Written by Vicky Messervey
A Jubilant Story Begins
Jubilee Road is a familiar street on the Halifax peninsula; but why does this street have such a joyous name? It's a name that's stood the test of time thanks to philanthropist Isabella Binney Cogswell. Let’s meet her, discover where she lived, and learn about her devotion to improving life for all members of society.
A Life of Privilege
Isabella Binney Cogswell was born on July 6, 1819, in Halifax during the Regency period. She was the eighth of nine children born to Henry Hezekiah Cogswell from Cornwallis Township, Nova Scotia, and Isabella Ellis of Windsor, Nova Scotia. Tragically, several of Isabella's siblings died in childhood before she even had the chance to meet them.
The year before Isabella was born, her father purchased a large house at the corner of Argyle and Prince Street. The stone home had been constructed in 1760 by the Honourable Richard Bulkeley, an Irishman who worked as Governor Cornwallis' aide-de-camp. He was also employed as the director of public works in Halifax, the provincial secretary, and briefly as a judge. Bulkeley named his spacious home Carleton House after his close friend Sir Guy Carleton, the 1st Baron of Dorchester. The home not only had prestige, but it was conveniently located in the middle of town, directly behind St. Paul's Church, the family parish.
At this time in Halifax there was no formal education for girls. Isabella would have been taught at home in subjects deemed "proper" for a wealthy Victorian lady: reading, writing, sewing, art, music, etc. She most certainly would have attended dances, parties, concerts, and the like, as the social aspects of life in the Victorian Age were quite demanding. And like any child, she had a circle of friends, one of whom was Charlotte Lawson - daughter of William Lawson, a financier who also served on the House of Assembly.
Unfortunately, very few specifics are known about Isabella personally. But, we can paint a basic portrait of her using other people (men) in her life as a guide.
Filling in the Blanks
Isabella's mother was the daughter of the Reverend William Ellis, who came to Nova Scotia from Ireland in 1774. He was part of the Church of England's Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and took over a large religious mission in Hants County; he worked there for twenty-one years before his death. Isabella's brother, William Cogswell, also pursued a career in the Anglican Church. He became a minister and was the rector of St. Paul's Church. In his preaching, Curate Cogswell spoke on many topics, including the importance of being a good person through the Christian faith: "... the world may cry out against the doctrine of salvation of mere grace, as though it were opposed to good works, assuredly he, who believes and lives upon the doctrine, will aim at being the best servant, the most obedient child, the most faithful friend... and at doing whatever he does, in word or deed, all to the glory of God." (Cogswell, pg. 170). Tragically, Curate Cogswell passed away on June 5, 1847 at age thirty-seven. Isabella was heavily impacted by her religious family, but the words and deeds of her brother were particularly influential, making his passing was especially difficult. However, rather than allowing the loss to consume her, Isabella made a personal vow to devote her life to the betterment of society through the convictions of the Anglican faith as a way of honouring her brother and his legacy.
Isabella's father, meanwhile, became a prominent business figure in Halifax. As a youth, he attended King's College in Windsor, and after his graduation, began a legal apprenticeship with Richard John Uniacke in Halifax. In 1798, he became a member of the Nova Scotia Bar and worked as a personal lawyer for many years before being assigned to act as the deputy provincial secretary. By the time Isabella was born, her father had been named the registrar of the Court of Chancery and had close ties to the Lieutenant Governor. Cogswell also served as an MLA and a member of the Provincial Legislative Council.
Perhaps it is because of Cogswell's connections that Isabella was given the unique middle name of "Binney." The name likely refers to Hibbert Newton Binney, a Loyalist who came to Nova Scotia following the American War of Independence. Binney worked as the Collector of Customs for Halifax County for more than fifty years, a career that would have likely put him in close proximity to Isabella's father. The two families also attended the same church. In fact, Binney and Cogswell served as churchwardens together, meaning they were responsible for the upkeep of the church property as well as the church's finances.
Cogswell's various positions entitled him to wages ranging between £500-£1000 a year (approximately $54,000 - $107,000 Canadian dollars today). He used this income to invest in property throughout the City and in business ventures, including the Halifax Fire Insurance Company and the Halifax Steam Boat Company. Over time, Cogswell also took up an interest in banking. In 1825, he, along with Enos Collins, Samuel Cunard, William Pryor, et al., formed the Halifax Banking Company. This is considered Nova Scotia's first "true" bank, and Cogswell was its first president. This business later merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce, which then joined the Imperial Bank of Canada to become the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) that we know today.
Isabella's father was powerful and wealthy, which meant that if the Cogswell Family had ninety-nine problems, they could pay to make them go away. For this, Isabella was extremely lucky. Her family had a well-established position in high society, and money was the last thing any of them needed to worry about. However, with elevated social standing comes increased social scrutiny.
Although Isabella's father was an active member of multiple charity groups that supported the public good, like the Poor Man's Friend Society, the Aid of the Colonial Church Society, and the Halifax Library Committee, to name a few. His drive to turn a profit earned him a bit of a notorious reputation. The Honourable Joseph Howe described Cogswell as a man who ruled over the City with a "rod of paper", and that he took advantage of "...the labour and sweat of the people..." (Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume 8, p. 168). Howe also noted that "...every species of property was raised or depressed in value at the nod of the wily President. Whatever the Bankers wanted to buy suddenly fell, and whatever they wanted to sell, as suddenly rose." Howe eventually gifted Cogswell the nickname "Lord Hezekiah," which was no doubt said with as much sarcasm and contempt as polite society of the time would allow.
We have no way of knowing exactly how Isabella felt about her father personally, nor what she thought about how he conducted his business. However, we do know that the apple did not fall far from the tree in many ways.
Little Miss Independent
As a young, wealthy, unmarried woman of the Victorian Age, the expectations for Isabella to extend her assumed maternal sensibilities out into the community would have been very high indeed. Thankfully, this was a societal pressure that suited her just fine. When Isabella came of age, she became a member of Saint Paul's District Visiting Society. She and her friend Charlotte Lawson would visit the poor and underprivileged of Halifax: "...they began to see a very different Halifax from the one they lived in. They witnessed abject poverty, destitution, drunkenness, prostitution, disease, abandoned children, and squalor" (Riley, p. 3). These sights, combined with the vow she made upon her brother's death, lit a fire in her. She wanted to help alleviate these societal problems. And so, in addition to her visits through Saint Paul's she participated in other volunteer activities like assisting with Sunday services at the Halifax Ragged School, as well as serving as the President of the school's Ladies Committee. The Halifax Ragged School was an educational institution for poor children located on Albemarle Street (now Market Street).
However, Isabella's ability to enrich the community was not completely within her control. Social projects and community improvements require capital, and Isabella had no money of her own; every penny the Cogswells had belonged to her father. In her mid-thirties, Isabella was able to attain financial freedom, but this freedom came at a price.
On May 7, 1850, Isabella's mother passed away at the age of seventy-one. Her father followed just four years later, on November 9, 1854, at age seventy-eight. Both were buried in Camp Hill Cemetery in the family plot.
Following the deaths of each of their parents, Isabella and the other Cogswell children would have gone into a period of mourning lasting at least one year. During this time, social rules dictated that as a grieving daughter Isabella would be required to dress entirely in plain, matte, black dresses and a weeping veil.
Despite having an estate consisting of property, cash, stocks, and bonds worth nearly £117,000 (or approximately $19,000,000 Canadian today), Isabella's father did not have a will. For someone as well off as Cogswell, it posed a problem. How would his wealth be distributed? In order to settle the estate, the family would likely have consulted with lawyers to apply the complex English Laws of Inheritance that existed at the time. The process took approximately two years to finalize. When all was said and done, the Cogswell children and grandchildren each received an inheritance. Isabella was left very well supported financially; she also inherited the family home of Carleton House. At the time, the property, house, and its contents were valued at approximately £1,500 (or about $243,000 today).
By 1867, Isabella decided to sell the family homestead. She sold the property to Benjamin W. Cochrane for $12,000 (Canada had switched from pounds to dollars in 1858), or around $370,000 today. Cochrane had intentions of converting the house into The Carleton Hotel. However, when Cochrane purchased the property, he did not have all of the money he needed to pay for it. Here, Isabella made a shrewd decision to hold the mortgage. In other words, rather than borrowing money from the bank, Cochrane borrowed the money to Isabella and made payments to her, no doubt with interest. Three years later, with three-quarters of the original debt still owing, Cochrane borrowed an additional $7,000 (or about $180,000 today) to finance an expansion to the hotel. Thanks in part to Isabella's investments in the project, The Carleton Hotel became known as one of the best in the city. And this wasn't Isabella's only property investment. Investing in local property was Isabella's primary source of income: "...in twenty years of substantial purchases and sales, she demonstrated the same good business sense as her competitors" (Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol X, pg. 182). So, it would seem that Isabella inherited her father's mind for business. She would, however, have a far different reputation, as we will soon see.
With the family homestead in new and capable hands, Isabella purchased a new home.
The Pryor family was one that Isabella knew well. The family were well-known merchant traders to the West Indies and, following the Napoleonic Wars, were able to make sizable fortunes. William Pryor established himself on Water Street with the Dominion Wharf Complex and also joined in a business relationship with Isabella's father as one of the founding partners of the Halifax Banking Company. His brother, John, constructed a large set of buildings on Hollis Street between 1816-1817 called Pryor Terrace, which included a home for himself and each of his eldest daughters.
In 1810, prior to his development on Hollis Street, John had purchased property and built a home on the Northwest Arm. He called the property Jubilee after King George III's Golden Jubilee happened that same year. In 1816 William also bought a large parcel of land on the North West Arm for £587 (or around $86,000 today). In 1820, John passed away, and it is likely that William either inherited or purchased the lands from his brother's estate. William continued to buy and develop property on the Arm until he owned most of the land fronting the water. It is unknown what the property was called. Some sources state that William called his estate Coburg from Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as a way of honouring Pryor's wife, Barbara Foss (Voss). Other documents, like the above map, call it the Jubilee Property. Regardless of its name, after his death in 1859, William Pryor's lands and property were inherited by his sons William, Henry, and Edward. The land on the Northwest Arm was subdivided, and the parts were subsequently sold.
Isabella purchased a large portion of the Pryor land, including John's 1810 home. Neighbouring estates on the Arm included Dr. W. J. Almon's Rosebank, Henry Pryor's Hillside, John Stairs' Fairfield, Tomas Kenny's Thornevale, Robert Morrow's Birghan, Alfred G. Jones' Bloomingdale (which would become the Waegwoltic Club), Sandford Fleming's Blenheim Cottage (or The Lodge), and Dr. C. B. Tupper's Armdale (Tupper would go on to be Prime Minister of Canada in 1896). Isabella kept the name Jubilee for her new estate, and from that point forward, it became fully associated with her.
Tragically, there are no known portraits, sketches, or photographs of Jubilee. In the early 1900s, the Federal Government was looking at making a new railway terminal in the south end of the city: "Many routes were studied, but the one chosen by F. W. Cowie, the federal government engineer, was a doubletrack line branching off the Intercolonial Railway (ICR) at Three Mile House, Fairview on Bedford Basin. The track was to curve southwest around the city and run through the most attractive residential district bordering the Northwest Arm, a distance of roughly eight kilometres." (Copp, pg. 12). Isabella's beloved Jubilee was one of several large estate properties that stood directly in the path of the new railway track, and so the property was expropriated by the Government of Canada and demolished. Jubilee Road, which once led to the house, is all that remains.
A Lady for the People
Public service was always at the front of Isabella's mind. She never forgot the vow she made to her brother, and upon inheriting her father's money, she knew exactly how she wanted to use it. She devoted all of her energy to supporting the underprivileged people of Halifax. Here are just a few of the projects that Isabella brought to life:
The Protestant Orphan's Home
With the exception of the very wealthy, life in the Victorian Age was extremely difficult. Poverty, disease, squalid living conditions, and death were common to many households coming. It was not uncommon for children to be left parentless, either by death or abandonment, leaving them to live in the streets begging or stealing what they needed to survive. Isabella would not stand by and witness such suffering. In 1857, she enlisted the help of Reverend Robert Fitzgerald Uniacke, rector of St. George's Anglican Church, to assist her in founding the Protestant Orphan's Home. The orphanage was located on North Park Street between Cornwallis Street (now Nora Bernard Street) and John's Lane (this street no longer exists but was located between Cornwallis Street and Cunard Street). In 1875, the orphanage made the ill-fated decision to move to a building located between Campbell Road (now Barrington Street) and Veith Street. This building was called Rose Hall. The house was described as "large and airy," with a front and rear hall, two pantries, four bedrooms, two sitting rooms, and an attic with three additional rooms. It also came complete with stables, a coach house, a wood house, a hen house, and extensive grounds (Chard, pg.2). In 1917, the orphanage was destroyed when the Halifax Explosion rocked the North End of the city. Twenty-four children and three caretakers were killed in the blast. They were buried in St. John's Cemetery. In 1924, the home was rebuilt on Veith Street, and it served as an orphanage until 1969. In 1970, it became Veith House, an organization that focuses on social and mental health services for children and adults.
The Home for the Aged / Victoria Hall
The aged and the disabled also felt the sting of poverty in Halifax. Many families could not afford to take care of their aging relatives or family members who suffered from physical or mental disabilities. Women, in particular, struggled as their husbands and sons passed away or moved on from city life, leaving them without a source of income. With life in the Halifax Poor House or on the streets as the only alternatives for these citizens, Isabella, Charlotte, and Jane Liddell, wife of James Liddell, secretary of the Board of the Hospital for the Insane, sought to find a way to care for vulnerable women.
Charlotte and Jane met with William Murdoch to ask if he would be willing to support the idea of a women's home. Murdoch was a local businessman known for his charitable works. He agreed. Murdoch contributed £1000 (or about $180,000 today) with the stipulation that an equal amount needed to be raised to match his donation. Donations came from a variety of people, but Isabella donated one-quarter of the sum, £250 (or $46,000 today). By June, a property on Gottingen Street called The Gold Ball at a cost of £10 per year (or $1,845 today). Isabella was one of thirty-five women who formed the Committee of Management under the Board of Trustees. On June 6, 1860, the Home for the Aged officially opened with six residents.
The Home gradually came into very high demand, and over time, the Board that ran the Home were forced to turn people away due to lack of space. In 1881, architect Henry Frederick Busche drafted plans to construct a new Home for the Aged. He drafted a beautiful structure in the Second Empire style, two and a half stories tall with a mansard roof. On July 2, 1884, the doors of the new Home for the Aged were opened. Another extension was added in 1914 to accommodate even more residents. It even survived the Halifax Explosion with minimal damage.
The home continued to look after the aged women in Halifax for decades, and only the name changed. In 1970, it was changed to Victoria Hall in honour of Queen Victoria. However, in 2014 Board of Trustees who managed Victoria Hall sold the building after it became too difficult to maintain. The Hall was purchased and converted into apartments.
The Boys Industrial School / Halifax Protestant Industrial School
By the 1860s, the Halifax Ragged School on Albermarle Street was struggling to stay open. Knowing that the school could better serve the poor children of Halifax, Isabella formed a Ladies Committee to help revitalize the school. In 1863, the Halifax Industrial School, or Protestant Industrial School, was established on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Carlton Street. The school's intention was to educate and reform wayward boys before they turned to lives of crime. H. O. Eaman, one of the school's superintendents, stated the school was "...not a place of punishment nor a prison in any sense of the term, but a training school where boys, because of circumstances, usually over which they have no control, have become a community problem, receive the instruction and training best adapted to mould and perpetuate good character, establish habits of industry, and impart knowledge that will fit them to take their places in the community when their course of training is completed" (Boudreau). Boys at the school were given eight hours of general education a week to give them basic reading and writing skills, but were otherwise trained in practical job skills like shoe making, carpet cleaning, and woodworking. The boys were required to attend church every Sunday and to take part in military drills several times a month as a way of improving their overall physical health. By 1871, a large piece of the Forrestall property on Quinpool Road was purchased for $11,000 (or around $280,000 today) as a new home for the school. It included a large farmhouse and outbuildings and happened to be across the road from Isabella's estate. In addition to establishing and funding the school, she continued supporting it financially. In addition to yearly donations, Isabella also contributed funds to purchase a steam power system for the workshop. She also continued to be a member of the school's Ladies Committee. In addition, she frequently invited the children to be entertained at Jubilee.
The Boys Industrial School continued to operate on Quinpool Road until 1947, when it was forced to close due to a lack of funding. The Provincial Department of Public Welfare took over the facility and renamed the Nova Scotia School for Boys. Within a year, it was decided that the building did not suit the organization's needs, and the school was relocated to the South Shore. Ultimately, the building was torn down, and the area is now residential.
St Paul’s Alms House of Industry for Girls
The Halifax Ragged School had initially been open to both boys and girls, but with the establishment of the Halifax Industrial School, the girls were left behind. This changed in 1867 with the opening of St Paul’s Alms House of Industry for Girls on Tower Road. The school was considered "an experiment" by a small group of Saint Paul's Church members who were attempting to assist families who were "...growing up in the midst of the most baneful influences...(Report of St. Paul's Alms House... 1868, pg 4). In a church meeting held in January of that year, twelve people donated a total of $480 (or about $10,000 today) to provide a building, a matron, fuel, light, and water for the first year of the school's operation. Much like the Industrial School, the House of Industry for Girls had the aim to "...preserve young girls whose position, whether through the fault or only the misfortune of their guardians, is one of proximity to vice, from being ruined by the noxious influences around them... in which they may be trained in the habits of industry, be taught to read, write, and learn the rudiments of arithmetic, and be instructed in the great truths of Christianity." (pg. 5). For girls, industry training included household activities such as cooking, sweeping, scrubbing, baking, etc, in hopes of preparing them for an honest living in service. Isabella held a position on the Ladies Committee for the school and was, in all likelihood, one of the people at the original planning meeting in Saint Paul's Church. Annual reports also show her making yearly financial contributions, as well as donating necessary items like handkerchiefs, mitts, washtubs, butter, pork, linen collars, a wringing machine, and clouds (a type of head covering). (Report of St. Paul's Alms House... 1870 pg. 7).
The Saint Paul's Alms House of Industry for Girls changed a great deal over the years. In the wake of World War II, multiple management styles were tested, and by the 1970's the building was functioning as a house for orphaned girls. By the 1980's, the organization had rebranded as Saint Paul's Home (SPH), and had a new focus of serving all youth in vulnerable positions. Today, the SPH has nine buildings operated by several independent charitable organizations, including Phoenix Youth, who occupy the original Alms House location on Tower Road.
The End of an Era
In between her charitable causes, Isabella hardly took a moment to breathe. She was well known for sitting bedside with sick friends and nursing them back to health. In fact, it would be this generosity that would be her downfall.
In the winter of 1874, Isabella was "ministering... to the sick and dying" (Notman), when she herself became ill. Within two weeks, her "...overtasked strength yielded to the long-continued strain, and she crossed the river." On December 6, 1874, Isabella Binney Cogswell died at age fifty-five. She was buried in Camp Hill Cemetery in the Cogswell Family plot.
At the time of her death, Isabella's estate was worth an estimated $95,000 (or $2,600,000 today). As generous as Isabella was in life, she continued to be in her death. In addition to bequeaths to friends and family, she donated $4000 (or approximately $110,000 today) to the Colonial Church and School Society, the Protestant Orphans Home, the Home for the Aged, the Trustees of Trinity Church, and to the Boys Industrial School. She also donated $2000 to the Girls Industrial School. Other donations and gifts totalled over $18,000 ($495,000 today).
Upon her death, a monument was dedicated in her memory in Saint Paul's Church. In part, it states: "There was scarcely a good work in connection with the Parish of St. Paul, or with the city at large, in which she did not engage... Leaving behind her the sweetest memories and honoured and beloved not only by the parishioners of St. Paul's but by the whole community."
The Finishing Lines
Although Jubilee Road does not bear her name, we can use it to remember the contributions made by Isabella Binney Cogswell to Halifax society over 150 years ago. Her time and devotion to charitable pursuits undoubtedly left the city for the better. Haligonians can remember Isabella and her tireless efforts to make the city a better place for all.
Library Sources
Back in the Day: Vintage Postcards
Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society
The Dark Side of Life in Victorian Halifax
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Halifax and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, City Directory
Halifax and Its People 1749-1999
Poverty, Poor Houses and Private Philanthropy
Sketches and Traditions of the Northwest Arm
Additional Sources
Canadiana, Report of the Halifax Protestant Industrial School
Canadiana, Report of St. Paul's Alms House of Industry for Girls at No. 14 Tower Road
CIBC's Atlantic Roots Run 197 Years Deep, Chafe, Alexander, Atlantic Business
Cogswell, Henry Hezekiah, Wikipedia
Cogswell House, Home Bridge Youth
Cogswell, Isabella Binney, Acadian Recorder, December 7, 1874, p.3, Nova Scotia Archives
Cogswell, William, Sermons, Online Books Page
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Buckeley, Richard
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People: Cogswell, Miss Isabell, Nova Scotia Archives, Notman photo collection #98651
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St. Patrick's Home, Fairview Historical Society
Victoria Hall has been converted into apartments, Halifax Examiner, July 3, 2014
Victorian Colour Plates, The Age of Uncertainty
Victorian School Girl, Rawpixel
Will of Isabella Binney Cogswell, Nova Scotia Archives, MGI No 224 #32
Women 1830-1831, Plate 065, Fashion Plates, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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