Note (ZL): The author is related by marriage to the Hodgson family. Her account of the career and family life of Edward Hodgson, begins with his first encounter with Sable Island in October 1801. James Morris, the first Superintendent, was on his way to the island aboard schooner with personnel and supplies to set up the Sable Island Humane Establishment (SIHE). Hodgson was Chief Mate on the government brig Earl of Moira which accompanied Morris’s vessel and carried additional supplies. In 1802 Hodgson was sent to assist Morris on the island, and from 1804 to 1809 (Morris’s death) he served as second-in-command at the SIHE. He succeeded Morris as Superintendent and remained in that position until he retired in 1830. Helen Hodgson’s account is based on letters and other archival material, and communications with descendants, expanded with details gleaned from other writings (e.g., works by Lyall Campbell and Bruce Armstrong) and from TV documentaries. The author notes in her Prologue “All names, dates and places mentioned in this story are true, as verified by the Archives sources but the personalities of the people are, of necessity, the figments of my imagination”.
