Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal immortalised as the "Cheeryble Brothers" in Charles Dickens' book, Nicholas Nickleby. Donald's mother was the sister of the Canadian explorer John Stuart, partner of the North West Company who rose to become Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Smith was educated at Anderson's Free School and on leaving at age sixteen he was apprenticed to become a lawyer in the offices of Robert Watson, Town Clerk of Forres. By the age of eighteen, Smith chose another career path: offered entry into mercantile life at Manchester, and a career in the Indian Civil Service, his choice was to pattern himself
Dickens in America were outraged that Dickens was advocating reciprocal copyright laws, but in the same issue where they chastised Dickens, they were pirating "American Notes", publishing it right on the front page. Dickens commented that the social reform he hoped to see in America was not working. “This is not the republic I came to see,” he said. Dickens wrote about pigs wandering up and down the city streets. Miriam says she is thankful we don’t see anything like that today, as a woman walks by with a pet pot-bellied pig on a leash. Dickens talked about the colors of women’s clothing,