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Orillia helped shape Mazo de la Roche and her iconic work

In Part 2, we trace the roots of this Canadian treasure's writing to her time in Orillia and the people that helped shape her

This is the second of a two-part series on Mazo de la Roche, who is probably the least-known member of the Orillia Hall of Fame. Much thanks to Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH) History Committee member Trish Crowe-Grande, who explored the life of Mazo de la Roche and her Orillia connection, so that she can be given her due recognition. Click here to read Part 1.
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For Mazo de la Roche, the Orillia years of her childhood seem to have been relatively happy, despite her mother’s chronic illness and her father’s wanderings.

For her, Orillia represented the beginning of her sisterhood with Caroline and the welcoming, secure home of her beloved grandparents, Daniel and Louise Lundy.

It also represented the academic and social challenges of a private grammar school and co-educational public high school, preparing Mazo for her future successes.

Life in Orillia at the Lundy’s and with Caroline, and her Schooling

The Lundy family provided young Mazo and her mother with the emotional and financial security they needed at this time in their lives. On Aug. 29, 1892, Mazo, age 13 years, was registered to attend a private school.

An Orillia Daily Times article dated April 24, 1889 states that a Miss Lafferty (later Mrs. Gertrude Dryer, wife of Orillia’s chief of police) opened a private school opposite the English Church School house at 14 Coldwater Rd. W,, which now is the location of MPP Jill Dunlop’s office.

In her autobiography, Ringing the Changes, de le Roche stated that she attended a “small private day school kept by a gentle and charming Irish woman” which was believed to be Miss Lafferty. Her cousin Caroline also attended the private school.

During the summers, the family often made one-day excursions by ferry from Orillia to Strawberry Island in Lake Simcoe, a popular summer destination for Orillians until the First World War.

In the fall and spring, the girls would take long walks and play the usual childhood games. In the winters they skated on the lake.

The Beginning of Her Writing Career

During this time, Mazo started to develop an interest in acting and writing based on her joy of imagining. Together with Caroline, she would write and act out plays for their family. They also started a newspaper, each copy written out and sold to family members for two cents a copy. It was the beginning of Mazo’s writing career, with Caroline close by her side.

Mazo in the OMAH Collection

In 2018, Esmee Rees, de la Roche’s adopted daughter, donated a collection of her mother’s original publications including the “Jalna” series, as well as a few other personal mementos to the Orillia Museum of Art & History (OMAH). In light of this donation, her Orillia connection must have been meaningful to Mazo.

Also in OMAH’s collection are some personal items: a cigarette box circa 1930 of polished gold colour material, with a push-type lock and engraved in an angle “M de la R” on the bottom, with bits of tobacco still inside. Also in the collection is a silver-plated candle holder in three individual pieces marked M & W #@3550, circa 1890, around the time Mazo lived with the Lundys in Orillia.

It appears that Mazo enjoyed drawing, as some of her sketches, though not dated, were included in Esmee’s donation to OMAH. There is a lovely colour sketch of a woman horse-jumping that has been signed by the author, as well as a pencil sketch of a handsome bearded gentleman – perhaps Mazo’s father?

Inspiration for Jalna

There are different schools of thought regarding Mazo’s model for the series The Whiteoaks of Jalna. Author Kirk feels that Orillia may have provided a potential model of a family that could have influenced the creation of the fictional wealthy Whiteoaks of Jalna – that being the Lundys and Clements and their time in Orillia, providing the principle sources.

The late Don Jenkins suggested that the wealthy Thompsons, who owned the 10,000-acre Dalton Ranch 20 miles outside of Orillia and ran a successful business that included the production of wooden pails made of white oak – may have inspired de la Roche.

Though it was never made clear by de la Roche who the true inspirations for her successful Jalna series were, her legacy to the Canadian literary scene is evident in the praise and recognition she received during her life.

Mazo’s Passing

Mazo passed away on July 12, 1961 at the age of 82.

Caroline Clement made arrangements with the Sanderson Monument Company of Orillia to provide the distinctive granite cross that marks de la Roche’s grave in the cemetery of St. George’s Anglican Church in Georgina, on the south shore of Lake Simcoe, near Sutton. In the 1920s, this area was a popular place for Mazo, her mother and Caroline to vacation in the summer.

Years later, Caroline Clement was buried next to her long-time companion. It is interesting to note that, near where de la Roche and Clement were laid to rest, Stephen Leacock is also buried – two celebrated Canadian literary icons with strong Orillia connections.

We hope that we have shed some light on Mazo de ka Roche and her Orillia connection. To honour her with a place in the Orillia Hall of Fame, was truly fitting and well deserved. We acknowledge the invaluable research of author Heather Kirk, OMAH volunteer Jean Sarjeant and the late Don Jenkins.

Condensed from an article on Mazo de la Roche by Trish Crowe-Grande. To download a PDF of the full-length version, go to the file on the OMAH website by clicking here.

 


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