Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)
Author
Best known for the Anne of Green Gables series, author Lucy Maud Montgomery was a regular visitor to Brampton for a decade. From 1926 to 1935, Montgomery lived in the community of Norval, on the border between Halton and Peel. Her husband was a minister in the village.
Throughout her career, she faced barriers as a female author. Even as Canada’s top author, critics dismissed her writing as mere children’s literature, not to be taken seriously. She also struggled with depression for most of her life.
While in Norval, she wrote six novels, including a sequel to Emily of New Moon. She was a member of the Brampton Literary and Travel Club. Her children would skate into Peel on the Credit River, and she wrote a poem for a couple’s wedding in Alloa (now Caledon).
Norval and area reminded her fondly of Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. She once wrote,
And the moonlight views along the Credit! One night we walked along the river bank and came to a place so breath taking in its beauty that we sat on a tree trunk for over two hours and just looked at it. We hardly spoke in all those two hours. Never had I felt so close to the Soul of all beauty -- so one with it.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, around 1932. Archives of Ontario, M. O. Hammond fonds.
Blanket chest owned by Montgomery - PAMA Collections.