Fonds - William Stafford and Helena Robertson fonds

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William Stafford and Helena Robertson fonds

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Fonds

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  • 1916-1917 (Creation)
    Creator
    Stafford, William

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3 cm of textual records and graphic material

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Name of creator

(ca. 1895-1974)

Biographical history

William Stafford was born in England ca. 1895. He served as a gunner in the British Army during the First World War.
Helena Robertson was born in Southwold Township ca. 1899. She became a schoolteacher and taught at S.S. # 15, Westminster (Tempo School) in 1919.
William settled in St. Thomas after the war, and became a carpenter. William and Helena were married on July 20, 1921 in Southwold Township. After marriage, they resided in St. Thomas and had two children: Arnold and Elsie. Will later became a fireman for the Michigan Central Railway in St. Thomas. He died on January 16, 1974

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Scope and content

Fonds consists of correspondence between Private William Stafford and Helena Robertson while William was serving overseas in England, France and Belgium during the First World War. During the time of their correspondence, Helena was living in Lambeth, Ontario.
During the dark days of the First World War, France found itself host to many Belgian refugee women and children while war ravaged their homeland. Anxious to help their men-folk in their battle for freedom, the women, among other things, made beautiful hand embroidered cards to sell to the Allied soldiers. These have since become some of the most desirable nostalgia available to the postcard world. Some of these cards have found their way to the Elgin County Museum and with them come a love story. The cards had been sent from the battlefields of France and Belgium by Gunner Will Stafford to Helena Robertson of Lambeth. They are beautiful cards with touching messages – ‘A kiss from France’ or ‘With loving wishes’ and ‘I don’t forget you’. Both Will and Helena sent other cards of a more common type. Some were in a numbered series, each carrying a verse from a well known poem or hymn. Thus the receiver would know if all the mail was reaching its destination. In this case, as indicated by the messages, they also acted as tracers for the letters which interspersed the cards. It was later learned that Will came home in good health, married Helena and together they had a daughter, Elsie and a son, Arnold. J. Kirby

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      Final

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