Preface

• Author: C. Ian Kyer
• Pages: 15-17

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PREFAC E

ofwaythisbookcou ldbesaidto traceitsroots toina

waitingloungeatNewYorksLaGuardiaairportItwastherethatI metthe

noted acting couple Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. When they walked into

theareaIwasstandingtalkingtoJeanneBekerthehostofFashionTelevision,

andPeter Goddard af riendand client who wasthe entertai nmented itor

of the Toronto Star. Cronyn and Tandy were on their way to Toronto to be

interviewedbyBekersoofcoursetheycameovertosayhelloIwasthrilled

tomeet Hume Cronyn  whomI had rst seen onstage in the Stratford

Festivalsproduction of Hadrian V II — but my interest went beyond

his acting. I had long been fascinated w ith the Humes, the Cronyns, and

theBlakes threefa milieswho hadarrived inCanada togetherinthe early

nineteenth centu ry and had seled in London Ontario The fam ilies had

inter marr ieda ndmany membersli keCha ncell orWill iamHu meBla ke and

hisson SamuelHume Blakewerenamed using twoormore ofthe family

names. I assumed that the actor Hume Cronyn was the product of such

intermarriage, and now that I had the opportun ity, I asked him. He replied

byinqui ringwhet herthe fact thath ismiddle name wasBlake mightg ive

me a hint. We both smiled. He quickly added that I likely knew more about

his ancestry than he did; being the black sheep, he had not kept in close

contac t with his family. They had expected h im to become a lawyer like his

father and grandfather, and to then get involved in either the Carling brew

ery (his mother’s family business) or in Canada Trust (his father’s family