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IHE INTELLIGENCER, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1970 Former Belleville Resident Uncle George, Her favorite uncle, went over Stephen's stories with him and together they refined them. Daisy said "He loved a joke -- his own or anyone else's and I think he got more pleasure out of Sunshine Sketches than anything else he wrote.'* Ag- nes Leacock and her son, Stephen were very close emo tionally as well as intellec- tually. She was well educated in England and it was from her that Leacock inherited h i s sense of humor. They would often discuss his works to- gether. When Leacock died in 1942 he died having never outgrown his essential qualities of gen- erosity a n d though tfulness, she says. Her brother, Stephen, con- firms the facts outlined in her book. He still resides in the Belleville area and, when in- terviewed, he recalled his fish- ing expeditions with his uncle when he visited him at Old Brewery Bay. Although he was only a child also when he knew Leaoock, he remembers that he rarely seemed depres- sed. "There were always a lot of grown ups there whenever we visited Uncle Stephen at his home" said Mr. Burrowes, "and we children would have preferred to be elsewhere play- ing although we liked Uncle Stephen very much. He was always kind and good w i t h children but we did get home- sick." Leacock owned a couple of sail boats, one called t h e "West Wind". "Aunt Beatrix was very quiet and she loved children. Their son now resides in To- ronto but when we were young we used to visit him as men- tioned in the book. Leacock was especially good to my mother since she was the youngest sister and he felt it was his responsibility to look after her." Tjhere is another brother, Dick, who also lives in Belle- ville. He and his family live in the family home where he grew up. Dick Burrowes mentioned that he had read many of Leacock's works and he noted that the facts men- tioned in his sister's book are quite valid. He remembered an incident involving Stephen Leacock which was quite amusing. Hav- ing decided to provide his own eggs rather than buying them on the market, he bought a number of hens. However, since feed was so expensive, he decided to raise his own. Consequently, he bought a horse to till the ground, built a shed to house it and the hens and when he had finished the price of the eggs was cer- tainly no bargain. The hens eventually ended on the dining roomtable. Mr. Burrowes mentioned that he was only a child when he knew his uncle but he re- membered Jones the garden- er in particular. Jones w a s Premier Frost's valet in the First World War. The boys spent much of their time in the boat house where Uncle Stephen wrote Sunshine Sketches. He recall- ed that his uncle was always a kind man, a characteristic which children would be sure to remember.