Cloyne Pioneer Museum & Archives

Marcella Neely | Jul 27, 2016

This portrait of Queen Victoria oversees the schoolroom exhibit. Victoria is often referred to as Canada's queen. She was the ruling monarch when Canada became a country in 1867. The portrait is comfortably surrounded by old wooden school desks, with their glass inkwells, wooden rulers (in inches), straight pens, and spelling and reading books. You will find hand-written attendance records; possibly a name or two is familiar or related. Reading some of the "letters to the teacher" may make you smile.

Also on display is an 1889 photo of the SS#1 School just south of Cloyne. We have the sign from the school and also the water jug, used daily by students, to fetch water.

Many grandparents and great grandparents tell of walking to school three miles, uphill, in summer, barefoot - in four feet of snow during winters. For sure, the tales become somewhat embellished with time but we know the students of yesteryear had never seen a school bus, ball point pen, calculator, computer or smartphone.

When you visit the classroom you will get a glimpse of some of the hardships young people hurdled to get an education. You can also visit our website cloynepioneermuseum.ca or contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..