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Title: Interview of Cilla Bachop
Description: February 27 2005 Lucilla Bachop (b. October 22, 1946; Edinburgh) was adopted into a family of nine children. As the youngest, she had four older sisters and four older brothers. Her adopted father, James (b. 1891, Glasgow), had a shoe-making/repair shop on the High Street that his father had started. He was the second eldest in his family. Cilla
Show moreFebruary 27 2005 Lucilla Bachop (b. October 22, 1946; Edinburgh) was adopted into a family of nine children. As the youngest, she had four older sisters and four older brothers. Her adopted father, James (b. 1891, Glasgow), had a shoe-making/repair shop on the High Street that his father had started. He was the second eldest in his family. Cilla vividly remembers her father’s fabulous vocabulary and his love for football and cigarettes. Cilla’s paternal adopted grandfather, James (b. Glasgow), a very prosperous man, lived near the School for the Deaf in Edinburgh. Cilla’s birth mother, Barbara Smart-Ferguson (b. Wemmys, Fife), the second of six children to James and Agnes, was a very warm, giving, and loved person. She was a maid in Cilla’s adopted father’s house, where they met and later eloped when Barbara was sixteen. Before working in the Bachop household, Barbara was a maid at the North British (now “Balmoral”) Hotel, where she met Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Cilla’s birth father, Alex Keith (b. 1898, Aberdeen), was tall (5’11”), gregarious, selfish, and ambitious. He was a man of many talents who: wrote for the Aberdeen Crescent, wrote histories of Aberdeen and did broadcasts during the War for BBC, was an avid gardener, and was the secretary for the Aberdeen Angus Society. Cilla’s paternal birth grandfather, Albert Keith, was a chemist in Aberdeen (he had a shop in Kintore). He died in his late thirties of tuberculosis. Cilla’s paternal birth great-grandfather, Alexander Keith, was a veterinarian in Keith, just outside of Aberdeen. He was one of three children; his brother, Alfred, was chemist in Kirkcaldy. Alex fought in WWI; this traumatized him and he suffered from the after-effects of gassing, dying in his late fifties of throat cancer. Cilla’s birth mother, Louella, was tall (5’8”), dark-haired, slender, fashionable, political conservative, and relatively distant. Cilla is her only child and was given up for adoption due to being born out of wedlock; at first she was only a foster child at the Bachops’, but was formally adopted at age six (it was a very hard decision for Cilla to make when she was asked, “Who do you want to live with?”). Cilla’s childhood was spent in a big house on Abercorn Terrace, in Joppa (Edinburgh). From age five to twelve, she attended Towerbanks School in Joppa, where she had an excellent history teacher who made the class reenact battles; this sparked Cilla’s interest in history. Her family was close-knit, but there are no Gaelic speakers in her immediate family. The whole household avidly read; many also played the piano and there were often “gatherings around it.” The family regularly ran a B&B during the Glasgow Fair in August (during which many Glaswegians would leave town); this led to many adventures, including “very interesting visitors” (i.e. a pimp) and a group of drunken visitors who capsized a boat (six people drowned). Cilla’s adopted mother was a devout spiritualist, which resulted in a lot of “church hopping.” She also had a “second sight,” there were many séances at their house (including one at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s old apartment!). Out of all of her siblings, Cilla was closest to her brother, Jim. A “wonderful man,” he worked at Cadbury’s in Edinburgh before managing the tartan box factory in Galashiels. Cilla stayed in contact with him after she moved to Canada, visiting him in the early seventies. The family moved to Canada in 1958/9 (Cilla was 12) after many of the Bachop children had independently moved there in years prior (however, one son and two daughters stayed in Scotland). Cilla didn’t feel very good about leaving, but knew it was “forever.” She didn’t know much about Canada, thought “Saskatchewan” was the best word (after arriving, she was overwhelmed by the country’s physical beauty). After selling the house, they flew from Manchester to Vancouver, where they first lived at 11th and Granville. Cilla didn’t like Canada at first; in her first class (an elementary school at 14th and Oak) she was teased because of her accent (She was one of ten “foreigners” in a class of forty). However, she did well in school and, overall, loved it. She and her mother received Canadian citizenship together; the ceremony took place in the Old Courthouse (now the Art Gallery). They were the first of their family to receive citizenship; Cilla was hugely proud of Canada, but felt a very strong affinity to Scotland. After graduating from elementary school, Cilla attended King Edward High and Eric Hamber (gr. 10-12) before beginning her postsecondary studies. At SFU she studied Political Science (at the time, the aftermath of Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, and the environment were issues of concern for her) and English; she loved her time at university: “It was a wild time, a radical campus, great fun.” She was one of the founding members of “The Tartan” (now “The Peak”), which is how she met her future husband, Stuart Clugston. Cilla married Stuart after her second year of university (Cilla returned later to finish her degree); they were married for fifteen years (prior to separation) and had two children – John Breandain (Brandon) Stuart-Cluxton and Caitlin (sp?) Jane Cluxton (they are six years apart). Breandain is now the editor of the Richmon Review and Caitlin sings (classical music, show tunes etc.) (Cilla used to sing too). During their marriage, Cilla ran the data processing department at Stirling Newspapers before working for the Richmond Review newspaper for five years (Stuart also worked there). After separating, Cilla moved to Macdonald Printing (now Blanchette Press), which was a “very different” job, but paid better. She still works there (18yrs total thus far); she is now the plant manager. Although Cilla did not stay in touch with many childhood friends in Scotland, she regularly returns to visit (four times in the last eight years). Her first [three-week] trip back in the early seventies was very emotional; she cried while walking up the Waverley steps in Edinburgh. After visiting with a family friend, they went down to Galashiels to see Jim. On a later visit, she attended the funeral of her birth mother; there, she met other members of her birth family, with many of whom she continues correspondence. In Vancouver, she was not very involved in the Scottish community until after her separation (until then, she occasionally went to Tattoos of the Blackwatch Pipe Band). In the early eighties, she joined the St. Andrews and Caledonian Society, it was “great fun” and she became friends with many other Scots. They re-established the Ball, which later led to the establishment of a separate society due to financial responsibilities etc. of regularly hosting a Ball. Her son Breandain also belongs to the St. Andrews Society. When visiting Scotland, Cilla notices that most people have positive attitudes about Canada, especially after having visited themselves (“They love it!”). However, many often think Canadians are actually American, despite many having at least one relative in Canada. For Cilla, it is still very emotional to go back to Scotland; however, she thinks that if she were to move back, it could only be for a short time (six months max.). She does not like what she calls the “insularity” of the Scottish people, and how people worry about very small things. What she does miss most is the Scottish landscape: the physical place has a great “pull” for her and she remarks on the “sameness of the air.” Her children love Scotland too; the family often eats haggis and celebrate Burns’ Night together. She misses many Scottish foods, including: porridge, oatcakes, black pudding, and mince and tatties. She enjoys listening to Scottish music, especially British Columbian pipe music. Cilla and Breandain both enjoy reading Scottish authors, including Ian Rankin. If Cilla were to relive her life, she would have stayed in Scotland longer and gone into journalism as a full-time career to become a foreign correspondent. Her biggest satisfaction in life is her children.
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Date: 2005-02-27