Rural Diary Archive
Rural Diary Archive

Melba Rosamond Sweet

Coverage Dates: 1928 to 1999
County: Elgin
Township: Malahide
Lot: 6
Concession: 8
Gender: Female
Year of Birth: 1900
Year of Death: 2003
Ethnicity: English
Religion: Baptist
Occupation:Farm Woman
Relationships: 

Father: John Blake Sweet Jr.
Mother: diarist Rosamond McKenney Sweet
Sister: Lucretia “Maud”
Brother: Eugene Lewis
Sister-in-law: diarist Charlotte “Aleta” Dance Sweet

Archive: Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph
Posted on Rural Diary Archive: Yes
Age During Diary: 28-99
Coverage: 71 years (her mother and sister often contribute to her diaries. From 1960 onward, she is the sole author.)
 
Biography: 
Melba has a cooperative disposition. She takes a secretarial course at Alma College but knows she is needed at home on their dairy farm. She soon establishes a reputation in the neighbourhood as a great cook and skilled with needlework. She sells eggs, chickens, and produce in Aylmer. When Maud returns to the farm from Detroit, she and Melba run it with the help of hired men and men farming on shares, as their parents are aging.  Maud does a lot of carpentry work and keeps the accounts. Melba continues to reside on the farm after her parents and Maud die, living to the age of 103.
 
Image of Melba standing and smiling in a skirt.
Melba in the 1920s. Family photos courtesy of Anne Bishop.
Black and white image of Melba smiling at the camera on her 80th birthday.
Melba on her 80th birthday.
Black and white image of Melba’s home in the winter time.
Melba’s home at “Sweetacres” in winter.
Stacks of Melba’s diaries. Diaries in colours such as black, red, blue, and green.
Melba’s diaries in the 1950s and 1960s.
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