History in Conflict by Katherine Pym

Pillars of Avalon due for Release July 1, 2017

My story is of David and Sara Kirke, 17^th century plantation owners in what is now Newfoundland & Labrador. David was a wealthy London wine merchant who had branched into the fishery business off the coast of NE Canada. The story is really about Sara, an amazing woman who is considered the foremost North American female entrepreneur, but the historical data surrounds David. I could not ignore him. 

If you do much research, you’ll find discrepancies and downright errors. Since nonfiction authors show resources and say they are historians, the reader trusts the work. I’ve discovered some historical facts are in the eye of the beholder, and his/her ego. 

One source loved his subject matter so much, he had David Kirke die in Newfoundland and not in London like the other sources state. The Newfoundland soil is rocky and gravely. It moves, so the burial marker must have rolled down a hill or something. Kirke’s gravesite is now unknown.

Well, we may not know where David Kirke was buried (most likely under the floor of a London church, destroyed during the fire of 1666), but you have to go with the flow of other historical sources. David Kirke was not buried in Newfoundland. Local legend states Sara Kirke was buried near Ferryland, but the location is unknown. 

‘What is considered fiction when you write of a real person?’ I’ve been asked. Well, if you put words into their mouths that were not documented, that makes a piece fictional. If you give a character something significant to do, like help win a battle when he may never have been there, and it wasn’t recorded, that’s also fiction. 

I found several pieces of data on the Kirkes that have come down through the ages. Some conflict with each other. Some have data that has been written down verbatim from another document, and that original document seems to be in error. 

So, whaddya do?

I work to garner facts that repeat themselves over the spectrum of resources. When I come up with data duplicates I use that particular historical slant, even if I dislike it. 

In Pillars of Avalon, my Canadian partner, Jude Pittman, and I have had to research almost every sentence which takes an amazing amount of time. For instance, even as David Kirke is a London merchant, he was knighted in Innerwick, Scotland. 

Why is that, you ask? Well, I didn’t know, either. And where is Innerwick? 

All the texts I found stated Anderweek or Anderwick. Jude found Innerwick, not far from Edinburgh, Scotland. King Charles I was crowned King of Scotland in Holyrood (Edinburgh) June of 1633, which took David to Innerwick. 

While there, I had David explore the land. I found out the area is known for its fisheries and at this time, Newfoundland was well known for its cod fisheries. I have the data for what fish species are in NL but not along the coast of Scotland near Innerwick, so I had to dig deeper. What fish species did the fishermen hunt and what did they do with their product? To whom did they sell it? For less than a chapter’s worth of story, this particular research took several days. 

I can see why the big-bucks-historical-fiction-authors have a team of researchers at their disposal, but one must trust their team. Jude and I have only ourselves to rely on and I’m very glad I can trust her. 

Once a book is published, that’s pretty much it. The effort of removing a book from publication then fixing errors is not conducive to sales. Readers get confused. They no longer trust the authors’ works. 

You have to get your history correct the first time.

Martha Black

In 1898, Martha Black participated in the Klondike Gold Rush.  She was the second women elected to Parliament.  And in between, she lived an exciting life.

Read about it here ... 

and here ...  

and here ...

Elisabeth Van Alen, heroine of "Where the River Narrows" (Quebec)

by Kathy Fischer-Brown 

In celebration of Canada’s 150^th birthday in 2017, Books We Love has taken on an exciting project: the publication of 12 historical novels each set in one of the 10 provinces, the Yukon Territory, and a combined Northwest Territories and Nunavut. As I’m American, I’ve been teamed with Ronald Ady Crouch, a Canadian BWL author who brings a unique set of talents and interests to the project.

Scheduled for publication in the summer of 2018, Where the River Narrows (which is a translation from the Algonquian, “Kebec”) is set during the years of the American War of Independence. This was a tumultuous time for all involved, but especially unsettling (both figuratively and literally) for those who chose to remain loyal to King George III of England.

The story begins in June of 1774. Elisabeth Van Alen is the second child and eldest daughter of Cornelis and Catrina, well-to-do New York Dutch landowners in Tryon County, New York, on the Mohawk River. Her life has not been an easy one, however, as her mother has abdicated her role as matriarch after a succession of heartbreaking losses, leaving 19-year-old Elisabeth in charge of the daily chores of running the household and looking after Catrina, her younger siblings and father. Beth proves herself capable and industrious, but has relegated to the back of her mind any thought of marriage and having a family of her own.

Loyalists Drawing Lots For Their Lands,
1784 by C. W. Jeffreys
(Ontario Government Art Collection)

When her older brother Samuel returns home from Kings College in New York accompanied by his darkly handsome friend, Elisabeth’s life takes on new meaning and her dreams are rekindled. She finds in Gerrit Bosch a soulmate, a man of wit and intelligence, but lacking in family and means. He’s indebted to Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian affairs and undisputably the wealthiest man in all of New York. Sir William has underwritten his education and has promised Gerrit a position assisting Mr. Hall, the teacher in his settlement of Johnstown.

A month later, following an impassioned address to a convention of Indian leaders at Johnson Hall, Sir William is suddenly stricken and dies a few hours later, an event that changes the course of history.

The thirteen colonies have been in an uproar for years and are now on the brink of revolution. Sir William had been a source of calm and caution, especially where the Mohawk and other members of Iroquois Confederation were concerned. His son and heir, Sir John Johnson, is not so much so. A year later, after all-out war has broken out in Massachusetts and spread to New York, John Johnson and his supporters, in defiance of the new authority in Tryon County, declares himself for the king. In May 1776, he and over 170 of his followers escape arrest and undertake a daring and dangerous escape to Canada, where he musters a loyalist regiment, the King's Royal Yorkers. Among his followers are Samuel Van Alen and Gerrit Bosch.

The consequences of this action are dire for the Van Alen family. When he refuses to sign an “association” (a declaration of allegiance to the new government), Cornelis is hounded and persecuted by neighbors and committee members, ultimately leading to his death. Not long afterwards, the family’s house and lands are seized by the local authorities, and Elisabeth, her two young siblings, her mother and devoted servants, the Freemans, are forced to flee.

The story from this point follows their harrowing trek through the wilderness in late fall into early winter, and the survivors’ arrival at Fort Chambly, and from there to a refugee camp in Sorel and later at Machiche. Details of Elisabeth’s journey are drawn from numerous accounts and depositions of women who made similar journeys during this time: Tales of overcrowded camps teeming with disease and insufficient food, of hastily constructed barracks shared by more people than could safely be accommodated, and of a provisional government barely able to accommodate what would become a flood of immigrants by the end of the war, placing demands on the limited resources needed to fight in a losing cause.

Needless to say, this is a story of survival and endurance, which ends happily for Elisabeth and Gerrit. It is after all, a “Canadian Brides” tale :-) 

~*~

Kathy Fischer Brown is a BWL author of historical novels, Winter Fire, Lord Esterleigh's Daughter, Courting the Devil, The Partisan's Wife, and The Return of Tachlanad, her latest release, an epic fantasy adventure for young adult and adult readers. Check out her Books We Love Author page or visit her website. All of Kathy’s books are available in e-book and in paperback from Amazon, Kobo, and other online retailers.

Amelia Douglas

In addition to our brides, this month we are celebrating historic women of Canada.

Meet Amelia Douglas.  She was one of the founding mothers of British Columbia - in addition to being one of the most well-known women in fur trade society.

Read A Brief Bio Here

The Royal BC Museum has a virtual exhibit devoted to Amelia Douglas and her husband

Douglass College - named for Amelia Douglas ... check out more information here

Pioneer Women in Science

History is full of stories of men.  Powerful men; warriors, kings, champions, knights, explorers, and emperors.  The stories of women are so few - Catherine the Great, Hatshepsut, Elizabeth I, Cleopatra.

Male Scientists, leaders in their fields, and discoverers are plentiful as well.  In the man's world of science, for centuries women were either shut out, if they were allowed in it was hidden, or they masked their identities behind their husband.

Even in the 1950's, when the race was on to discover the very essence of what made life possible, the secret of DNA, women were looked down up; Watson and Crick were given all the credit for discovering the structure of DNA while many have never heard the name Rosalind Franklin.  Sure we know some names - Marie Curie being one of the most well-known, followed by Jane Goodall, but so many are relegated to the background, to obscurity.

Here are a few of Canada's Pioneers in the field of science.

Dr. Ernest Rutherford is a staple of chemistry textbooks, from high school through college level.  His gold foil experiments led to our understanding of the behavior of atoms.  Yet it wasn't until I was researching for this post that I came across Harriet Brooks, who was Canada’s first female nuclear physicist.  She worked alongside Rutherford as well as with Marie Curie.

Everyone knows that we have a polio vaccine.  Many know that Jonas Salk's work on the polio virus led to the vaccine.  But even in a microbiology class, I was never taught about Leone Norwood Farrell, whose work made it possible to mass produce Salk's vaccine.  Without her, the vaccine wouldn't have saved near as many lives.

In the field of paleontology, of the study of long dead (but once living things - like dinosaurs) there are tons of notable men, but few women.  I learned about Mary Leakey and Mary Anning in my Dinosaurs of the Mesozoic class because they were the exceptions to the male rule.  Canada boasts a woman who pioneered a new field in paleontology - the use of microscopes to examine tiny, microscopic fossils, the kind that can be used to tell an enormous amount about the changes of a landscape over millions of years.  That scientists is Frances Wagner.

Those are just a few of the big names ... 

There are also pioneers that didn't discover big things, that didn't start a totally new field of study - but instead pushed against the "no women allowed" belief and became the first in medicine - like Maude Abbott, who was among the first group of female medical students and who later went on to do pivotal work on congenital heart disease, or Carrie M. Derick, the first woman to be appointed a full professorship at a Canadian University and who works on our understanding of heredity.

If you, or a young female you know, is interested in learning about a career in the science field check out the Society of Canadian in Science and Technology.

If you are interested in learning more about the Pioneer Women in Science in Canada, check out these following articles.  There are so many more ... this is just a sampling.

Female Canadian Scientists

Five Canadian Trailblazers in Science

And Canada doesn't stand alone with women pioneers in science ... 

If you are interested in learning more about the Pioneer Women in Science (globally), check out these following articles.  There are so many more ... this is just a sampling.

Women Scientists Who Changed the World

Extraordinary Women in Science and Medicine (a former exhibit at the Glorier Club)

Female Science Pioneers

Celebrating Women in Science and Engineering

Celebrating the Work of Women Paleontologists