Arnold S. & H. Lorraine MacMillan

The MacMillan family: nine children, individual lives

Family records name nine children of Donald William “Billy” MacMillan and Anna/Annie Jane MacLean: John, Hilda, Reta, Verna, Arnold, Charles Elwood, Lorne/Loran, Muriel and Ethel Dophney. Ethel’s obituary records her parents and Pictou Island birthplace.

Ethel may be the Ethel MacMillan named in the 1942 Sunday School photograph, although that identification is uncertain.

Arnold was a longtime Island lobster fisherman and died in winter 2000. His memorial names him as Arnold S. MacMillan. The name Jane Ann on Donald William’s shared memorial differs from Anna/Annie Jane in family records; the reason for this difference is not yet known.

Lorraine MacMillan’s recorded memories describe helping her mother knit trap heads during the winter and seasonal fishermen staying in the East End shanties. Her recollections bring the work of fishing families ashore into the Island’s history.

Helen Lorraine MacMillan (19 January 1927–19 September 2019), wife of Arnold and mother of Billy, was a daughter of William and Lena (MacCallum) MacDonald. Her siblings were Cameron and Janet. She worked as a cook at the Pictou Island Cook House, taught Sunday school, and belonged to the Auxiliary and church choir. She enjoyed knitting, quilting and mat hooking, and shared her extensive memories of Island life with visitors.

Sources: 1921/1931 censuses; Charles Elwood’s 1947 marriage; Ethel’s obituary; PIHS family history; PARL oral history; memorial photographs. Helen Lorraine MacMillan obituary, McLaren Funeral Home (2019).

More memorials in this story

Explore other memorials mentioned in this story. Some connections remain uncertain, as described above.

• Donald William MacMillan & Jane Ann
• Lorne Ballem MacMillan