Family of late Guelph woman 'very proud' to see her featured on a new Remembrance Day stamp

A late Guelph woman is one of four women featured on a new Canadian stamp issued for Remembrance Day.

Mary Barnaby Fountain was a 16-year-old high school student at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) in 1944 when she filled out an application form to work with the Ontario Farm Service to join a group called the Farmerettes. 

Barnaby Fountain wrote about her farm work in Thedford, Ont., in a memoir reprinted in the book Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes.

"Most of the work was hoeing celery, pulling onions and thrashing them on a big screen," wrote Barnaby Fountain.

"This way the outside skins were removed before the boxes of onions were stacked to dry."

The book was written in 2019 by Shirleyan English and Bonnie Sitter. Both began their research individually and joined forces later.

Since its publication the Farmerettes story has been turned into a stage play that premiered at the Blyth Festival in Blyth, Ont., and a soon to be released documentary.

The Farmerettes were young women, 16 years of age and older, who worked the farm fields of southwestern Ontario and Niagara Region. The program started during the First World War and continued into the Second World War.

The family of Mary Barnaby Fountain provided the archival photo of four young women, including their relative, who appear on the stamp.

Canada Post is honouring the men and women who worked farm fields to feed Canadians during the First and Second World Wars.

The Remembrance Day postage stamps also give a nod to the Soldiers of the Soil, the 22,000 men who enrolled during the First World War and tended and harvested fruits and vegetables, and helped with haying and cared for livestock.

Letter writing campaign

The push to get the Farmerettes onto a stamp started with a letter writing campaign by a group that included author Bonnie Sitter of Exeter, Ont.

"A group composed a letter with pictures and sent it to all our MP's right across Canada," said Sitter.

"And the only one that answered us was Senator Rob Black and he was right on board. He was very encouraged. And I think it must have been the day that he received our request that he actually got in touch with Canada Post and supported our application for a stamp."

Senator Black is from Wellington County and worked in the agricultural industry for most of his career.

Georgina Fountain-Taylor is the daughter of Mary Barnaby Fountain. She says growing up her mom told her about the work she did on the farms and had seen the photo that is now on the stamp.

"We were very proud and excited and a bit stunned," said Fountain-Taylor of the news her mother would be featured on the stamp.

"We were very happy for my mom. This was our family's war effort during [the Second World War] and we were very proud of it."

Mary Barnaby Fountain died in April of 2021 at the age of 93. Her daughter says the family plans to buy up books of stamps to use on Christmas cards this year and they also plan to have one framed.

'Women could take on the toughest challenges'

Senator Rob Black stood in the Senate chambers last month to honour the Ontario women.

"The Farmerettes embodied resilience, commitment and the ability to rise to the occasion. They demonstrated that women could take on the toughest challenges and make significant contributions to both agriculture and the war effort," Senator Black said.

"Their work was vital not only in keeping Canadian farms running but also in showing the world that women had a rightful place in industries traditionally dominated by men."