Cannington Manor, an early settlement community in southeastern Saskatchewan

Abstract

This project is an analysis of social relationships at Cannington Manor, an early settlement period site in south eastern Saskatchewan. The site earned some fame as a result of the activities of a group of English expatriates who reproduced a round of British upper middle class leisure activities such a fox hunts, dances and musical evenings in the newly-settled West. The town, and the phenomena, lasted only twenty years, but since then, Cannington Manor has captured the imaginations of Saskatchewan residents in both press and literature. Documentary records, oral histories, and archaeological investigations are combined to address the question of the relationship between the upper middle class English and lower middle class farming community that surrounded the English settlement. The dynamics of class are found to be a factor in this relationship, although class differences are mediated to some extent through the mutual interdependencies felt by both groups. In addition, gender is found to be a variable that influences the experience of class dynamics at Cannington Manor. Gender is also found to influence how different Cannington residents participated in the negotiation of class roles. These conclusions are supported by evidence observed in the archaeological record. However, due to the small sample of material culture data available, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis.