CANE

Description: IDENTIFIED AS A PICNIC CANE. BRIER WALKING STICK WITH KNOTTED HANDLE. STICK SURFACE RETAINS BARK; BROWN FINISH. WHITE PAINT ON CANE HEAD. DENTED BRASS CANE TIP WITH 2 GROOVES. CANE SHOWS WEAR; CONSERVATION REPORT ON FILE.

History: DONOR CLAIMS "PURCHASED IN IRELAND AND USED FOR PROTECTION, ON TRIP TO LONDON." DATE GIVEN AS 1894. BELONGED TO THE FAMILY OF JOHN AND JANET DUFF. IN 1885, THE DUFFS LEFT SCOTLAND AND CAME DIRECTLY TO THE LETHBRIDGE, BECOMING ONE OF THE AREA’S FIRST PIONEER FAMILIES. JOHN DUFF RAN 250 TO 400 HEAD OF CATTLE ON LAND ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE LETHBRIDGE TOWN SITE. IN THE EARLY 1900S, THE HOMESTEAD WAS ANNEXED BY THE TOWN AND FOR DECADES THE FORMER FAMILY LANDS WERE KNOWN AS THE “DUFF ADDITION”. THE FAMILY INCLUDED THREE DAUGHTERS AND FOUR SONS. THE DONOR, ISABEL STARNES (NEE DUFF), WAS MARRIED TO G.H. STARNES AND WAS THE LAST SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE ORIGINAL FAMILY, PASSING AWAY IN 1971. FOR OTHER DUFF FAMILY-REALTED MATERIALS, SEE DONATIONS BY BLENNER-HASSETT, JACK WEBSTER, MARY AND ISABEL STARNES. FOR MORE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, PLEASE REFERENCE THE PERMANENT FILE OF DONATION P19662224001