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Bradford author publishes new book on ghost town, Lewisham

Bradford author Andrew Hind has recently released his latest book on the Muskoka ghost town of Lewisham

Bradford author and BradfordToday history columnist Andrew Hind has just released his latest book Lewisham: Foundations in the Forest, filled with research on the historic ghost town in Muskoka. 

"I’ve been researching Lewisham on and off for over a decade. It became something of a COVID project – I began working on the book in earnest in 2020 during lockdown, so it’s been two years of pretty intensive writing and researching as time allowed between other projects," said Hind. 

This is Hind's first book where he focuses on a specific ghost town. His previous ghost town books, such as Ghost Towns of Muskoka and the forthcoming Ghost Towns of Ontario’s Cottage Country, examine the histories of a dozen or more vanished villages.

"I become close to every subject I write about, but it was particularly true in this case. I became so immersed in the subject that I found myself growing fond of people long dead," he said. 

He says he enjoys reconstructing historical tales of faded communities and preserving them for posterity. 

"It's rewarding," he said. "I think people are interested in the sense of loss that ghost towns represent. What happened to them? Why did they die and where did the people go? The opportunity to explore – hopefully respectfully, as remains are generally on private land – is appealing to many."

A lot of Hind's books focus on the Muskoka and Parry Sound regions, he can remember having his interest in the area piqued at a young age while visiting the area with family, where he and his siblings stumbled upon a pile of ancient saw logs in the middle of the first. 

"It was a hint at the region's past that intrigued me and led me to begin looking into local history," he recalled of one memory. "In another episode, we trekked along an abandoned railway track and stumbled upon an abandoned general store. We learned it was from a ghost town with the vocative name of Swords. You can imagine how this would fuel a young imagination. That experience began my passion for ghost towns."

When asked what the most interesting story he uncovered while writing his latest book was, he admitted it was hard to specify just one. 

"There were so many tales – of loss, of perseverance, of drama, of humanity," he said.

One story that resonates with him, particularly now as the holiday season approaches, involved Harold and Pearl Taverner. 

"Lewisham was hardscrabble at the best of times, but Harold and Pearl were poor. It was always a struggle to get by. And yet, Pearl always managed to set aside money for a few gifts for their children at Christmas. But not this year. Things were too tight," he said. "It broke her heart that her children would have no presents. On Christmas Eve, she managed to scrounge up a few pennies and sent Harold to the general store to at least buy some candy for the kids so that they could still believe in Santa. A heavy-hearted Harold entered the store to find a pile of gifts awaiting him, one gift per child. They had been sent by one of the wealthy hunters he guided every fall. From then on, if anyone asked Pearl whether she believed in Santa she would say yes – she didn’t just believe, she knew he existed."

When writing, Hind says he feels obligated to tell the stories of Lewisham accurately and comprehensively, no matter how challenging, having to trace back to some families as far as western Canada. 

"There isn’t anything left of Lewisham save for a lonely schoolhouse (now a hunt camp), a cemetery with two headstones, and – as the title suggests – foundations in the forest. But I could almost feel the spirit of the people who lived, loved, and lost here. People who staked their futures on this land. I felt a need to preserve their memories," he said.  "I have a great fondness for the region and its people."

Researching takes time, and Hind uses every resource available to develop interesting and accurate tales of the past. 

Part of the research involves interviewing descendants and reading old newspaper articles. There is also a lot of legwork in obtaining official documentation like birth and death records and marriage certificates to piece together stories.

"As information is fragmentary, you must use all sources available, piecing information together like a historical jigsaw puzzle," he said. 

So what's next for the historical Bradford writer? 

This May, Hind will be releasing another ghost town book Ghost Towns of Ontario’s Cottage Country, from Dundurn Press, which looks at more than a dozen ghost towns from Parry Sound, Muskoka, Haliburton, the region north of Lake Nipissing, and Algonquin Park.

Hind has also been working on a book about ghost towns of the Nipissing Road for the past few years, but "I think I’ll need a brief break from the subject for a time," he said. 

In addition, Hind was recently contacted to write a history on Severn Lodge, a resort dating back to the 19th century. 

"I have a number of other projects underway – we’ll see which ones take off and develop faster," he said. 

Copies of Hind's latest book can be purchased on Amazon here


Natasha Philpott

About the Author: Natasha Philpott

Natasha is the Editor for BradfordToday and InnisfilToday. She graduated from the Media Studies program at The University of Guelph-Humber. She lives in Bradford with her husband, two boys and two cats.
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