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.

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