| I was born Rufine Julia Bona to Walter Frank Bona and
Kathleen Morrison, place Maynard St. Halifax. We moved to Black St. shortly
after my birth in 1934. I was called "Ruth" because Mum liked it
better than Rufine. I was named after my Grandmother Rufine nee Briand
Bona, and she was named Rufine after her Grandmother Rufine Samson, wife
of Tranquille Landry of River Bourgeois. That is a bit of my line.
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| When I was one year old my parents came to the county
of Halifax at that time to Melville Cove on the Egan Estate. What a place
to grow up ! To give you an idea, there was the BIG house, for the Egans,
then many small homes for the servants on the Estate. Scattered through
the 'grounds' there were small clearing for each home among the big pines.
They were cottages really, but
it must have been quite a fancy place in it's time. I remember my sister and I had our picture taken by the Dees, the family in the big house then, along side the drive way that led to the front door where they asked us to stand. The walk was lined with lovely bright colored tulips. The 'grounds' where we played with other children whose families took the cottages was a wanderful place. Dad taught most of us to swim, his time off was Sunday
from his job as a Plumber. The mothers sat on blankets each sunny afternoon
to visit, swim
On the grounds we had the freedom to explore the woods,
really you coud see the Purcells Cove road through the trees but we thought
we were in dense forest. The grounds was what ever we pretended. In winter
we had as much fun on the 'Cove', Melville Cove.
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| I met and married my husband Don at the cove. We married
June 19, 1954 at St. John the Baptist Church. He was a Fire Fighter
for many years, and reached the rank of Chief.
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| I dabble in gardening and knitting, but my obbession
is genealogy. I have been gathering information, writing letters to people
I do not know and they usually answer, so I have had many family members
as well as others, including Mr S White, help me to find out as much as
I have. It's important to me to pass on what I have. There are two
web sites; one done by Pat Burke, and the latest
by Jeanne Joyce-Stone. I am very greatful to them both. http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/swan/Bonin-Briand.html I am researching:
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