Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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Nellie was giving her baby a bath when she heard a muffled bang.
Her ears were stuffed with cotton, a treatment for an ear condition. She leaned over to pull Charlie from the tub so she could investigate the noise when the house exploded.
It was just after 9 a.m. on Dec. 6, 1917.
Nellie and Charlie were at 50 Veith St., in the heart of what was called Richmond at the time.
They were about 300 metres away from the Mont-Blanc — ground zero.
Personal connection
This is the story of three sisters: Emma, Laura and Nellie.
The trio, who were in their twenties, ran a music studio teaching piano to people in Halifax's north end.
All of them survived that gruesome day.
Emma was my great-grandmother.
I was born and raised in Toronto, but all my life I've known that Dec. 6 was an important day in my family's history.
I can remember telling my friends about it at school when I was a kid. To our generation, the explosion was something mentioned in a popular Heritage Minute that told of Vince Coleman's sacrifice.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago, as I pored over the Halifax newspapers from the days that followed the explosion, that I realized just how remarkable it is that every member of my family survived.
Destitute, unemployed and an impostor: my family's journey after the Halifax Explosion
I have never heard of this event.
Her ears were stuffed with cotton, a treatment for an ear condition. She leaned over to pull Charlie from the tub so she could investigate the noise when the house exploded.
It was just after 9 a.m. on Dec. 6, 1917.
Nellie and Charlie were at 50 Veith St., in the heart of what was called Richmond at the time.
They were about 300 metres away from the Mont-Blanc — ground zero.
Personal connection
This is the story of three sisters: Emma, Laura and Nellie.
The trio, who were in their twenties, ran a music studio teaching piano to people in Halifax's north end.
All of them survived that gruesome day.
Emma was my great-grandmother.
I was born and raised in Toronto, but all my life I've known that Dec. 6 was an important day in my family's history.
I can remember telling my friends about it at school when I was a kid. To our generation, the explosion was something mentioned in a popular Heritage Minute that told of Vince Coleman's sacrifice.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago, as I pored over the Halifax newspapers from the days that followed the explosion, that I realized just how remarkable it is that every member of my family survived.
Destitute, unemployed and an impostor: my family's journey after the Halifax Explosion
I have never heard of this event.
