The Copas Family

I chose to interview my godmother, Margaret Maughan who is also my great great aunt. She has always been brimming with great stories about the Shields' side of the family.

 

Margaret's father, William "Bill" Maughan and my great grandmother, Ethel Maughan were siblings. Margaret was born in 1941 during an air raid on 7th Avenue, Heaton, New Castle Upon Tyne in England. Her mother's contractions were brought on sooner due to the stress of the air raid so when Margaret started to come they called on my great grandmother, (Ethel Maughan) who was a nurse, to deliver her. Margaret was a breech baby, she was the wrong way around. Margaret had been turning blue when she was born, the umbilical cord wound tightly around her neck. Ethel Maughan delivered her and saved her life.

 

To begin my interview, I asked her about the Big Black Bear story. Margaret told me that on her visits to Auntie Ethel's (Ethel Maughan) they would spread a sheet in front of the fire. While she'd be sitting there, Granda Shields (John A Shields), who was a mechanic at a garage, would come in growling on his hands and knees pretending that he was a bear. With Margaret only being three years old, Granda Shields appeared to be a bear because of his overalls that would be covered head to toe in grease and oil.  

 

Margaret would visit Auntie Ethel and Granda Shields often until at the age of four, her mother stopped letting her go for reasons unknown. It was a number of years after that that Margaret saw Auntie Ethel again. Margaret's mother didn't like her going there. It was upsetting for Margaret because they were close relatives. 

 

The war started in 1940 and finished in '45. With Margaret being born in 1941, she was only a young girl when it took place. Their backyard was very very small leaving little room for the air raid shelter that had to be built. The roof of it was probably a good twelve inches so if bombs were dropped on the top it was solid enough to hold against the invasions. Anybody tall would have to bend over to get into the shelter due to the size of the entrance. Truthfully, Margaret doesn't remember being in it as a kid. However, she did remember being in it when she was a little bit older around the time when it had to be demolished. 

 

While Margaret had been working as a seamstress in England, she met a girl who was deaf. Margaret's dad worked with deaf people and "could sign like you wouldn't believe". It was her dad that taught her the ABCs in sign language. Eleanor, who was married with two kids, worked with Margaret at Fenwicks. Eleanor, who had become used to having no one to sign to, was elated when finding out that Margaret could sign. 

 

Margaret, along with the other girls she knew, would go to Heaton Dance Hall on a Saturday night. When the boys were finished at the pubs, they would go to the dance hall to pick up the girls. One guy in particular, called Dave Killan would see Margaret there on a Saturday night and things got serious, they eventually got engaged. However, Margaret's mother was not happy as he was Catholic and Margaret's family wasn't. Margaret's mother made her life miserable until she finally broke off the engagement. Not long after, Margaret met Ethel Maughan on a bus who told her that she had just returned from a visit to Canada to see her daughter, son-in-law, and family. She told Margaret that she would be welcome to stay with her daughter and family in Canada if she went for a visit. So, after talking to her father, Margaret decided to travel to Canada to visit. When she came to Canada, she was so taken with it that she got a job and stayed two years until her father, Bill Maughan passed away and she returned for his funeral.

 

After returning to England, Margaret realized that what she really wanted was to be back in Canada. This time, Margaret travelled to Canada with a friend, Joyce Armstrong. When going to the Canadian Embassy to buy Joyce's airfare, Margaret was offered her own voucher to fly to Canada. Once here, they were given a year to pay the money that was loaned to them for the airfare back to the government.