Ken Donvan is a retired Parks Canada historian who has published widely on the social and cultural history of Cape Breton.His groundbreaking work on the history of Louisbourg contributed to a broader understanding of gender and racial experiences within the eighteenth-century community. His work on Cape Breton history, including his two major edited collections, The Island and Cape Breton at 200, has been foundational for generations of regional scholars. His latest publications have appeared in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and in Cape Breton in the Long Twentieth Century (Athabaska University Press). Ken is a former president and current board member of the Old Sydney Society , a non-profit organization that operates four museums in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Phone: 902 565 0231
Address: Mod 2 comp 12, Ingonish Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0C1L0
Phone: 902 565 0231
Address: Mod 2 comp 12, Ingonish Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0C1L0
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Papers by KEN DONOVAN
War has destructive effects on soldiers but it is equally harmful to civilians. After the Germans invaded Holland on 10 May 1940, Ella was 17 years old and her family struggled to find enough food, keep warm and to get clothing. After the war, Ella met Alex Barron of Ingonish in October 1945 and they were married in Holland on 24 January 1946. Ella left for Canada in May on a ship and arrived in Halifax at Pier 21 on 15 June 1946. She arrived in Ingonish on 16 June and from that time to now she raised a family of 10 children. There were, however, a few adjustments to be made along the way. Ella spoke Dutch, not English. She was a Protestant woman in a tight-knit Catholic community. Finally, she was a city girl who had to get used to country living.
officer Jean Loppinot. Purchased in 1736, Marie worked in the Loppinot household for 19 years and helped to prepare the meals and raise their 12 children, as well as her own child, until she was freed in 1755. After being freed, Marie married Jean Baptiste Laurent, a Mi’kmaq, and they opened a tavern in the town. Skilled in managing a tavern, Marie wasa cook and seamstress who could also knit, dye and iron clothes as well as make her own soap and preserves. The details of her inventory, unique in Canada, tell the story of a woman who had been recently freed from slavery. A gardener, Marie had vegetables worth 40 livres, the most valuable item in her estate. Proficient and dedicated woman such as Marie were highly valued as slaves.
This paper has two objectives: 1) to focus on the five generations of the Donovan family that lived in the house from 1823 to 1990 and to place the family and the house within the historical context of Ingonish and Northern Cape Breton. 2) The second objective is to describe the vernacular architecture and material culture of the house.
War has destructive effects on soldiers but it is equally harmful to civilians. After the Germans invaded Holland on 10 May 1940, Ella was 17 years old and her family struggled to find enough food, keep warm and to get clothing. After the war, Ella met Alex Barron of Ingonish in October 1945 and they were married in Holland on 24 January 1946. Ella left for Canada in May on a ship and arrived in Halifax at Pier 21 on 15 June 1946. She arrived in Ingonish on 16 June and from that time to now she raised a family of 10 children. There were, however, a few adjustments to be made along the way. Ella spoke Dutch, not English. She was a Protestant woman in a tight-knit Catholic community. Finally, she was a city girl who had to get used to country living.
officer Jean Loppinot. Purchased in 1736, Marie worked in the Loppinot household for 19 years and helped to prepare the meals and raise their 12 children, as well as her own child, until she was freed in 1755. After being freed, Marie married Jean Baptiste Laurent, a Mi’kmaq, and they opened a tavern in the town. Skilled in managing a tavern, Marie wasa cook and seamstress who could also knit, dye and iron clothes as well as make her own soap and preserves. The details of her inventory, unique in Canada, tell the story of a woman who had been recently freed from slavery. A gardener, Marie had vegetables worth 40 livres, the most valuable item in her estate. Proficient and dedicated woman such as Marie were highly valued as slaves.
This paper has two objectives: 1) to focus on the five generations of the Donovan family that lived in the house from 1823 to 1990 and to place the family and the house within the historical context of Ingonish and Northern Cape Breton. 2) The second objective is to describe the vernacular architecture and material culture of the house.