Edenbank: The History of a Canadian Pioneer Farm [Hardcover]

Oliver N. Wells (Author), Marie Weeden (Editor), Richard Weeden (Editor), Allan Fotheringham (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

A richly illustrated chronicle that captures more than a century of life on a landmark Fraser Valley farm. This fascinating account details farming methods of a bygone era and all the toil, triumph and tragedy behind the establishment of a championship dairy herd. When Allen Casey Wells passed through the valley of the Chilliwack River en route to the Cariboo goldfields in the spring of 1862, he observed some lush natural meadows on the prairie. Several years later, he returned to take up land here for himself and his young family, establishing a farm on Luckakuck Creek that would come to be known as Edenbank--home to the Wells family for the next four generations. A.C.'s grandson, the late Oliver N. Wells, tells of the days when teamsters rode horses and cows were milked by hand. He relates how several generations of his family, with extraordinary determination and vision, pioneered farming techniques and developed an award-winning herd of Ayrshire cattle that they exhibited across the country. His account also provides insight into the life of a contented man who loved the land and his birthplace and left an important legacy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The pages of Edenbank will do much to keep the legacy of this remarkable pioneer farming family alive."
-Mark Forsythe, Bookworld (Bookworld )

"The fascinating account describes the farming methods of a bygone era while describing the satisfaction to be found in family, nature and the rhyme of the seasons."
-Edgar Dunning, Delta Optimist (Delta Optimist )

"Anyone who likes farms, or likes farming will like this book." ---Ron MacIsaac, Island News (Island News )

About the Author

Oliver N. Wells (1907-1970), a farmer and stock breeder, was also a naturalist, writer, ethnographer and historian. Before conservation became fashionable, he established a bird sanctuary on his family's land. He helped to revive Salish weaving techniques and documented the Halkomelem language and native myths in a number of publications.

Marie Weeden, the youngest daughter of Oliver Wells, grew up on Edenbank Farm. Like her father, she has a keen interest in history, particularly that of the Chilliwack area. She co-edited and researched The Chilliwacks and Their Neighbors, a collection of interviews by her father. In 1970 Marie and her husband, Richard Weeden, took over the management of Edenbank Farm and subsequently tried in vain to have it preserved as a provincial heritage site.

Richard Weeden and his wife, Marie, took over the management of Edenbank Farm in 1970 and subsequently tried in vain to have it preserved as a provincial heritage site. He and Marie co-edited Edenbank: The History of a Canadian Pioneer Farm in 2003.

Canada's most storied newspaper columnist, Allan Fotheringham has appeared in the Vancouver Sun and later with Southam News, The Financial Post, Sun Media, The Globe and Mail and Maclean's magazine. He is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, where he was the editor of The Ubyssey. He has lived in Hearne, Saskatchewan, where he was born and started out in a one-room schoolhouse, in London, England where he dabbled in Fleet Street (with little visible impact); in Ottawa (where he did leave a visible impact) and Toronto, where he did post-graduate work and consumed a lot of sherry. He has travelled widely in some 86 countries, has reported from the Soviet Union and China and has been in Africa five times over 20 years. Fotheringham was a columnist in Washington for five years, covering the Reagan and Bush administrations and travelling extensively in the United States. Fotheringham wrote for Maclean's magazine for 27 years, and was a 10-year panelist on the famous Canadian television show, Front Page Challenge. He was the 1964 winner of the Southam Fellowship in Journalism, the 1980 winner of the National Magazine Award for Humour, and the first winner of the National Newspaper Award for column-writing. In 1999, he was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame. In 2002, he was the winner of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award at the Jack Webster Awards in Vancouver. He now lives, more or less permanently, in Toronto.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Harbour (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550173030
• ISBN-13: 978-1550173031
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,232,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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