Name of Person: From the pages of Clara Hawker's diaries: everyday events recorded by a mother for her sons to read when they returned from the the First World War

The title for this Exhibit, "A Mother's War," came from the pages of Clara Mortimer Hawker's diaries. Not conventional in the strict sense, these were instead school exercise books in which Clara wrote daily everyday happenings, family life and community events which she felt her sons would enjoy reading about when they both returned from the Great War. The Exhibit contains among other things, Mortimer Hawker's Regimental cap with his name inscribed, his puttees and other items. His grave site can be found in St. James Anglican Cemetery, just opposite the main door of the church.

A conscientious woman, Clara involved herself in the Women's Patriotic Association, knitting and sewing needed items for the soldiers overseas as part of the home effort. Always a proud mother, Clara spoke often of her sons' accomplishments and with a mother's aching heart, expressed her longing for the safe return of her boys.

Correspondence includes letters and postcards from both Walter and Mortimer Hawker while they were in the service of King and country. Pictures and historical renderings of the Hawker family draw the visitor into the circle of family life in this touching and poignant Exhibit. It is an important snapshot of how a mother lived with the dread of bad news and how she coped when it finally came.