The Newcomers: inhabiting a new land

Description: Self-contained dramatisation concerning immigrants settling in a new land. John Symons, a Scottish radical, and his wife Margaret come to make a new life in Upper Canada. Symons faces the same challenges many settlers did during that period - poor farmland, back-breaking work for which he is ill-suited, isolation, a hard climate, and disease. Through perserverance and his own unconventional character, he is able to take advantage of the opportunities offered in the new world. He is a gifted entrepreneur. In his lifetime he becomes a wealthy businessman and landowner.