BIDEFORD, P.E.I. — Lucy Maud Montgomery’s legacy in a small Prince County community will continue to be honoured this summer.
The Bideford Parsonage Museum, which became part of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Literary Tour last summer, has hosted a literary program called Wednesday Evening with Lucy Maud Montgomery for the past 18 summers. This featured local readers and visitors coming together to read short stories written by Montgomery that were published 100 years ago.
“We want to keep the momentum going and to educate other fans,” said Janice Trowsdale, treasurer for the West Country Historical Society that operates the Bideford Parsonage Museum.
“There are people who only know of (Montgomery for her writing) Anne of Green Gables, but her career started before that.”
Due to social distancing required as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19), this will not be possible in the summer of 2020. So, the museum is recording videos where 11 local readers, including area youth, will read 33 presentations of Montgomery’s short stories and poems there were published between 1890 and 1899. The readings will be uploaded to social media beginning on Monday, June 15.
“We are going to try Facebook (Bideford Parsonage Museum page) and YouTube to broaden our horizon,” said summer student William Ramsay, who is leading the production and recording of the readings.
Montgomery spent one year – 1894 – in Bideford teaching school at the age of 19. She boarded in the house that now houses the museum to be closer to the school.
“She always called it the Parsonage, and that’s why we gave it the name (Bideford) Parsonage Museum,” explained Donna Williams, vice-chair of the West Country Historical Society. “Somebody said that name will be kind of boring, but it’s not.”
AT A GLANCE
Here are some historical highlights of the Bideford Parsonage Museum:
- Thomas Pope built the house that is home to the Bideford Parsonage Museum as his residence in 1878. Pope, an accountant and telegraph operator, was working in the shipyard in Bideford.
- The home was sold to the Methodist Church in 1884, and 10 years later Lucy Maud Montgomery came to Bideford to teach school.
- In 1925, following the church union, it became the manse for the local United Church.
- In 1975, the United Church sold the house to a United States couple that lived there until they put the house up for sale in 1999.
- The local community then rallied to keep the house in Bideford, and it was voted to turn it into a museum.
OUTSTANDING WRITER
Williams, one of the local readers, is fascinated with Montgomery’s writing, praising her “vivid imagination".
“It’s her telling of the beauty of the Island,” said Williams. “She describes everything in detail, how beautiful it is and that makes people want to see what she is seeing.”
Williams pointed out that Montgomery’s writing also featured a unique vocabulary, sometimes resulting in her having to consult a dictionary.
Her intriguing words make the reader think, said Williams.
“You know the sentence and you know it should mean that, but you are not sure. Then you look it up, and there you go.”
Trowsdale pointed out Montgomery wrote over 500 short stories, over 800 poems, 21 novels and five volumes of her personal journal in her lifetime.
Ramsay, who is in his second year working at the museum, is confident the recorded readings will be popular.
To further illustrate the interest in Montgomery’s time in Bideford, Trowsdale pointed out the museum had 11 Japanese bus tours scheduled for this summer that have had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
“They were very enthusiastic (to visit),” she added.
