It’s interesting what one finds poking around in the files! Our parish secretary, Cindy de Nobrega, recently discovered a valuable piece of St. Augustine parish history. A “For King and Country” memorial that we believe features the names of those of our parish show who served in the armed forces during the Second World War (1939-1945).
These paper documents have been a feature of many Canadian churches, both Protestant and Catholic, for many years. However, they are fast disappearing as churches renovate, or rebuild, with these memorials being taken down and put into storage for “safe keeping” where they effectively disappear.
Having happened across ours, the parish is investigating whether the document, which has visible damage, can be stabilized and restored so that a high resolution copy could be made for display in the church or parish centre. A conservator has been contacted, and we hope to have an estimate on costs. A special appeal, especially to those families whose members’ names appear on the document, could then be made so as to pay for the conservation and copy.