for the family to move, it would be likely that he would turn to this
method of transportation.

It was a large coach drawn by eight horses. It covered about twen-
ty-five miles a day, and was three weeks on the road, with a rest at
a tavern each Sunday. It would not have been a very pleasant trip
when you consider spending three weeks on the road with a group of
young children.

By 1790 Vere was old enough to start school, so his first expo-
sure to the classroom was probably in Scotland. There was no such
thing as universal education in those days. Parents who could afford
it might send their boys to boarding school, but that was out of the
reach of the majority. In England, Robert Raikes, a newspaper pub-
lisher, started something called the Sunday School Movement to
teach reading and writing to the masses. It started in 1780 and slowly
spread throughout the country. The children attended classes from
10 to 12 Sunday morning to practice writing, and then went home
for lunch. They would return at one and spend some time reading,
and then go to church. After church they would spend the rest of the
afternoon studying the catechism.

Vere appeared to be better educated than someone who only spent
a few hours reading and writing on Sundays. It’s more likely that he
spent a few years in a classroom setting with a local teacher. We know
that he had a decent education because he subscribed to a newspaper
and wrote letters and pamphlets in support of political causes in PEI.

16