Josiane Caillet, Ph.D.

It wasn't so very long ago that our medical authorities believed that an illegitimate or handicapped child was destined to face a very unpromising future, and that madness that would strike him sooner or later. As for the parents, who were also seen as abnormal, they often found themselves rejected by society and with very few choices. And all too often those choices were limited to shameful abandonment of the baby or its placement in an institution.

In the Eastern Townships, a private hospital for this clientele opened in Austin in the 1940s, the Cecil Butters Memorial Hospital, or the Butters Centre. Its founder, Lily Esther Butters (1894-1980) is now the subject of a book by Françoise Hamel-Beaudoin, titled Eastern Townships Saint: Lily Esther Butters, and published by Price-Patterson Ltd. This book fills a void in our regional history and gives homage to a woman who believed that "all children are a source of joy; even the most severely handicapped that we have here [at the Centre] are a blessing to us," and who created a place of welcome where everyone, children and employees, were part of her extended family and, as such, deserved respect, consideration and love.

The Butters Centre, opened in 1947, would grow rapidly, expanding from six patients the first year to 435 in 1972, the year the hospital was taken over by the government. Following a movement for de-institutionalization, the Centre would close its doors in 1990. But many people still have fond memories of Lily Butters who, in 1929, left her native England with her husband and children to come to live in Austin, where they would realize the dream of a lifetime. The fruit of Lily Butters' constant devotion would win her the Order of Canada in 1972.

Eastern Townships Saint: Lily Esther Butters provides us not only with a portrait of a unique woman but also affords us a glance at daily life during her lifetime. The Depression and its consequences would result in massive migration around the world. The author describes the voyage by steamship of a British family. We relive the royal visit of 1939. The Second World War would also leave its mark on the New World: the commitment of men and of women, and the active role that women played in munitions factories and hospitals take up several pages of the book. Ultimately, the spell cast by the magnificent Memphremagog region explains why the new arrivals became so attached to their adopted Eastern Townships.

Eastern Townships Saint: Lily Esther Butters, by Françoise Hamel-Beaudoin, which was originally published in French (Les Éditions Janson, 2002) contains 152 pages, black and white photographs and a bibliography. It is available in soft-cover.

Copies may be ordered directly from the publishers at: Price-Patterson Ltd., 310 Victoria Ave., Suite 105, Westmount, Qc, H3Z 2M9. Price (including shipping within Canada and GST): $26.70.
Consult the publishers' website at: www.pricepatterson.com. Copies may also be purchased at the following locations: Brome Lake Books (Knowlton); the Golden Book (Sutton); Archambault (Sherbrooke); Bishop's University Bookstore (Lennoxville); and Townshippers' Association (Cowansville and Lennoxville).