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After discovering a treasure trove of photos, letters and documents at my Aunt Ruth's house, I began to piece together Bert's story. About a third of the pictures had captions on the back, saying who, where and when they were taken. This allowed me to make a timeline from July 1930 to November 1932.
Researching online, I found more information about the people with whom she was working, along with more photos by Katy Hettasch's family. Katy was a colleague who had been born in Labrador to a missionary, Brother Paul Hettasch. And the Perrett family who had also been in the missions for decades.
So the story began to be pieced together. I didn't have enough concrete information to make a factual account of Bert's time, nor is that my usual forte, so I decided to write it as a memoir. At some point I decided to make it a novel. But, as they say in the movies, it's all based on a real story.
The more I researched the more contradictions I found. Someone who was stationed at Hopedale in one account was in Nain in another and Miss Potter, Bert's, newly recruited, companion on the voyage over, was supposed to already have been in Labrador for a year according to another account. So I stuck to Bert's chronology (if not her terrible spelling of names on the photos) and worked with that.
Bert's sister Evelyn (Evie) Shaw joined her in 1931 and ended up meeting and marrying a Hudson's Bay Company factor Charles Wilson Cave. Evie stayed in the mission for many years before settling down with Wilson in Newfoundland where their family still live.
The photos below are from Ruth's collection, I've put a mix of pictures here, some are in the book but most haven't been used. The captions alongside the pics are written on the back. Click on a pic to view it fully.
Researching online, I found more information about the people with whom she was working, along with more photos by Katy Hettasch's family. Katy was a colleague who had been born in Labrador to a missionary, Brother Paul Hettasch. And the Perrett family who had also been in the missions for decades.
So the story began to be pieced together. I didn't have enough concrete information to make a factual account of Bert's time, nor is that my usual forte, so I decided to write it as a memoir. At some point I decided to make it a novel. But, as they say in the movies, it's all based on a real story.
The more I researched the more contradictions I found. Someone who was stationed at Hopedale in one account was in Nain in another and Miss Potter, Bert's, newly recruited, companion on the voyage over, was supposed to already have been in Labrador for a year according to another account. So I stuck to Bert's chronology (if not her terrible spelling of names on the photos) and worked with that.
Bert's sister Evelyn (Evie) Shaw joined her in 1931 and ended up meeting and marrying a Hudson's Bay Company factor Charles Wilson Cave. Evie stayed in the mission for many years before settling down with Wilson in Newfoundland where their family still live.
The photos below are from Ruth's collection, I've put a mix of pictures here, some are in the book but most haven't been used. The captions alongside the pics are written on the back. Click on a pic to view it fully.
