Colleen Glassford
Independent Speaker
Colleen Teetzel Glassford was raised on a farm in Orford Township, near Chatham. She graduated as a Registered Nurse from St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital / Fanshawe College in 1975. Her career took her to Regina, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Chatham, Winchester (which is south of Ottawa) and finally to London where she retired. While in Winchester, Colleen, her husband and two daughters survived the Great Ice Storm of 1998.
Colleen attended the 2011 and 2012 British Home Child Day celebrations at Upper Canada Village. She met Ivy Sucee, Barnardo Representative in Peterborough, in 2012 where she was taken on a tour of points of interest to the British Home Children including to Queen Alexandra Public School, George St. United Church, the Barnardo plots in Little Lake Cemetery and the plaque at Conger's Hill. She met Ivy again in 2015 when she took her father to Peterborough to see the Hazelbrae Barnardo Home Memorial and to meet Ivy.
When her cousin’s wife was doing research for her book, “My Mary” in 2022, this renewed her interest in British Home Children. Her grandmother, Mary, is a British Home Child. Colleen was a proofreader for Dawn Teetzel's "My Mary" and "Little Belle", both about a British Home Child.
She currently resides in London, Ontario.
Presentation topics
On May 16, 2026, I spoke at the Port Burwell Writer’s Festival on “British Home Children” and focused of my grandmother, Mary Mae Houghton (HCC registry #7088). My cousin was promoting her book “My Mary”.
On September 11, 2026, I did a webinar for Kent Chapter Ontario Ancestors. My topic was “My Journey of Discovery: Learning the Truth about my grandmother – a British Home Child”. (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=home+children+canada).
On October 20, 2026, I gave a presentation to the Royal London Military Institute on British Home Children. I included a WWII veteran, two WWI veterans, and a nurse who served in WWI. The highlight of this night was a family in the audience had an ancestor who had served in the 117th Battalion, Royal Montreal Regiment, same unit as one of the veterans I’d highlighted. There were a few tears shed.