Holt

(from Settlers)

In a 1930 interview with Kate Connolly, Mrs. George Holt (1848–) remembered coming to Canada at the age of 22. Her husband’s doctor advised a change of location because of his poor health and so, with seven month old baby George in her arms, they sailed from Suffolk, England to Canada.

Upon their arrival at Grosse Island in the St. Lawrence River below Quebec City, the medical officer who came on board the ship discovered measles. The Holts were sent to a hospital, only to discover that the baby’s spots were due to teething, not to the measles at all.

The Holts settled first at Belleville and Deseronto. George Holt’s brother was a ship builder there, so George worked with him until they could move further west. They settled for five years on the glebe lands, five miles north of Watford, which is where Mrs. Holt felt very lonely looking out at the bush. She said she would keep her hands busy spinning or making bread, but her thoughts would wander to the fully blooming orchards of Suffolk in the spring. Later that they moved into the village of Watford.

Mr. and Mrs. Holt had seven children. When the family was growing up, wood could be bought for $1.10 a cord and a quarter of lamb cost 25 cents.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Holt Family

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