HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-05-16, Page 146
Page 14-1Lneknew SIMA11019 Wednesday, May 16, 1979
Former Ashfield woman prizes old photograph
• from page 13
1911, Arthur 'staying only
nine months before he re-
turned to England. He didn't
care for the Canadian life. He
disliked more the work • of
weaving his family did.
While back in his homeland
he met and married Isobel
Richardson• wbose home was
at Sedbergh, Yorkshire, not-
ed for its grammar school for
the young sons of gentlemen.
Mrs. Hawkwood prizes an
enlarged photograph of her
old home which was taken
when granddaughter Sue
Hawkwood and Janet Perry
visited Britain a couple of
years ago.
EARLY YEARS
Arthur convinced Isobel
they could make, a good life
together in the new land so in
1913 when she was twenty-
. one they arrived in Calgary.
Mrs. Hawkwood was eighty-
six last December 24th. Her
father had a milk business in
England• and used a horse
and float (a two wheeled trap
entered by the rear). Isobel
was good in cookery in school
and won a prize in the
Domestic Economy Class
which entitled her to go to an
advanced school. With four
daughters and- •no• sons •to
help him, her 'dadwouldn't
let her go for he said she
would be of more use at
home. The work in .the dairy
was her, only training for
farm life. Her husband had
none. In Canada. heobtained
a job with the C.P.R. where
he worked Aaa long time
until he got lati'd to farm.
WATER SCARCE
The brother-in-law met
them at the train and took
them to his home. One of the
first things he said to her
was, "Have a drink of water
but don't drink too much for
what is left is for my break-
fast. If you want more you
can go to the slough for it."
Mrs. Hawkwood has had a
lifelong respect for water and
wasted very little of it. "1 tell
you, I didn't know what to
think," she says in her York-
shire accent. "When we
lived on the hillside "on 14th
street just below where the.
Winter Club is I used to go
down to the spring (at the
bottom of what is now
Confederation Park) and car-
ry water back up. In winter
time too. Just think, and we
had everything modern at
home .(in England)."
a& A WAL,KgR
TIWir next move was to an
acreage about ten miles out
on the Morley Trail where
Northland Village is situated.
Until they started to farm full
time her husband walked to
work and milked cows before
he left, then milked them
again after he had walked
home. He had been a harrier
for a time in England• (harrier
- one of a team of cross
conntry runners) and more
than once won the ten mile
race around Liverpool, a feat,
which no doubt helped him in
his long walks.
FROM PM
In 1921 they bought a
quarter section directly from
R. B. Bennett. That is now
85th Street near the Provin-
cial Jail road. The youngest
son, Joe, is living on' this
property.
Though her husband did
all the business transactions,
Mrs. Hawkwood met Mr.
Bennett whom she thinks of
as a kindly man. They had
two children then, Agnes and
Tom. When they went in to
make their payments Mr.
Bennett always sent the
office boy out to buy candy
for the 'youngsters.
SCHOOL
All the children went to
Bearspaw School, walking
usually. They lived near one
of the Burns' ranches and the
foreman drove into Calgary
in a buggy. He often gave
them a lift .tb school. Several
members of the family won
the R. B. Bennett scholarship
offered each year'to elemen-
tary school pupils. The prize
was either a gold medallion
or ten dollars. The oldest
children went to Capitol Hill
School for a short time
previous to this.
ONCE VEGETARIAN
The Arthur Hawkwoods
were vegetarians for a long_
time after they were married,
eating nuts, cheese and
eggs, and nothing that had to
be killed. Nuts were expen-
sive and. Mrs, Hawkwood
says it would have been
cheaper to buy a bit, pf
stewing steak but Arthur was
dead against it. None of them
are vegetarians now. Her
husband was ahead of his
time in his ways. Besides his
eating •habits which would
have been simpler to accom-
modate today with the health
food stores, he favored a
beard and longer hair.
WRITER
He liked to keep a diary
with many pertinent re-
marks, Some notes for .1939
were: "July 21. A storm
looks to be brewing in the
west. My dog Towser is Eery
clever and worthy of his
keep...lt is 2 p.m. and it
rains continuously...July. 26.
We are experiencing the best
rains since 1929. Theslough
is beginning to fill up. It
reminds me of old times. Still
raining at a late hour. Bought
cow from Sexsmith, price
$37.50. Paid by cheque...
Aug. 4. Wrote to the press on
an important matter. It will
create a stir should it meet
with publication and from the
depths of my heart I• hope it
does." (Arthur died in 1956).
LEISURE
Grandma Hawkwood did
all her housework herself
until Agnes (Ritchie) was
able to help before she
became a nurse. (Agnes died
in 1961.) With seven children
and the distance to travel she
did not join many groups.
They attended concerts at
Bearspaw School and they
laughed at lots of little
things. The variety radio
program on "Saturday nights
was something they looked
forward to,
VISITORS
They enjoyed visitors too
as her husb'and noted: "July
2nd, Sunday. A visit from the
Gell's. Also met the Tom-
linsons and had them here
for supper. The children' also
had visitors. The day has
been rather nice but none too
warm. Mosquitoes are all on
the rampage thick" as flies. It
is many years since I saw
them so thick. It reminds me
of bygone years." Despite
the nuisance, none of them
were greatly affected by
mosquito bites.
• TRIPS
Another delight of the
children were the parcels
sent from England by her
sisters'for Christmas, with all
the strange wrappings and
postage stamps. As the
family became independent
Mrs. Hawkwood was able to
visit England twice; once
with her husband, another
time with her friend, She also
had trips to eastern Canada
by train and plane.
Home remedies like mus-
tard plasters and cough
syrup which they bought and
diluted were used for the few
illnesses they had. Occasion -
.ally they called Dr. Francis,
known to many oldtimers.
CHIP FIRES
They bought wood for their
kitchen stove: front Dougal
arid Storey, a couple–Of men
who peddled it. As well she
and the children picked pp
many buffalo chips which
made a good hot fire though
they left a very fine ash.
There was no' odour from
them as they were so dry.
They had a shed to store
them in, not behind the stove
as some settlers did.
FARMING BREED
Mrs. Hawkwood is pleased
to see all the ribbons and
trophies won by her grand-
children and is proud of all of
them. Her sons have been
active in farming and some
younger members want to
continue in this. She takes
turns visiting her family on
nearby farms: Tom and Gert-
rude (Hanes); John and Dor-
een (Clifford); Miles and
Leona (Walters); Joe and
Aurica (Cholak); as well as
Betty (Jack) Bancroft; and
Margaret (Sam) Chalak.
She says neighbours were
scattered far off in the early
years but now many small
holdings are closing the
spaces and she can't recog-
nize many of her early home
sites. She doesn't have to
worry any more but can
complacently hook her rugs
and think about her life:
"There were a lot of "good
syrnore ofthern than hard
days, but there were a lot of
hard days." Now she can
benefit from the good days
she helped bring about. (The
Hawkwood story is in the
Glendale, Westminster and
Bearspaw history "Taming
the Prairie Wool")
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