6. Bellevue House
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The land upon which Bellevue House stood was purchased by the Duke of Kent in 1800, and was the residence of the Commander in Chief from 1801 to 1906.
Bellevue House was demolished in 1955 to make way for a parking lot. In 2014 it was excavated in preparation for the construction of the new Halifax Central Library. Visit the library reference section to learn more about the explosion.
Private houses, theatres, and church halls, among other spaces, were converted into temporary hospitals and dressing stations as well as shelters to cope with the number of wounded and displaced: almost 9000 people required medical attention.
The Americans brought with them bandages, antiseptic, and surgical equipment, but not hospital supplies. These were provided by the Canadian Military, according to the report of Lt. Frank McKelvey Bell. (See: John Griffith Armstrong, The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy: Inquiry and Intrigue (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2007), p. 97.)
While American reinforcements included doctors and nurses, they did not include medical orderlies. These crucial workers were Canadian.
At least three nurses of the St. John Ambulance Brigade - Estelle Harris, Winifred MacLean, and Jean Gass - are reported as working 30 hours or more without break, although they moved from one hospital to another. (See: Report of the Halifax Central Nursing Division, No. 17, St. John Ambulance Brigade. #33, MG1 vol 2124, Archibald MacMechan fonds, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
The white shoes Honora is searching for are drawn from the memories of Jean Holder: “Miss Florence Fraser was a registered nurse who was on duty in the operating room of the Victoria General Hospital. She wore a pair of new white shoes on duty Thursday morning. When she returned to her own room and just about collapsed on her bed over 24 hours later, somebody removed her stained shoes and put them in the waste paper basket.” (See: ‘Halifax Explosion’ reminiscence of Jean Holder, 6 December 1985. MG 27 vol. 9 no. 4, Nova Scotia Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.)
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While the events depicted in this walk are true, and we have endeavoured to represent them as factually as possible, it is important to note that the characters are fictional. As such, small details about their personal lives may not be accurate. These characters have been created from the remembrances of real people, and drawn from the communities present in Halifax in December of 1917.
