Edward Brammer was in a dark mood. He was held prisoner along with dozens of others — craftsmen, farmers and labourers — who dared to defy the establishment in Upper Canada.
They had all taken up arms in pursuit of greater freedoms and equalities, had marched down Yonge Street to York, were badly defeated at Montgomery’s Tavern, scattered to the four winds, rounded up and imprisoned.
As the year 1837 closed, Brammer had cause to look back, evaluate how he got to be a prisoner of the Crown, and wonder what his future held.
Brammer was born in Rothertham, Yorkshire, England, in 1811. His father was 27-year-old farmer John Brammer and his mother was Ann. Whereas the elder Brammer and most of his sons bound their future to the land in agricultural pursuits, Edward apprenticed himself to a blacksmith.
While mastering the trade, he found time to marry Hannah Scales, five years his senior, in 1833. A houseful of children followed, beginning with Catherine Elizabeth later that same year.
The Brammer family seemed to be subjected to collective wanderlust. In 1836, Edward brought his wife and children to Canada, lured by the glowing reports of brothers George and Joseph. Their aging parents, John and Ann, crossed the Atlantic at the same time. All settled in the village of Hope (now known as Sharon).
Edward resumed his trade as a blacksmith. His shop was located along the road in front of the Sharon Temple, close to the present-day site of the Sharon Museum and Gardens’ Temperance Hall.
The Brammers arrived in Upper Canada (Ontario) at a turbulent time. There were political and economic inequalities, and much of the colony’s wealth and power were held by a clique known as the Family Compact. The masses were restive, upset by the glacial pace of reform. As autumn turned to winter in 1837, the simmering tension finally boiled over. Enough was enough.
A small army of farmers and craftsmen, heeding the call of reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie, gathered to march down Yonge Street toward the colonial capital of York (Toronto). Many came from the Sharon and Newmarket region, gathering allies as they moved south. Firearms were relatively sparse. Far more common were pikes crafted in blacksmith shops.
Among this rabble of high-minded but untrained rebels were Edward Brammer, his brother, Joseph, and their father, John. Edward likely hammered some of the melee weapons carried by these farmers-turned-soldiers on his forge.
The result was almost predictable. At the Battle of Montgomery’s Tavern in York on Dec. 7, the rebel army was defeated, its members scattered. In the wake of this defeat, the rebels were hunted down and apprehended, the Brammers included.
That’s how Edward closed out the year 1837, in prison, pondering his decisions, worried about what the future held in store.
Thankfully, he was jailed for a relatively brief time. He was a fortunate one. Some others were held for many months, even years. Almost 100 were exiled to Australia. Two were hanged.
Edward returned home to resume his trade and raise his family. Unlike his fathers and siblings, he never took up farming or purchased any sizable piece of land. He was an ardent temperance worker and trustee for the Sons of Temperance in Sharon, fighting to rid society of the perceived evils of alcohol. The Temperance Hall in which he railed against booze still stands and has been restored on the grounds of the Sharon Museum and Gardens.
Edward, assisted by his son, Edward Jr., continued to work at his forge nearly to the end of his days in October 1872.
In his final moments, Edward Brammer likely felt some pride in a life well lived. Even his involvement in the ill-fated rebellion was not for nothing as it resulted in welcome reforms and a more equitable Ontario.
A worn headstone in the Sharon Burying Ground marks the resting spot of a principled individual who came to Canada for a better life and played a role in forging a better nation.
