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Jean McKishnie Blewett 1862-1934

Photo by Alan L Brown - June, 2009

Plaque Location

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Chatham, inside the Chatham-Kent Public Library
at the southwest corner of Queen Street and Cross Street

Coordinates: N 42 24.184 W 82 11.168

Plaque Text

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.

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Posted 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

Posted 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.

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