On the
anniversary of her birth, I visited the Hamilton Cemetery this morning to find
out where Adelaide Hunter Hoodless’ grave marker is located.
At the
Cemetery office, they gave me a nice history of the cemetery (for free!) by Elizabeth
Manneke and edited by Crystabelle B. Fobler (2nd edition, revised August,
2008).
There is a
page dedicated to Adelaide – which gives the location of her
monument in section C of A-A (Church of the Ascension Section A), Lot 360.
The photo
in the booklet is not the best, but you can see that the monument is quite prominent and
features a statue at the top.
At the
cemetery office, they also gave me a map of the Cemetery to show where to look - she is in one of the oldest sections of the Cemetery dedicated to parishioners of the Church of the Ascension.
She is not far from the cliff that overlooks Highway 403 and close to the end of the cemetery that abuts the houses off of Dundurn Street North.
The Church she and her husband attended still stands at the corner of John Street, between Forest Avenue and Herkimer (opposite St. Joseph's Hospital).
The headstone is shared with her husband and also her son, John Harold, who died young after drinking unpasteurized milk.
She also shares the monument with a daughter and a grandson killed in World War II.
I didn’t
have my camera with me today, but I will try to go back and get some good
shots.
It also
struck me that the headstone could use some cleaning up – I wonder whose
permission we would need to arrange that?
In the Saturday edition of the Hamilton Spectator, the SDHS sponsored an "In Memoriam" ad for Adelaide with the following text:
HOODLESS, ADELAIDE SOPHIA (nee
HUNTER) Died suddenly
on February 26, 1910 in the midst of a speech in Toronto – the day before what
would have been her 53rd birthday.
Her public life
began after the tragic death of her fourth child, John Harold, from what was
then called the ‘summer complaint’ – drinking impure milk. Adelaide thereafter campaigned
to raise the level of education for girls and to put supports in place for
women so that they might safeguard their families. She is credited as a
co-founder of the now international Women's Institute movement, the Young Women's
Christian Association (YWCA), the National Council of Women and the Victorian
Order of Nurses (VON), and she was a major force behind the formation of three
faculties of Household Science. On
Monday, February 27th, 2012, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, you are cordially
invited to the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead, National Historic Site, to
celebrate her life and legacy, and the anniversary of her birth. There will be tours,
tea, snacks and birthday cake. Admission is $3 for Adults, WI members $2,
Children ages 5 – 12 $1; family rate $6.
359 Blue Lake Road, just west of Brant Road (Hwy 24), St. George,
Ontario.
It ran with a photo of her on page 3 of the Classified section - hopefully catching the attention of a few readers!
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