Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

SHOE & KNEE-BREECH BUCKLES

Date Range From

1850

Date Range To

1899

Materials

WOOD, LEATHER, SATIN, VELVET

No. Pieces

5

Description

.1 CASE. 2.2 CM TH. X 14.6 CM WTH. X 8.3 CM LTH. WOOD COVERED WITH LEATHER, LINED WITH SATIN AND VELVET. THE CASE IS WARPED A LITTLE. IT CLOSES BUT THERE ARE SPACES OR GAPS AT EACH END. A SMALL CHIP IS OUT ON BOTTOM LOWER RIGHT JUST INSIDE CASE. OUTSIDE COLOUR IS DEEP WINE LEATHER. INSIDE LID IS LINED WITH WHITE SATIN & BASE WITH ROYAL BLUE VELVET. THERE ARE INDENTATIONS IN CASE WHERE 2 LARGE BUCKLES FIT AND 2 SMALL ONES. BUCKLES (2 SMALL BUCKLES, 2 LARGE). 1.9 WTH X 2.2 CM LTH. 6.3 CM WTH. X 3.8 CM LTH. LEATHER, GOLD WIRE, STEEL, BRASS. .2 OVAL SHAPED BUCKLE, WITH OLD WIRE SURROUNDING BLACK LEATHER INSET. STEEL CLIP ON BACK IS ON A HINGE AND SPRING. ON BACK OF CLIP THE LETTER "L" IS ENGRAVED (LEFT). .3 SAME AS .2, BUT THE LETTER "R" IS ENGRAVED ON THE CLIP (RIGHT). .4 SQUARE SHAPED BUCKLE, GOLD WIRE FORMING THE SQUARE WITH NO INSET. BRASS CLIP AT BACK. .5 IDENTICAL TO .4

Subjects

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

ASSOCIATIONS

POLITICS

History

BUCKLES WORN BY SIR ALEXANDER T. GALT, G.C.M.G. (KNIGHT OF THE GRAND CROSS OF THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL & ST. GEORGE). HE WAS A MILITARY KNIGHT OF WINDSOR COURT AND BUCKLES WERE PART OF THAT UNIFORM. ***UPDATE: 16 OCTOBER 2013: NICOLE HEMBROFF, GALT COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT, MET WITH DICK AND SHIRLEY TURNER AT THE MUSEUM ON 24 MAY 2010. THE COUPLE, FROM LETHBRIDGE, CAME IN TO SEE OBJECTS PREVIOUSLY DONATED BY DICK’S MOTHER MURIEL TURNER. SHE WAS, ACCORDING TO DICK, THE DAUGHTER OF SIR ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT’S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER ANNIE SMITH (NEE GALT), MAKING MURIEL GALT'S GRANDDAUGHTER. THE TURNERS, AT THE TIME OF THEIR 2010 VISIT, COULD NOT PROVIDE NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUCKLES BEYOND THAT SHARED BY DICK’S MOTHER IN 1974. AN ENQUIRY BY A NATIONAL MUSEUM IN OTTAWA IN 2013 LED GALT STAFF TO REVIEW THIS DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE. LETTERS ON FILE, SENT BY MRS. H.R. “MURIEL” TURNER IN 1974, STATE THAT SHE HAD “RECENTLY COME INTO POSSESSION [OF] FOUR BUCKLES BELONGING TO [SIR A.T. GALT’S] WINDSOR COURT UNIFORM.” SHE INHERITED THE BUCKLES AFTER THE PASSING OF HER BROTHER (HENRY GORDON SMITH) THE PREVIOUS YEAR. THE BUCKLES, UNSEEN BY THE DONOR PRIOR TO THEIR INHERITANCE, WERE IN A BOX ALONG WITH “A SMALL NOTE IN [HER] MOTHER’S HANDWRITING”. THE LOCATION OF THE NOTE IS UNKNOWN. IT IS SPECULATED THAT THE NOTE REFERENCED THE BUCKLES ASSOCIATION WITH GALT'S WINDSOR COURT UNIFORM. MR. DICK TURNER PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON 21 JULY 2010 AT THE AGE OF 80 YEARS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE DONOR’S LETTERS, RICHARD “DICK” TURNER’S OBITUARY AND A 2013 EMAIL FROM MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION CURATOR JEAN-FRANÇOIS LOZIER, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE. SEE ALSO DONATIONS BY MRS. MURIEL TURNER IN ARCHIVES. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING A PORTRAIT OF SIR ALEXANDER GALT. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF SIR ALEXANDER GALT WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA ONLINE AND A BROCHURE ABOUT ALEXANDER AND ELLIOTT GALT PRODUCED BY THE GALT MUSEUM. ALEXANDER TILLOCH GALT WAS BORN IN LONDON ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1817 AND CAME TO CANADA IN 1835 TO WORK FOR THE BRITISH AMERICAN LAND COMPANY, WHICH WAS OPENING LAND FOR SETTLEMENT IN QUEBEC'S EASTERN TOWNSHIPS. GALT BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF THE ST LAWRENCE AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD IN 1849 AND HE REPRESENTED SHERBROOKE IN THE CANADIAN LEGISLATURE FOR TWO TERMS, 1849 - 1850 AND 1853 - 1867. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE GREAT COALITION CABINET, AND ATTENDED THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE IN 1864 AS ONE OF THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION. AFTER CONFEDERATION HE BECAME CANADA'S FIRST FEDERAL FINANCE MINISTER. GALT WAS APPOINTED THE FIRST HIGH COMMISSIONER OF CANADA IN LONDON FROM 1880 - 1883 TO PROMOTE BRITISH INTEREST IN FINANCING CANADIAN RAILWAYS AND EMIGRATION TO THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST. HE UTILIZED HIS POLITICAL CONNECTIONS TO HAVE HIS SON ELLIOTT, BORN IN 1850, APPOINTED TO THE POST OF ASSISTANT INDIAN COMMISSIONER. THE POSTING TOOK ELLIOTT TO WESTERN CANADA IN 1879, WHERE HE MADE A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF THE COAL OUTCROPPINGS ALONG THE BELLY RIVER. AFTER HAVING COAL SAMPLES FROM THE SITE ASSESSED, ELLIOTT DEEMED COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT A PROFITABLE VENTURE, AND INFORMED HIS FATHER. ALEXANDER GALT FORMED THE NORTH WESTERN COAL AND NAVIGATION COMPANY WITH BRITISH SHAREHOLDERS W.H. SMITH, WILLIAM LETHBRIDGE, AND WILLIAM ASHMEAD BARTLETT BURDETT-COUTTS (HUSBAND OF THE BARONESS ANGELA BARTLETT COUTTS). THE COMPANY EMPLOYED NICHOLAS BRYANT AND WILLIAM STAFFORD TO EXAMINE COAL SITES IN THE AREA, AND IN 1882 THE COMPANY'S FIRST TWO DRIFT MINES WERE OPENED IN WHAT IS NOW INDIAN BATTLE PARK. THE GALTS INVESTED IN NUMEROUS ENTERPRISES IN THE AREA, INCLUDING THE ALBERTA RAILWAY AND COAL COMPANY, THE LETHBRIDGE LAND COMPANY, THE ALBERTA IRRIGATION COMPANY, THE CANADIAN NORTH-WEST IRRIGATION COMPANY, THE ST. MARY RIVER RAILWAY COMPANY, THE CANADA AND GREAT FALLS RAILWAY COMPANY, AND THE AMALGAMTED ALBERTA RAILWAY AND IRRIGATION COMPANY. THEIR MINING OPERATION ALSO FUNDED A COMPANY HOSPITAL IN 1891, WHICH WAS REPLACED IN 1910 BY THE SIR ALEXANDER GALT HOSPITAL, NAMED IN HONOUR OF GALT AFTER HIS DEATH, AND CURRENT HOME OF THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES. ALEXANDER GALT DIED IN MONTREAL ON SEPTEMBER 19, 1893. IN 1912, ELLIOTT GALT SOLD THE ALBERTA RAILWAY AND IRRIGATION COMPANY TO THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, AND THE FAMILY'S BUSINESS TIES TO THE AREA CEASED. ***UPDATE: 18 JUNE 2015: THIS OBJECT WAS EXHIBITED IN OTTAWA BY THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY (CMH) FROM NOVEMBER 2014 TO JANUARY 2016 AS PART OF AN EXHIBIT ENTITLED ‘1867’. THE OBJECT WAS EXHIBITED IN PHYSICAL ASSOCIATION WITH MATERIALS WORN BY CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JOHN A. MCDONALD. CMH LABEL COPY READ AS FOLLOWS: “AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COLONIES, MOST OF THE DELEGATES WERE ALLOWED TO WEAR MILITARY-STYLE UNIFORMS ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS. THE COAT, COCKED HAT, SMALL-SWORD AND BUCKLES IN THIS DISPLAY BELONGED TO JOHN A. MACDONALD, GEORGE-ÉTIENNE CARTIER, HECTOR-LOUIS LANGEVIN AND ALEXANDER GALT, RESPECTIVELY. THEY WERE WORN, IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, DURING MEETINGS WITH QUEEN VICTORIA IN 1867. MATCHING BREECHES OR TROUSERS COMPLETED THE ENSEMBLE. BETWEEN WORK SESSIONS AND OFFICIAL MEETINGS, THE MEN MADE FREQUENT VISITS TO THEIR TAILORS TO ENSURE THAT THEY CUT A FINE FIGURE.”

Catalogue Number

P19740057000

Acquisition Date

1974-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail