Heritage

   I was born in Calgary, Alberta. For most of my first 11 years, I lived out west, as well, in places like Edmonton and North Vancouver. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived out there and I was able to see them reasonably often, usually on holidays. In 1964, however, we moved to London, Ontario, the result of my Dad accepting a transfer. We were only supposed to be in London for two years and then move back to North Van. Well, that was 47 years ago....
   In the meantime, I have been faced with hearing about my relatives' lives mostly from a distance. In later years, unfortunately, this mostly meant news of grandparents, aunts and uncles passing away, without me realistically being able to be there at those times. I have regretted this many times. As an adult, I have had more opportunities to go back and visit and these have been wonderful and memorable times, just way too few. I have often wondered at fate, and why it was that I ended up here in London, so far removed from relatives.
   Fairly recently I started to become more aware of my family history. As a child, I imagine that I would occasionally hear snippets of conversation amongst my elders pertaining to the great aunts and their antics and the places they came from and the lives they led. It was only as an adult, though, that these stories became something I was totally intrigued by!

   Many of these stories came from my father and pertained principally to his mother's side of the family. Her grandfather was Lewis Nunn Agassiz, a pioneer settler who arrived in B.C. back in the mid-1800's, looking for gold. He didn't find any but settled in the Fraser Valley with his young family and founded what is now the town of Agassiz, B.C. I found all these details fascinating as an adult and went about doing a little research, mainly on the internet. What I discovered was that Lewis Agassiz' story really began in London, Ontario! He had been a member of the British military and his regiment, the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, had been garrisoned here in London. He married a local girl, Mary Caroline Schram, and had several children here in London before he headed for B.C. They eventually were able to follow him, they settled there, and had more children.
   This whole story amazed me! For the past thirty years or so I have been working in downtown London, only about 200 yards away from Victoria Park. Where Victoria Park is now, right in the heart of London, used to be the British garrison. I have been that close to land my great-great grandfather used to walk on! I have known this for several years now. Recently, though, I started doing a little research on the Schram side of the family in the London area. What I then found out was that my great-great-great-great grandfather, Jeremiah Schram, was one of the first settlers in Lambeth, a village that used to be just west of London but which now has been incorporated. Indeed, at one point he owned the 200 acres of land at the southwest corner of the main intersection. He bequeathed two acres of it right at the corner to be designated as a church and cemetery and is, in fact, buried there along with several relatives. In the past twenty years or so, I have driven past this church and cemetery many times and not even realised I was passing by dead relatives!!

Headstone of Jeremiah Schram

   As I have discovered all of this, it now almost seems to make sense somehow that we ended up in London, after all. I no longer feel quite the same sense of detachment from my relatives as I once did. For certain, I have missed many of the living ones I could have had a better relationship with, while growing up so far away. Spirit-wise, however, there is some comfort in  knowing that I am more grounded here in London than I had imagined!