| Letters from the Manse |
| Joan Archibald Colborne |
On December 30, 1948, Joan Archibald Colborne married the
Rev. Blair Colborne in Ottawa. Joan was 26. Blair was 24.
Originally from Nova Scotia, they were well-educated city dwellers
with high ideals and expectations.
In early January 1949, Joan joined her new husband on his first
charge: Springfield West, on the western end of Prince Edward
Island. Seven miles by unpaved road from the closest community,
O'Leary. Two miles from the nearest power line. Little did they
know what lay in store.
Letters from the Manse begins January 12, 1949, as the new Mrs.
Colborne sits down to write letters by lamplight on an old portable
typewriter. "It made a great excuse to not have to hear the same
sermon three times," she says. "I made four carbon copies on
onion skin: one for Blair's parents, one for his brother, one for my
sister, and one for my parents. The other copy I just filed away
and forgot about." Later she found the letters, and made copies
for her children and grandchildren. Her children thought they
were worth sharing.
The letters chronicle sixteen months in the life of a United Church
Minister's wife: the challenges of learning to cook, clean,
entertain, and care for her husband and baby in a house that
seems constantly in need of repair - but at the same time revealing
the goodness in Island community.
Rev. Blair Colborne in Ottawa. Joan was 26. Blair was 24.
Originally from Nova Scotia, they were well-educated city dwellers
with high ideals and expectations.
In early January 1949, Joan joined her new husband on his first
charge: Springfield West, on the western end of Prince Edward
Island. Seven miles by unpaved road from the closest community,
O'Leary. Two miles from the nearest power line. Little did they
know what lay in store.
Letters from the Manse begins January 12, 1949, as the new Mrs.
Colborne sits down to write letters by lamplight on an old portable
typewriter. "It made a great excuse to not have to hear the same
sermon three times," she says. "I made four carbon copies on
onion skin: one for Blair's parents, one for his brother, one for my
sister, and one for my parents. The other copy I just filed away
and forgot about." Later she found the letters, and made copies
for her children and grandchildren. Her children thought they
were worth sharing.
The letters chronicle sixteen months in the life of a United Church
Minister's wife: the challenges of learning to cook, clean,
entertain, and care for her husband and baby in a house that
seems constantly in need of repair - but at the same time revealing
the goodness in Island community.
|
| ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EXCERPTS |
| "There was a time, no further away than half a century, when Canadians were mainly a country people, scattered in a network of village and farming communities, to the edges of Canada. And though fifty years is a short time, we have largely forgotten that vast and viable rural world with its commonplace trademarks: the farms, the schools, the stores, the repair shops. And, in thousands of these places, seeking to give spiritual unity to the ordinary people, laboured the Protestant clergyman and his wife. For the church was centred, physically and spiritually, in the daily life of the people." - John Cousins, taken from the Introduction to "Letters From the Manse". |
| "Joan Colborn's letters make sure our rivers of memory will not dry up, and from them we know that if we are to reach our destination, sometimes we have to look back." - John Cousins |
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REVIEW |
| "Well-written, superbly detailed, and delightfully witty . . . I read this collection of letters in one gulp. Because I can find value in any historical document, I gave this manuscript to my 86-year-old mother who also read it in one sitting. We both found Joan's story fascinating. For my mother, the letters served as a reminder of a period when she, too, was a young mother in a rural area, dependent on the CBC and church activities for entertainment and community." - Dr. Margaret Conrad, Canada Research Chair in Atlantic Canada Studies, University of New Brunswick |
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Introduction by John Cousins Prologue The Letters Epilogue About the Author |
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joan Archibald Colborne |
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ RELATED INTEREST |
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