[Video] Interview with Charlotte Stevenson Lynn and Victor Alexander Newton Jr.

[A woman and a man are talking at the table.]

[The following question appears : What do you know about your family history? What did your grandparents tell you?]

[Victor : ] I didn’t hear too much from my grandparents but my father, ah, was quite interested in the family history. His name was Victor Watts Newton, so his middle name was part of the family… and he used to tell me that his father Stephen…

[Black and white photograph of a man in a jacket wearing a hat, then back to the woman and man talking].

[Victor : ] …and his uncle Robert lived at Grantham Hall, and, ah, until the early… ah, 1906 or whatever year they sold the property, because they moved to Sherbrooke. My grandfather Stephen started Newton Construction with his brother Robert who was the vice-president of Newton Construction and Margaret Watts Newton lived with Robert…

[Black and white photograph of a woman wearing a dress, then back to the woman and man talking].

[Victor : ] My father was always very interested and always talked about the family history.

[Charlotte : ] From my perspective, I never lived in Quebec, I only knew my grandparents very sporadically during very short visits, but I know my mum was very proud of Grantham Hall and that it had been, you know, a grand residence in Eastern Canada.

[Black and white photograph of a large stone residence surrounded by trees, then back to the woman and man talking].

[Charlotte : ] We had at least one painting at home of Grantham Hall. Well it was pretty exciting and at one point I saw our grandfather Stephen Nugent, on his McGill University records, and it said “Residence: Grantham Hall”. Everybody else was like “906, 7th Avenue” or something; did he have any idea of that significance because to him it was like a palace I imagine.

[The following question appears : Are there some moments or special memories that you would like to share with us?]

[Charlotte : ] So, just thinking of what I’ve said – Mum was really proud of Grantham Hall and she would be so happy to know that a hundred years later our family is being celebrated in terms of its significance to Drummondville, and when you look at the photos of what is ancient history for us, we are still talking about it. We couldn’t have imagined it, it’s not possible!

[Victor : ] I know my father always mentioned the location of Grantham Hall – we had pictures of the house of Grantham Hall. We had furniture in the house from Grantham Hall and also the fact that our ancestors were buried between two fairways.

[Black and white photograph of a golf course, then back to the woman and man talking].

[Victor : ] I took the opportunity about 25 years ago to bring my son to play golf at the golf course. The day we arrived it was raining, and we couldn’t golf. But we walked out to the site and it was pretty amazing just to view the site and the way it was kept. Very interesting.

[The following question appears : What makes you proud of your family heritage?]

[Victor : ] What makes me proud of our family’s heritage?

[Colour photograph of a letter from Charlotte Sheppard to her aunt Margaret Sheppard in 1832, then back to the woman and man talking].

[Victor : ] I find, after reading some of the literature that’s been written, the book Ten Generations, the history back 150 or so years ago was way different than it is today. To have our roots associated with the founding of Drummondville is fairly unique. I find the archives at the Society amazing. Some of the pictures of my ancestors I have never seen before. It’s a little bit emotional to see these pictures of my great-great-grandfather, or my grandfather, when they were babies; the Society has done an excellent job.

[A text of thanks on a black background appears with the following text: Thank you to Charlotte Stevenson Lynn et Victor Alexander Newton Jr., as well as to our partners Soprema, MRC de Drummond and Ville de Drummondville. The logo of the Drummond Historical Society appears, then the names of the people credited, namely the guest, Charlotte Stevenson Lynn et Victor Alexander Newton Jr., the people in charge of preparation and animation, Geneviève Béliveau, Gabriel Cormier and Chantal Proulx and the person in charge of video design, Kevin Lampron-Drolet.]