but since the out- 

 break of the South African war, ex- 

 tracts from it have been re-published 

 by the Canadian press. Mrs. Roche's 

 second husband was Dean Boomer, of 

 London, Ont. Mrs. Boomer is a pro- 

 minent member of the National Coun- 

 cil of Women of Canada and her racy 

 humor and sound common sense give 

 her a telling power in its meetings. 

 She is also a member of the school 

 board of London, Ontario, in which 

 city she makes her home. 



The pianos used in these schools had 

 to be brought by sea, river and port- 

 age by way of Hudson Bay, one of 

 them is still in possession of Miss 

 Lewis, St. James. The teachers 

 from England had to traverse 

 the same somewhat discouraging route 

 in coming into the settlement. Miss 

 Mills, who came alone a little later 

 than her mother and sister, travelled 

 from York Factory under the care of 

 Mr. Thos. Sinclair. She always mani- 

 fested the highest appreciation of his 

 kindness to her during the way, mak- 

 ing his men cut down and pile up 

 6ranches around her to protect her 

 from the cold when his party had to 

 camp out for the night. The departure 

 of Mrs. Mills almost brings the annals 

 of St. John's Ladies' college, as then 

 constituted, to a close. It was contin- 

 ued for a short time under the care of 

 a Mrs. Aldershaw from England, but 

 its existence was finally terminated in 

 1858. From the beginning of Mr. Mac- 



