Christmas is almost here, and The Rideau District Museum would like to thank all that have bought copies of The Book of Westport and The Diary of Nell McCann to give as gifts for the holidays. Your support of the museum is greatly appreciated.

Nell’s diary has been an amazing fundraiser for us over the years, and if you’ve read it, you can understand why; it is a candid accounting of real life in the village in the early 1900s from a woman who was was writing down her thoughts without ever knowing how important her words would become to the history of Westport.

Today we are going to look at a few pictures of Nell, supplied to the museum by her relatives, Jackalyn Brady and Jim Forrester.

And here’s Nell.

Nell McCann

Nell’s mother, known as “Auntie Martin”, on Spring Street

The Forrester family at their home on Rideau Street (the school can be seen in the background). Many of these people were mentioned in a Christmas entry in Nell’s Diary: “Our first Real Sleighing Dec 24th – Good for Xmas. Had our Christmas dinner with Aunt Forrester, Uncle John, Jim, Lizzie & Mabel. Good Cheer”. Shown in this photo are: Back Lena (Menzie) Forrester, Mabel (Forrester) Richardson, Rose (Williams) Forrester, Lizzie (Forrester) Patrick. Middle: Wm. Forrester on Grandfather John Forrester’s lap, Bridget (McArdle) Forrester, Auntie Martin. Front Fred Forrester, Mary Forrester, Bob Forrester, Jack Forrester c 1910