The Bideford Parsonage Museum is a historical museum located in Bideford, Prince Edward Island.
L.M. Montgomery lived in this parsonage with the Reverend and Mrs. Estey from 1894–1895 while she taught school in Bideford. This was L.M. Montgomery’s first teaching position after leaving Prince of Wales College. Montgomery’s early experiences as a teacher at Bideford’s one-room schoolhouse were later reflected in her portrayal of Anne Shirley’s experiences as a new teacher at the Avonlea School in Anne of Avonlea. During her time in Bideford, Montgomery wrote a great deal, but she continued to receive rejection letters for her stories.
One of the most memorable scenes from Anne of Green Gables originated from a humorous accident at the Bideford Parsonage. In chapter XXI, titled “A New Departure in Flavorings,” Anne accidentally flavors a layer cake with anodyne liniment instead of vanilla and then serves it to the minister and his wife.
L.M. Montgomery wrote about the real event that inspired Anne’s tea-time mishap in her autobiography The Alpine Path:
“The notable incident of the liniment cake happened when I was teaching school in Bideford and boarding at the Methodist parsonage there. Its charming mistress flavoured a layer cake with anodyne liniment one day. Never shall I forget the taste of that cake and the fun we had over it, for the mistake was not discovered until tea-time. A strange minister was there to tea that night. He ate every crumb of his piece of cake. What he thought of it we never discovered. Possibly he imagined it was simply some new-fangled flavouring.”
The Bideford parsonage served as the home to many clergy members until it passed into private hands. In 1999, members of the local community came together to obtain provincial government funding to purchase, preserve, and carefully restore the parsonage. The museum opened in the year 2000, after which restoration of the building continued to return the structure to its authentic appearance in the late 1890s.
The museum is now filled with information on the culture and lifestyle of the era, and it holds many artifacts contributed by the community. Along with learning about the time period, you can view L.M. Montgomery’s old bedroom (pictured below) and look out the window, which faces the bay.
Here's the lovely view of the bay from the yard of the Bideford Parsonage Museum:
Official Website:
Bideford Parsonage Museum
Location:
Bideford Parsonage Museum
North Cape Coastal Drive, 784 Bideford Road, Rte 166, Bideford, PE C0B 1J0, Canada.
Image credits:
Photographs by World of Anne Shirley.
Map copyright OpenStreetMap.
Reference:
Montgomery, L.M. The Alpine Path. Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited, 1997. pages 74–75.
Created July 17, 2007. Last updated August 9, 2024.
© worldofanneshirley.com
