A key ingredient for Thanksgiving

 

DAR wiki & Government of Canada.

This article in the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative wiki on the cranberry trade in Nova Scotia has a surprising connection back to the Oylers of Spitalfields Market. The article on Herbert Oyler, son of George B. Oyler, describes his family connection to the apple trade. "The growing of apples appears to be in the blood of the Oyler family...Mr. Oyler was born in England, where his father George Oyler, had 3000 acres of orchard, apples and other fruit. His father was a member of Potter, Oyler, Ltd. in Kent, and Mr. Oyler still holds stock in this leading apple concern of England. His grandfather and great-grandfather were also apple men, making Mr. Oyler the fourth direct generation to be interested as a livelihood in apples and other fruits." This connection goes back even further when you consider the 1,000 year lease on the orchard, gardens and farm assigned to Samuel Oyler in Kent, England in 1834.

Source: Facebook. 1940s label.

The article continues into Herbert Oyler's shift into cranberry production, and how he was a pioneer in Canada using the first sprinkler on a cranberry bog. This was published in a 1955 magazine of the national cranberry growers in the United States and Canada. The Government of Canada website also has some historic photos from the Oyler cranberry operation in Nova Scotia.

It makes sense that the Oylers would seek out produce from beyond England to sell at the Spitalfields Market, but I had no idea how extensive this transatlantic produce trade was. FamilySearch has deeds for Potter Oyler Ltd in Nova Scotia showing they had an apple warehouse. Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley is the heart of the region's apple production and is known as the "Apple Capital of Nova Scotia."

Google Maps. Annapolis Valley, NS.