Saturday, February 05, 2011

Seven young children down: 1954


   The best moment in Montreal black history has to be, of course, Jackie Robinson's breaking of the colour barrier. The video above ain't too shabby a moment either, although sweet Tammi would soon after die of cancer and Marvin Gaye would spiral into depression and drug abuse and eventually be murdered by his daddy.
  The worst moment in Montreal history might be the Fred Christie debacle.
   Or how about this: July 13, 1954.Margo Fonseca, 7, Marilyn Fonseca, 8, Carol Leek, 6, Alan Leek, 7, Paula Millington, 6, Denzil Alleyne, 9, Estelle Walton, 11, Leon Nealey, 8, Diane Springer, 10, Edwin Springer, 7, Brenda Kelley, 9, Doreen Walton, 8, drowned in a boat owned by a 44 year old baker named Jack Seligman.
  There were 2 adults and 17 children on the 12-foot boat that sunk 200 yards offshore in the Lake of Two Mountains near Ile Bizard. Five of the 12 children were rescued.
  The drowning occurred July 13, 1954 at 1:15 pm on a trip organized by the Negro Community Centre at 3007 Delisle.

11 comments:

  1. Several Sunday school students fom Union United drowned when their boat capsized on an outing.

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  2. Marie Louise Heroux6:53 am

    12 black children drowned when the boat they were on capsized in Lac des Deux Montagnes.

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    1. My sister Estelle and my cousin Doreen were two of those children, my mother grieved the loss of my sister and cousin until her dying day. Doreen was an identical twin, imagine being so identical to your sister that even your parents couldn't tell them apart? The grief in Little Burgundy continues throughout the survivors lives, a tragedy that will never be forgotten. I wasn't even born when this happened, but I remember my mother's sorrow every year on the anniversary.

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  3. I would put the recent murder of Bad News Brown in the Little Burgundy as the worst thing happened for that community. At least he did something uncommon and culturally enriched.

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  4. Anonymous11:43 am

    Having gone to Westmount High School with Peter Fonseca in the 1960s (he was no pal of mine, in fact, I didn't like him at all...he wasn't a nice kid back then)....I was interested, however, to note that two of the unfortunate girls who drowned in the I'll Bizard tragedy were his older sisters and I recently did some reading in the July 14 & 15, 1954 editions of THE MONTREAL GAZETTE to learn more about what caused this to happen.

    What I read appalled me!!!!!! The people responsible for taking care of those children that day should never have allowed 17 young inner-city kids who had never been in a boat in their lives to be overloaded on a small 12 foot craft (with two adults making it 19 people in all)...a boat with a maximum capacity of seven people. It's small wonder the engine of the boat quit under such a load...and the choppy conditions of the water caused the shaky craft to capsize. These kids had no clue about what to do....and they panicked, jumping into the water, most of whom unfortunately drowned and scarred these families for life!!!!!

    The people in charge of those children were grossly negligent and were as responsible for the deaths of these twelve victims as if they had thrown these kids into the water themselves!!!!!!

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  5. I, too, went to Westmount High School with Peter Fonseca in the 1960s and I agree...he wasn't a nice kid at all. I am sorry about what happened to his sisters though; that tragedy must have scarred that family badly.

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  6. I don't think many people liked Peter Fonseca. I still remember his stealing my transister radio and trying to ransom it back to me. I told him there was a loose wire and that I hoped he would electrocute himself. He was a total low life.

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  7. I did get even with Fonseca....fast forward to 1971. He responded to an ad I placed over the radio in my quest to buy collections of 1960s Marvel comic books. I went to his house on St. Antoine Street and he was stoned on weed (didn't offer to share any with me) but his collection was in imaculate condition and never been read. He wanted $10 for the whole collection of over 300 Marvel comic books from 1962-1968 which included full six year runs of all the major titles from number one (Fantastic Four started with number 5). Because he had ripped off my transistor radio five years earlier...I beat him down to $7 and came away with a collection that brought me thousands of dollars. I have no idea where Fonseca is today, nor am I the slightest bit interested.

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  8. From what I remember about Peter Fonseca at Westmount High School circa 1965.....all I can say is that it would have been better if HE were on that ill fated boat instead of his two unfortunate sisters.

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  9. I do not know this Peter Fonseca but my gosh, get over it! Maybe he had a terrible home life or something and acted out! But to wish him dead......really?

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    Replies
    1. I merely stated it would have been better if it were him instead of his two sisters. I didn`t know them.....but they were probably decent kids and I am sorry that they died so tragically.

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