Henry and Self: The Private Life of Sarah Crease, 1826-1922

Elisabeth Anne MacDonald-Murray is an assistant professor of English at
the University of Western Ontario.

In her preface, the author admits to ambivalent feelings toward Sarah
Lindley Crease, a remarkable yet narrow-minded and intolerant woman
whose life serves as a microcosm of colonial society in 19th-century
British Columbia. Bridge draws upon Crease’s letters, journals, and
sketches and paintings to re-create the experiences of female colonial
life. With her cultural and social prejudices, Crease was “a product
of her times,” who nevertheless demonstrated great strength and
courage in leaving her privileged and comfortable life in England and
following her husband to a new and difficult life in the young colony.

The first part of this biography documents Crease’s early life and
marriage in England and her years as a pioneer in Canada, where she
raised seven children and remained faithful to the Victorian worldview.
In the second part of the book, reproduced in its entirety, is
Crease’s 1880 journal (written while she accompanied her husband on a
tour of the B.C. interior), her correspondence with her children during
her absence, her drawings, and additional photographs—all of which
provide a valuable historical record of life in the emerging colony of
British Columbia.