Alderville Manual Labour School

Ontario's Provincial Plaques

Here's where you can learn a little Ontario history.

Photo by Alan L Brown - July 2, 2005

Plaque Location

The County of Northumberland
The Township of Alnwick/Haldimand
On the east side of a white church, on the north side of 2nd Line at street number 11696, just east of County Road 45

Plaque Text

One of several technical training institutions operating in Upper Canada during the first half of the 19th century, the Alderville Manual Labour School was established here by 1839 by Wesleyan Methodist missionaries. The school was designed, as were others of this type, to assimilate Native children into the Euro-Canadian society that was growing rapidly within the province. To that end, it attempted to eradicate the traditional Native way of life, and stressed instead Christianity, the rudiments of an English education, and skills in farming and domestic crafts. Believing that the school proved the effectiveness of the manual labour approach, Egerton Ryerson, Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, recommended in 1847 that similar facilities be established for Native children throughout the province.

Here's More
First Nations

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