Title and statement of responsibility area: Pearl Atkins

Date(s) of creation: 1861-1985
Physical description area: 1.1m of textual records and other material

Biographical sketch: Pearl MacDougall Atkins was born 31 August 1900, the daughter of John MacDougall and Lily Mattinson MacDougall of Brookdale, Nova Scotia. John MacDougall was a farmer and lumberman. The couple had five children, Pearl was the eldest, her siblings being: Lorne, Duncan, Lee Roy, and Winnie. Pearl was educated in Brookdale. Lily MacDougall died in 1917, and Pearl assumed responsibility of the household. On 13 October 1931 at Tatamagouche, NS, Pearl married Alfred W. Atkins (18941966) of Cambridgeshire, England. They had no children. Pearl was keenly interested in local history, especially that of the Fort Lawrence area. She wrote many articles on the subject. Her career as an author began in 1922 when she took a job as a correspondent for the Amherst newspaper News & Sentinel. It was in this paper that many of her historical articles were published. Pearl was also involved with the Tidnish Bridge United Church, was a quilter and a member of the Amherst Township Historical Society and the Westmorland Historical Society, circa 1979-1983. Alfred Atkins died 20 June, 1966 at Amherst. Pearl Atkins died 9 October 1985 at Amherst.

Scope and content: Fonds consists of personal and family records regarding business and estate settlements, correspondence, manuscripts and research notes on surnames and communities. This material, where possible, was arranged according to the time line drawn up by Pearl Atkins.

Source of supplied title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.

Physical Description: Includes 3 scrapbooks, 6 drawings, writing artifacts and 204 photographs.

Retrieval Code: 85-75 Atkins fonds

Provenance: Atkins, Pearl 1900-1985