Source 8

Transcript

They had apparently come from a somewhat poor home in Middleshorough and had been placed with the Editor of the “Halifax Herald”, one of the two leading newspapers of the town. They had each put on more than ten pounds in weight, were charmingly dressed, and had so absorbed the Canadian atmosphere as to be indistinguishable from Canadian children.  Their Canadian accent was so marked that I would not have believed them to be English.  I had the strong Impression that these children would never want to return to the United Kingdom: they were frank in their admission that their Middlesborough home had been very different.  They were intelligent children and Mr. Kelly showed me, with parental pride, the youngest child’s exercise books which showed that she had been consistently awarded full marks at the local “public” school.  Both the Ross and Kelly households were in the suburbs of Halifax, ideally situated on the North Arm of the harbour with lawns running down to the water and an attractive prospect of woods, waterways and yacht clubs.  These homes might be described in England as “upper middle class”.  They were extremely comfortable and expensively furnished, though with a lack of taste that appears to be universal in this Dominion.