North Frontenac Township

History in North Frontenac

The Township of North Frontenac is rich in History. In this section we hope to establish a collection of items with a historical significance to North Frontenac. Simply jump down to a specific item by making a selection in the History menu on the left. At any time, click the 'Back to the Top' button on the bottom-right to return to the top so you can make another selection.

* We are hoping that the public can help us build this section. Please submit your items of historical significance to 911@northfrontenac.ca.

The story of Rhena Pollard Cole and Charles Dickens for North Frontenac Municipality

The Harlowe Cemetery, near the gravestone of Rhena Pollard Cole and her husband Oris, was the site of a dedication of a plaque on Sunday, October 30, 2011. The plaque, erected by the Cloyne and District Historical Society, North Frontenac municipality, descendants of Rhena and Oris and the Ontario Heritage Trust, was designed to honour the courage and determination which brought Rhena to Harlowe.

Readers of the Frontenac News and The Pioneer Times, the news vehicle of the Cloyne and District Historical Society, will be familiar with the details of Rhena's story: her early years of poverty in the England of the early 1800s and the intervention in her life of the famous novelist Charles Dickens, who in 1847 established a home for young girls who were poverty-stricken and totally without means. The goal of Dickens and his benefactress, Angela Burdett Coutts, was to educate these young women and then have them emigrate to one of the colonies. Over the course of the next 10 years, approximately 100 women had the benefit of life in this strict but welcoming home called Urania Cottage, a place of refuge from the hardships of the streets of London.

After a year or more of turmoil in the home, where Rhena at first was not the most compliant resident, she successfully "graduated" from Urania Cottage and in 1855 emigrated to Canada. Somehow she ended up in Buckingham, Quebec, where presumably she worked as a domestic. There she met Oris Cole. In 1856 they were married and then "followed the timber" west to Cloyne and Harlowe, where they established a home and raised their children.

At least a dozen of those children's descendants gathered in Harlowe for the dedication of the plaque to Rhena. From across the country, as far away as BC, these people came to honour a woman whose spirit of courage and audacity continues to be alive in the family. Both tears and laughter were present at the gathering, as relatives who hadn't seen one another for many years, or who were meeting for the first time, exchanged stories about their connection to Oris and Rhena. Three generations of descendants gathered to unveil the plaque dedicated to Rhena.

Rhena Pollard Cole's importance to us lies in her connection to Charles Dickens, without whom she would not have ended up here, and in her symbolism as a pioneer wife and mother. The culture shock as she arrived at what would have been a log cabin in the bush, the hard work and determination required to better her situation as much as possible, the solid values of work, education and caring for others have been typical of thousands of women who, alongside their husbands, built this community.

For more information about Rhena and photos of the plaque unveiling, visit the Historical Society's website at http://pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca and go to the Spring 2010 and Fall 2011 CDHS newsletters. The website of the Frontenac News, http://www.frontenacnews.ca, has an article about the unveiling in the November 3, 2011 edition. Copies of the speeches and related information about Rhena and her family can be obtained by contacting pioneer@mazinaw.on.ca or phoning Margaret at 613.336.2203 or Carolyn at 613.336.6858.