Notes on Another Edmonton: Our connection with Edmonton, United Kingdom

I was born in Edmonton in London, U.K. After I contributed to "Edmonton beneath our feet" which the Edmonton Geological Society published in 1993, I sent a copy of this book to the Public Library in Edmonton, London. In return, I received some publications about the history of Edmonton, U.K. They included information about the Local History Unit of the London Borough of Enfield (of which the former Borough of Edmonton is now part).

On a visit to the Unit, I was shown a copy (Figure 1) of a 1793 etching (from the time when people from London first came to Edmonton House). The dedication of this drawing of Edmonton’s Parish Church is to Sir James Winter Lake, then Deputy Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, the employer of the Houses staff. Sir James was buried in the Edmonton churchyard on May 4, 1807. No monument has survived. The Local History Unit has a copy of a sketch of Sir James’ home, the Firs, on Firs Lane about 1.5 kilometers west of the Church (Figure 2). The Firs was demolished about 190 years ago. His [?] survives in a plaque on 335 Firs Lane (Figure 3). The church tower has also survived with few changes (Figure 4). A silhouette of Sir James crossed the Atlantic when the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives moved to Winnipeg. These shadows of Sir James (Figure 5), his home and his House, Edmonton House commemorate over two hundred years of hospitality in Edmonton, Alberta, my home away from home.