Way Out West: On the Trail of an Errant Ancestor

Description

pp. 247, black and white photo section. “In 1862, a young English aristocrat, William Fitzwilliam, Viscount Milton, left his palatial home, and with his travelling companion and friend, Dr. Cheadle, crossed the prairies and mountains of western Canada on horseback, enduring cold, starvation, and a catalogue of near-fatal incidents. On their return to England, they were hailed as heroes. ‘The North-West Passage by Land,’ the book they wrote about their trip, became a sensation. Nearly 140 years later, London-based journalist Michael Shaw Bond, Milton’s great-great-grandson, set out to retrace their steps – and to find out more about his illustrious ancestor. In the course of his research and journey, he learned that there was much more to Milton than his family ever knew – and why it took Canada to make a hero out of him.”