Old pictures, old memories.

As you know, I have thousands of pictures in albums, and these I've picked out today are from an old album of black and whites, and they go back a very long way! In fact, to 1894! The first picture is my grandmother, Marion McLaren, as she looked when she first attracted the attention of my grandpa Baillie Wilson. Who is picture No. 3. 2 and 4 are tiny pics of the small town in Fifeshire, Scotland where they settled into married life. Baillie was a grocer in those days, running a grocery shop in Leven, Fife. Their first two children were Tom (b. 1896) and Christina (b. 1898), you can see them in picture No. 5, I suppose that would be taken sometime in 1898, as Christina is certainly just an infant. That's my Uncle Tom Wilson, and MY MOTHER Chrissie Wilson, the great lady responsible for my TURN ON EARTH.

The Wilsons were middle class people and when the "colonies" started to open up for immigration. had enough means to book passage on a ship out of Glasgow for far-off Canada. It was 1906 and the children were 8, 6, 4 and 2, the railway had snaked its way right across the country, and the Wilsons were bound for Vermilion, Alberta, where Grampa's brother George had already filed on a homestead some 18 miles south of town in a district named Wildmere. They had stopped in Toronto for a visit with Grampa's sister, who had emigrated a bit earlier on, with her husband and family. My mother's story "Homestead Days 1906" is well known in our family, and that's the setting when it begins.....the Wilsons getting off the train on the siding at Vermilion, it's dusk, and far off in the distance are the flames of a huge prairie fire. What an introduction to their new home to be! With them Baillie and Minnie had brought along his aging parents, neither one of whom lasted very long in the harsh living conditions they found themselves in. Truth be told, the Wilsons were ill prepared to survive the rigours of pioneer times in Alberta. Neither of my grandparents were much suited to the life of farmers, even though Baillie's family were originally small holdings farmers In Preston Pans, Scotland. Minnie spent many a night quietly mourning for her family back in the "olde land", hopelessly homesick. But they were valiant people, and determined to make the best of their choice in coming to Canada, they worked hard and tried very hard to become farmers, but somehow it never worked out. Baillie became the Secretary-Treasurer for the local municipality, not a very highly paid job, but enough for them to live on. Their children were their saving features; Tom went to work for the local lumberyard in Vermilion, and continued all his days in the lumber business in Edmonton. My mother was the cowgirl-ranger who spent her days in the saddle, taking care of the cattle herd. Jennie, the next in the family, went to Normal School and became a school teacher in a country school near Cadogan, Alberta, where she met and married a tall, raw-boned Norwegian named Albert Holte. John, the youngest, though of a somewhat frail constitution, did the actual farming(along with Chrissie).

But that's my mother's story, and I think you all have copies of it, my children.

Also in the album are dozens of pictures of Dad's early childhood, he was born in May 1925 in Edmonton, first child of Cyril and Eleanor Naylor, and the longest baby born in the Royal Alex hospital up to that time (25 inches). I couldn't resist posting the picture of him with his dog Mickey, how often have I seen that same scowl on that face!!! Yes, he really was his momma's boy, that one....more so because at the age of 5 he contracted infantile paralysis (polio) in the dreaded epidemic in 1930. He spent many months in hospital, and still more on crutches. He used to tell a story of how the other kids on his block used to steal his crutches, leave him sitting on the curb, and practise to their heart's content. Polio left him with weak legs, which kept him out of the Forces when the war came along, much to his disgust, and his mother's delight. This weakness led to lots of therapy, Doug took up ice skating, and he became an accomplished speed skater all through his teens. His other main hobby was horseback riding, and he eventually acquired his own horse which he kept at a stables (riding academy) on the outskirts of Edmonton. One of his most cherished memories was of riding his horse in the VE-DAY parade down Jasper Avenue....by the way, grandkids, that stands for VICTORY IN EUROPE, marking the end of WW 2. A HUGE celebration in 1945.

The last pic is one of Doug which is my favorite, in his sailor suit. Sailor suits were all the rage for little boys in the late twenties and early thirties, and his looked like an especially nice one. His mom, Eleanor, only had the two children, Doug and his sister Shirley, 5 years younger than him, but she kept them looking like they had just stepped out of a bandbox, immaculately dressed. Doug grew up with an innate sense of fashion, inherited from his dad, as well. The Naylors were very proper English, and it was de rigeur to always present the best appearance possible. Things changed a bit in his later years, mind you ! He looked so sharp when he was dressed up in suit and tie, but he certainly was never comfortable in them, and could hardly wait to get home and "out of this monkey-suit".

So just a few little memories for you, my family, and some pictures you haven't seen in many years.