Ashpan Annie

Who was Ashpan Annie?

Ashpan Annie was the name given to Halifax Explosion survivor Anne M. Welsh.

At the time she was 23 months old. Her brother Edwin and mother Anne were killed in the blast, which leveled most of the north Barrington Street structure. She was blown under the kitchen stove, where the still warm ashes in the ashpan kept her alive until she was rescued by a soldier, Sgt Davies and his dog along with a neighbour, Mr Henneberry, who was looking for his own family that had lived nearby some 26 hours later.

Her father, Pte Edward, was a soldier who was overseas at the time. She was taken to the Pine Hill Convalescent Hospital, where she was discovered by her grandmother and aunt.

She worked as a laundry worker at a young age, married and raised her own family. Her husband, Angus Welsh, died in the 1990s.

She lived most of her life in the Hydrostone district. She died at The Berkeley, Gladstone Ridge in Halifax, Nova Scotia.