Interview #64

Name: Lorraine Hoskins

Sex: Female

Age: 67

Place and date of birth: Burnt Woods, November 2, 1932

Education: Grade 7

Occupation: Homemaker

Religion: Roman Catholic

Number of children: 6

Names of children and where they live:

Melita Dalton

Jerome Herb

Marjorie Rosemary

Phone: 538-3379

Place of interview: St. Alban's

Date of interview: April 9, 1999

Interviewers: Carla Collier and Sheri Peters

Lorraine Hoskins was born in Burnt Woods November 2, 1932. Her parents are Alphonsus Collier and Angela Collier. Lorraine had three brothers and two sisters. Their names are Edward, Michael, Clayton, Pauline, Marcelle. Lorraine married Clifford Hoskins on August 2, 1951.

When Lorraine was growing up, she had many chores to do. She cared for her brothers and sisters because her mother was sick. Lorraine attended school in Conne River. She got as far as grade seven. She said the school house was very cold inside. She carried splits and wood to school and the students would take turns lighting the fire. For entertainment Lorraine would go to dances, skating, and trouting.

The priest that was around when Lorraine grew up was Father Hayes. There were no doctors around and there were no clinics. The Lady Anderson boat would come in monthly for medical help. If you got really sick you had to go to Harbor Breton by boat. Lorraine had her tonsils out at the age of sixteen and she stayed at Ms. Peters in Harbor Breton.

Some illnesses back then were Tuberculosis and Typhoid Fever. Some home remedies that Lorraine could remember were putting salt pork on your neck for a sore throat. Boiling bark would help with certain illnesses as well. Amelia Joe was the midwife down Conne River. Lorraine thinks that Amelia was the midwife that delivered her. Loraine said she had to tend to the gardens growing up but other then that she didn't do much outdoor work. Lorraine said that she had a sheltered life. They never had a lot of money but they never went hungry.

Lorraine's father worked at a logging camp. He traded logs to John Kendell's sawmill in Morrisville and the Lake's sawmill in Milltown for food. Lorraine's mother, made a lot of clothes for her family. They had sheep so they used the wool for clothes. Lorraine said that she never wore moccasins on her feet. She always had a pair of shoes they weren't always new shoes. She said the times before were a lot tougher than today.

For Christmas there would be dances in all the homes. You would go from house to house visiting. There would be homebrew around for a Christmas drink. For Christmas morning she would never get much but she always had something. She sometimes got a doll, a ball, or a truck. For treats you would get apples, oranges, and candy. Lorraine also owns a doll that is now one hundred years old. It was owned by her father's Aunt. Lorraine's great-aunt got the doll when she was thirteen years old. Her father brought the doll from St. Pierre. She promised Lorraine would get the doll after she passed.

For Easter there were many eggs. They would save them all winter and store them in flour and on Easter Sunday they would have a feed of eggs. For St. Anne's Day she said they were the whole year getting ready. She would always be dressed in white from head to toe. She would attend mass, but didn't attend any dances until she was sixteen years old. She did go for a lunch with her family. Before roads you had to walk on paths or go by boat. They used kerosene lamps for light and it was forty cents a month for kerosene.

Lorraine's family never had a television while she was growing up. They had a record player that you would wind up. To wash her clothes she had to heat the water on the stove. She would get water from a brook. The bleach she used for clothes was called "lye" it was made from ashes. She also said there were no disposable diapers. You had to hand wash all the cloth diapers. Their post office was down Morrisville. Her mother had the first phone in Burnt Woods. To get in contact with anyone her father had to row to Morrisville or St. Alban's. The main job around when Lorraine grew up was logging. Men would cut sawlogs and the schooners would come and buy the logs. Some stores around were the Lakes sawmill and the Kendell's sawmill. Her mother also had a little store where you could buy butter, sugar, candy etc. The weather back then was cold and harsher and a lot of snow. Lorraine said back then the woman worked just as hard or harder then the men.

The best things to happen Bay d' Espoir according to Lorraine was when Hydro came and they got electricity, also when Bowaters came, and the roads were put in. Lorraine had a lot of useful information to give us and she was a great help in preserving the past.