Week 12: Historical Event

 HISTORICAL EVENT

To date, I have found that my ancestors led relatively dull lives and were not directly involved in any historical event.  Most were farmers and stayed home tending the farms instead of going to war.

In North America, my ancestors settled in Ontario (or Upper Canada or Canada West depending on the year in question).  My husband's Acadian ancestors managed to stay in eastern Canada after the Explusion.  

So there has been virtually no crossing of paths.  However, one historic event did have a connection to both lines.  The event was the British Royal Tour of Canada in 1939.  This tour by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (aka Queen Mom in later years) was the first time a reigning monarch traveled to Canada.  (While Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII did travel to western Canada, but he was not the reigning monarch at the time.)  The tour is also historical as it took place of the cusp of World War II.

The royal couple spent a month in Canada, travelling from one end of the county to the other, and back, as well as a four day side trip into the United States.  While in Canada, they traveled by train and were greeted by crowds along the way.  During the potion of trip between northern Ontario and Toronto, my grandparents George and Irene Schell, accompanied by their young son, joined the crowd along the track to be able to wave to the Royal couple.  According to my mother, the train was well behind schedule and by the time it approached where my grandparents were waiting, it was very late and the King and Queen had gone to bed.  So the crowds only got to wave to the passing train and did not get a glimpse of royalty.

During the eastern Canada portion of the tour, the Royal couple again traveled by train.  My father-in-law Ken Legere, was a young school boy in Port Elgin, New Brunswick.  He would tell the story that all the school children were transported by truck to Cape Tormentine to greet the King and Queen before they crossed the Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island.  Once again, the tour was behind schedule and it was raining.  The organizers insisted the children stay out in the rain while they waiting to wave to the Royal couple.  

Being a very proud Acadian, Ken had no appreciation for the British royal family and always maintained that he was waiting for an apology from Queen Elizabeth II for the atrocities of her ancestors.  Obviously that never happened.  After his death in 2012, when the family was going through his items, we found the paper crown that was distributed to the school children to wear to greet the Monarch in Cape Tormentine.  So despite his disdain for the British royals, he kept a memento from their 1939 tour.

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