MacDonald MacLennan family

May Agnes MacLennan (1875-1956) and Edward Murray MacDonald (1869-1950) were married on October 3, 1906 in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia (NS). Edward was a medical doctor in that mining community, and later in Sydney, NS. May enjoyed travelling and writing. Together they raised 3 children: Helen A. (1908-1993), Lilias M. (1911-1996), and Robert M. (1913-1996), who were all university educated in Canada and the United Kingdom. Helen went on to earn a diploma from the New York School of Interior Design in 1954 and founded Fabrics Inc., an interior design business in Halifax with partner Lillian Farquhar and later Jean Shaw. Helen married Captain Roland F. Harris (1903-1960) in 1956 and then Harry E. Rand in 1961. Helen’s sister Lilias married Thomas Toward, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, United Kingdom, in 1935, and lived in England during the Second World War. She returned to Canada in 1944. In 1957 she graduated from Dalhousie Law School, practiced law in Nova Scotia at Hudson & Toward law firm, owned the Silver Dart Motel in Baddeck, and wrote extensively on legal topics as well as the book “Mabel Bell: Alexander’s Silent Partner” (1984). Their younger brother Robert became a physician like his father. He trained at McGill and University of Edinburgh in 1930s. From 1941 to 1945 he served as medical officer overseas in the Royal Canadian Navy. From 1948 he practiced and taught medicine at Camp Hill Hospital, and the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, NS, serving as a specialist, professor and administrator. In 1963 he was appointed the first Dean of the Faculty of Health Professions at Dalhousie University. He married Katherine C. MacLeod, a registered nurse, in 1943 and had 4 children: Ian, Sharon, Carol and Edward. Katherine (MacQuarrie) MacLennan (1877-1971), mother of Canadian author Hugh MacLennan (1907-1990) married twice: first to Dr. Samuel MacLennan, May's step-brother, then to C.W. Anderson. Hugh and his sister Frances (1902-1989) were cousins to Robert, Helen and Lilias. Hugh married fellow writer Dorothy Duncan (1903-1957) in 1936 then after her death, Frances “Tota” Walker in 1959. Hugh’s sister Frances was a teacher at Halifax Ladies College in the 1930s, then taught in Toronto, Montreal and New Brunswick until retirement in 1971 brought her back to the family home in Halifax. Frances died in 1989, followed by her famous brother in 1990. Helen died in 1993 and the remaining 2 siblings, Lilias and Robert, died in 1996.

created 2018-03-08
revised 2019-01-24

The contents of the fonds.

Karen White