Elsie's Home in England

When Elsie Norah Bushby left her home in New Milton on the south coast of England in 1913, I wonder if she thought she would ever see it again.  I can't imagine her feelings leaving everything she knew to come to the Canadian prairies where her brothers had moved to 5 years earlier.  Maybe she was just planning a visit but as fate would have it, she met Thomas Boulton and the two were married the next year.  She didn't return for a visit but letters and postcards went back and forth to stay in touch with the two sisters and the other family that remained in England.

Randy's Aunt Mary, Elsie's daughter, made a trip to England to see for herself some of the places her Mother had talked about.  Aunt Mary's family has shared some of her mementos with me and I've included them in this blog post.  The first is at Mary Magdalene Churchyard Cemetery in New Milton.

Written on the back of the above picture -

No need to tell you what this is.  The heather you planted at the foot of Mother's tombstone had grown into a huge bush.  I cut a lot of it away and did the grave up.     Dorrie

On the back of this one, Aunt Mary wrote -

Original church (south side) but walls had been reconstructed with bricks.  Same picture our Mother had from Aunt Dorothy showing their Mother's grave

  This is what is written on the back of the photo above.  Google Streetview shows this location today here.  Wikipedia defines a priory as " a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress."  I wonder if that is the history of this buildng?

 

 

Caption on the back - Original stone entrance of St. Mary Magdalan Church in New Milton

 

Thanks to Aunt Mary's family for sharing these pictures with me.