Abodes of famous female authors in Nova Scotia

Baptist clergyman father, later moved to Halifax.

The Berwick Register, faithfully transcribed by Phil Vogler, kept an eye on Saunders. In 1923, a feature in the Toronto Globe was reproduced, detailing her adoption in New York of a “sick, bedraggled and utter desolate mongrel crouched timidly in a corner of an underground station.”

Among her many other pets, including 28 canaries, was a pigeon.

“When he was just a tiny baby, ‘ 38 Front Street’ was cruelly kicked by a bad boy, and discovered at the address, 38 Front Street, by a kind lady, who brought him to Miss Saunders for safety.”

In 1938, Saunders wrote to The Register about her early years in Berwick. Her letter detailed the kindness of a neighbour.

“I fear the (seven) Saunders children imposed upon her, but she never complained. Such wonderful things we got to eat in her house! And how generous she was! We could always go to the pantry for something to eat, but we must never break into a pie or cake that had not already been cut. If just one piece was gone we were at liberty to finish it.

“Attractive as Berwick was, we always loved to go up on the North Mountain where lived dear old Deacon Rawding and his lovely wife,” Saunders wrote. “After ranging round the house and farm and having wonderful things to eat, the deacon would harness the horse and drive us over to the Bay of Fundy where we always went in wading, though the icy water nearly froze our little legs. And the amethysts we used to pick up! Wonderful jewels to us, and the dulse and beautiful shells!”

During her Halifax years, Saunders completed her novel about humane treatment for dogs and submitted it to an American contest in 1894. She won, but wisely did not take the prize money. With copyright in hand, she found her own publisher. It became the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies.

In 1911, Saunders was awarded an honorary degree by Acadia University, which holds a number of her manuscripts today. Three years later, she moved to Toronto. When she died in 1947, Saturday Night magazine called her “Canada’s most revered author.” Monuments honouring her can be found today in her birthplace in Milton and in Meaford, Ont., which was the real life setting of Beautiful Joe.

Last week, Phil Vogler passed along another tale of a female author in Halifax – Lucy Maud Montgomery. About 40 years ago, he helped to renovate a structure on Barrington Street called the Stoddard building, which now houses the N. S. Architects Association.

Apparently Montgomery, while attending Dalhousie University in 1895-96, boarded at what was then the Halifax Ladies College on Barrington. Phil can recall seeing her initials on a closet wall. Hopefully, his memory will help with heritage designation for the building.

Since 1866, Britain has had a much-loved Blue Plaque program to commemorate links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. There are about 900 plaques, especially in London, and now there’s even an app to download for walking tours.

There are plenty of buildings in Halifax – and Berwick, for that matter - that undoubtedly deserve plaques to denote famous authors or other famed former residents. Might help preserve more of our built heritage…