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I’ve
been fortunate to have complete ownership of all the important elements
of this search. I am not beholden to others for the major discoveries of
our Scottish relatives. From the first daily journal entries found in
the Hudson’s Bay Company archives in Winnipeg, to the “chance” trip to
Aberdeen, to the discovery of the records of the Peter family, to making
first contact, I am proud of having done all these myself.
Owning the discoveries, however, does not mean I have nobody to thank.
Along the way, many people offered encouragement and practical help,
some doing nothing more than boosting my morale. But at times, such a
boost was exactly what I needed! The building blocks for my search were
a series of human beings contributing unique ingredients to a unique
enterprise: Finding my mother’s father, the man who gave us life through
her.
John
MacDonald and Kenn Harper failed to find anything on the first search,
years earlier. Those “failures”, however, sparked a tiny flame that was
never extinguished. Debra Ryan invited me to a Canadian Human Rights
Agencies (CASHRA) conference in Whitehorse, Yukon, and kindly arranged a
stop over for me in Winnipeg on my return. The late Ralph “Tulugaq”
Knight, and his wife, Frederica “Paningaaq” Knight, gave me a place to
stay, twice, while I searched the archives. They also connected me to
eras past in the fur trade.
John
“Johnnyapik” Knight, my playmate of long ago, has three lively sons who
found a website for a Revillon Frères Museum in Moosonee, Ontario. David
Tait, a Professor of Communications at Ottawa’s Carleton University,
ascertained the existence of Revillon records in France, and at Canada’s
natinal archives in Ottawa. Ann Mary Stanton-Wijgerse just popped into
Kangirsuk one day, and interrogated me on the subject, confirming its
great value.
Jonathan King, who is now Keeper of the Department of Africa, Oceana and
the Americas at the British Museum in London, invited me to the
conference where I experienced my “haggis” revelation. He later provided
my “London Bridge” to Scotland, and has maintained a friendly interest
in the search. The Cowley family of Northamptonshire, England provided
me with an oasis of calm after the emotional turmoil of my discoveries
in Aberdeen.
Donald Cameron looked in obvious places nobody had thought about. Cammy
Campbell directed me to where Valerie Anne Plante was just doing her job
that day at the Aberdeen Town Registry. Some of these things might have
been “coincidences”. But I know that the hand of Almighty God wove those
many parts together! |
