In 1908, the Seddon family left their home in England in search of a better life in Canada. Arriving on the Prairies with the clothes they wore and little else, they turned their hands to whatever work they could find. For fourteen-year-old Winnie, pioneering was exciting and scary at the same time, hard work punctuated by tears, song and laughter. This memoir, written seventy years later, evokes the flavour of that long-gone era and captures the strength and resilience of the human spirit. (With an introduction and epilogue by her grandson.)
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From the Back Cover
In 1908, the Seddon family left their home in England in search of a better life in Canada. Arriving on the Prairies with the clothes they wore and little else, they turned their hands to whatever work they could find. For fourteen-year-old Winnie, pioneering was exciting and scary at the same time, hard work punctuated by tears, song and laughter. This memoir, written seventy years later, evokes the flavour of that long-gone era and captures the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
About the Author
Winifred Bland (1893-1981) was a Victorian Englishwoman who never lost her love of the old country during a lifetime in Canada. She was born in Northamptonshire, emigrated in 1908 and was part of the colonising of the Prairies, which she vividly described in this memoir, written toward the end of her life.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
What an amazing "little lady". This was a great read. I couldn't put it down. Winnie and her family lived through some really hard times but she always had good things to say. Her memoirs were so alive I could feel myself "looking in through the window" and seeing all those folk getting on with life despite it's hardships. Well done Chuck, I look forward to the next instalment of the Seddon/Bland family history.
P.S. Anyone from the Bland family who knew "Aunty Winnie" will love this book.
Winnie: An English Girl on the Prairies
P.S. Anyone from the Bland family who knew "Aunty Winnie" will love this book.
Winnie: An English Girl on the Prairies
By Ian Mathie
Format:Paperback
This is a fascinating story, told with great sensitivity by Winnie's grandson through the words she recorded in her diaries and from his own memories of a truly remarkable woman. To have had her whole life turned upside down at the tender age of fourteen and then be moved across the world to an alien, windswept environment with nothing and then to have to get stuck in and work just to survive would have finished off most people. But the indomitable spirit shone through and, with every member of the family doing their bit, ther family literally carved a new life from nothing.
It is difficult in this modern age of plenty to imagine what that must have felt like, but Winnie's own words carry unfailing hope and determination, qualities amply demonstrated throughout her long and busy life. She and those pioneers who shared that life, building a new country out of the frozen wastes of an enmpy landscape, are the people who really made the British Empire great. Whatever you think of Empire, you cannot ignore the courage and tenacity of those folk who laid the foundations of the prosperity Canada enjoys today.
This is a heartwarming record of courage, unfailing principles and sheer determination. It provides a lesson for all those who bemoan their lot today and do noting to change it.
I strongly recommend this book.
It is difficult in this modern age of plenty to imagine what that must have felt like, but Winnie's own words carry unfailing hope and determination, qualities amply demonstrated throughout her long and busy life. She and those pioneers who shared that life, building a new country out of the frozen wastes of an enmpy landscape, are the people who really made the British Empire great. Whatever you think of Empire, you cannot ignore the courage and tenacity of those folk who laid the foundations of the prosperity Canada enjoys today.
This is a heartwarming record of courage, unfailing principles and sheer determination. It provides a lesson for all those who bemoan their lot today and do noting to change it.
I strongly recommend this book.
Format:Paperback
Imagine if you will, being posted to the bleak prairies of Canada with no company support, no relocation package and having to stump up the fare and then make the arduous journey from England by boat and train...
Hardly the sort of assignment one would volunteer for, but more than 100 years ago Winifred Bland and her family did just that.
Winnie is the remarkable story of an indomitable and hard working young woman, written from the journals she kept until 1913, and then lovingly continued by her grandson years later, to complete her story when she died in 1981.
At the age of 14, Winnie, her parents and four younger siblings left Britain to escape the imminent threat of mass unemployment, and departed for the new province of Saskatchewan with little more than the clothes they were wearing, and $10 to their name.
Seduced by Government propaganda promising free land, the Bland family arrived in what must have felt like the middle of nowhere, to subzero temperatures, with no income, and having to rely solely on the hospitality of old friends who'd made the journey before them.
It's a story of old-fashioned stoicism in the face of enormous hardship, which could have made for a depressing read; and yet it's not at all.
Winnie's Victorian principles and her iron work ethic, combined with a deep sense of responsibility held her in good stead during difficult times and personal tragedy.
She was clearly loved and admired by her extended family to the extent that years later Winnie's story inspired her grandson to publish it.
It's all too easy as an expat to become absorbed in the many real obstacles we have to face relocating to new countries, especially with young children, but Winnie puts these difficulties into perspective and makes for an enjoyable and uplifting read.
Hardly the sort of assignment one would volunteer for, but more than 100 years ago Winifred Bland and her family did just that.
Winnie is the remarkable story of an indomitable and hard working young woman, written from the journals she kept until 1913, and then lovingly continued by her grandson years later, to complete her story when she died in 1981.
At the age of 14, Winnie, her parents and four younger siblings left Britain to escape the imminent threat of mass unemployment, and departed for the new province of Saskatchewan with little more than the clothes they were wearing, and $10 to their name.
Seduced by Government propaganda promising free land, the Bland family arrived in what must have felt like the middle of nowhere, to subzero temperatures, with no income, and having to rely solely on the hospitality of old friends who'd made the journey before them.
It's a story of old-fashioned stoicism in the face of enormous hardship, which could have made for a depressing read; and yet it's not at all.
Winnie's Victorian principles and her iron work ethic, combined with a deep sense of responsibility held her in good stead during difficult times and personal tragedy.
She was clearly loved and admired by her extended family to the extent that years later Winnie's story inspired her grandson to publish it.
It's all too easy as an expat to become absorbed in the many real obstacles we have to face relocating to new countries, especially with young children, but Winnie puts these difficulties into perspective and makes for an enjoyable and uplifting read.
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