The Daly House Museum invited guests to join them yesterday for the Brandon Garden Tour that took place from 10 am to 3 pm.
"This garden is a memorial garden," shares volunteer Sylvia Barr. "So all of these roses have been donated by people in memory of a loved one."
Barr headed up the design and construction of the memorial garden and can share a story about each feature, and each story is unique to its own.
Barr brought me to one of her favorite memorial sites, where an Emily Carr shrub rose bush blossoms beside a special stone plaque.
"It's been donated in memory of John Walker Glennie. John Walker Glennie’s story is an interesting one!" says Barr.
"He was born the oldest of six children on a small family farm in New Zealand. As he approached adulthood, his parents told him, “You’ve got to go, John. The farm won’t support six children, so you’ve got to find your way in the world," explains Barr. "So, he came to Canada. He landed in Montreal in 1903 and by 1905, he was in Brandon. We don’t know the full story of how he got from Montreal to Brandon, but by 1905 he was here, making his way in the world—a long way from his family and home."
That year, Brandon had a typhoid epidemic, and over 20 people died that summer from typhoid fever. John was one of them.
"He died here as a young man, far from his family. His family received only a single-page letter from the federal government in Canada saying, 'John Walker Glennie died in Canada on this date.' They had no other information and didn’t know what had happened to him."
"Fast forward to the 21st century," continues Barr.
"The Glennie family, still on the same farm in New Zealand, got into genealogy and decided to find out what happened to their relative, John Walker Glennie. They learned that he had died in Brandon in 1905 and contacted the Brandon Regional Health Authority. The health authority pulled his records—remarkably, from 1905!"
"They were on microfiche, and I’ve seen a copy. Very detailed, all handwritten by the attending physician, the shift nurse, the shift supervisor, and so on. The last entry even noted that the shift supervisor held his hand when he died. This was all very reassuring to the Glennie family, who had never known any of this," she adds.
Their next question was, “Where is he buried?” Nobody knew.
"In 2013, while this garden was being built, they hired a local genealogist who spent the entire summer searching all the cemeteries in and around Brandon where he might have been buried in 1905," explains Barr. "There were many small cemeteries at the time, not yet consolidated. She searched Rivers, The Pas, North Hill—nothing. We’ve concluded that he was probably buried without a marker. We don’t really know where he’s buried, which is unfortunate," she adds.
So, the next question was, “Can they place a marker?”
The Glennie family contacted the City of Brandon Parks Department and asked if they could place a marker. "But the city’s policy is that you must have remains—either a body or ashes—to place a marker. You can’t just have nothing. However, the Daly House Museum was building a garden with a memorial bed, and they were advised to contact us," says Barr.
"We received an inquiry in 2013 about John Walker Glennie. Once our curator heard the story, the answer was an immediate yes!"
"This is Brandon history—it would be perfect. The Glennie family came here from New Zealand in the fall of 2013, just as this garden was being established. There was hardly anything planted yet."
The Glennie family brought a schist rock from the family farm in New Zealand and presented it to the Daly House Museum to place in their memorial garden. The family also gave the museum $50 to purchase the Emily Carr shrub rose that blossoms at the site. For about ten years, the rock sat propped up in front of the rose on a brick. But after years of general wear, the informational stickers attached to the stone began to fall off.
"The curator and I put our heads together and decided we needed to do something better before the story was lost," explains. "We took the rock and the story to Rapid City Memorials and asked for help. They created a lovely granite slab with the information etched right into it. It’s now dug deep into the soil and won’t move. John now has a permanent marker here."
"We sent photos and updates to the Glennie family, and they were thrilled. He now has a permanent marker in what has turned out to be a rather beautiful garden. When they first visited, it was just bare earth. I was telling them about the memorial bed, and they looked around and said, “What memorial bed?” But now, it’s something special."
"It’s my favorite story—a bittersweet one," shares Barr.
Please listen to Sylvia Barr below share this story, and you can hear the Brandon Ukulele Band perform!
The Daly House Museum was built in 1882, and is the original home of Brandon’s first mayor, Thomas Mayne Daly. Artifacts include a collection of late 19th-century and early 20th-century furnishings, First World War memorabilia. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. (July and August). Admission: $7 adults; $6 seniors and youth (6-18); family (up to two adults and three children), $13; children under five, free. For more info, visit dalyhousemuseum.ca or call 204-727-1722.
Current exhibit: Wish You Were Here “Greetings from Brandon” Postcard Exhibition takes place at the museum now until Oct. 4.