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| Mary Elizabeth Patrick and my father, Milward Taylor "Mel" Culbert, circa 1940. |
For at least a decade, Mum diligently researched her family history: the Patricks, the Players, the Donleys, the Kerslakes, and the Bowyers. Before the Internet, that meant trips to libraries, archives, and Land Registry Offices all over Ontario, journeys to the United Kingdom, visits to relatives near and far, and a lot of written correspondence and copious notes.
Mum became too ill with pulmonary fibrosis to continue her research. In a letter to me in 1986, she said...
“I simply have to get back at this family history. Am so frightened that I may kick the bucket and leave all this mess of files for someone to sort out. Maybe after all my work, no one will want to do it, and it will have all been in vain. I shouldn’t say that, as I’ve enjoyed the experience.”
Mum left behind several large boxes of research notes. I'm grateful to my sister, Dana for storing those boxes at her house until I decided to take up where my mother left off. And thanks also to my sister for driving hundreds of miles to deliver those boxes to my door.
One of the boxes contained "A History of the John Culbert-Mary Ward Family and Their Descendants 1828-1995, Volume 1, Branches 5-6-7-8-9" by Grant W. Taylor. Reading that book was one of the catalysts for my decision to create the Culbert Family History blog.
Mum would be happy that I continue to research her side of the family too, and document my findings on Ancestry.
So no, Mum, your work wasn't all in vain and somebody still wants to do it. I do this in your memory. And I'm enjoying the experience, just as you did. "Thank you" doesn't begin to cover it.
With love forever,
Your daughter, MJ
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