PICTOU, N.S. — Ann Stevens is a child of the Ship Hector with a story to share.
Stevens' family immigrated to Nova Scotia aboard the storied wooden ship in 1773 and settled in what is now known as MacLellans Brook, Pictou County.
Now living in Ontario, Stevens started genealogical research into the lives of her Nova Scotian ancestors for personal reasons, but soon felt their story deserved a broader audience.
“I thought it was an interesting family and I thought this would make a great story.”
Using a historical fiction approach, Stevens teamed up with a friend of hers, Pamela Edwards, to create a novel that tells a story. It is called “Children of the Hector.”
Stevens provided the bulk of the research for the book and Edwards did a majority of the writing. Together they have created a compelling novel that covers several generations of the Frasers beginning with Hugh and Sophia Fraser who arrived on the Hector and continuing on through their grandson who moved to work on a plantation in Jamaica, where he fell in love.
“He married a girl who was a former slave,” Stevens said. “This is something that had been kept as a secret in the family. After he died very young, his children came back to Nova Scotia.”
Stevens was finally able to confirm that interracial relationship happened in 2014 when DNA positively affirmed that her maternal line includes DNA from Africa.
The book touches on a variety of topics from the struggle to settle in the country to issues of racism and family secrets. The characters span a range from the patient patriarch to his dreamer grandson.
Edwards, who is a published children’s author said it was a bit of a step outsider her comfort zone to write an adult full-length novel, but as someone who had studied history in college, she was intrigued.
Even after writing the book, she said she finds it hard to imagine the hardships that those early settlers had.
While Americans have done a great job of showcasing their history, Edwards believes Canada has lacked in that area.
“This Hector ship was basically the Canadian version of the Mayflower.”
Both Edwards and Stevens said they hope this book helps highlight that history in a digestible format.
“We felt by making it into a novel it would really appeal to a lot of people,” Stevens said.
Over the course of research and writing, Stevens has visited Pictou County several times. She researched at the McCulloch House in Pictou and also got some help from the Pictou County Roots Society. She also physically walked the cemeteries, looking for gravestones of her ancestors, so was able to add knowledge of the area into the book. Edwards also has family living in Nova Scotia.
Stevens enlisted the help of Pictou County graphic designer John Ashton to create the cover of her book and is pleased with the final product which shows a picture of the Hector sailing with rolling hills around it.
The co-authours chose to self-publish the book to retain control of the content and so far have received positive feedback from those who have read it. They’ve already sold the first batch of books they printed and are in the process of having a second order printed.
Once COVID-19 restrictions ease up, they hope to offer the book for sale at Nova Scotian outlets. For now those interested in the book can email [email protected] for more information.
“I think people will take away a good interesting story,” Edwards said.
