Eleanora Hallen

Eleanora Hallen

Early drawings, like this familyportrait, were quite crude, later drawings were of much better quality.

Eleanora Hallen was a Canadian diarist. Eleanora's family, which included ten children, immigrated from the United Kingdom to Canada in 1835, when she was 12 years old. Her close-knit family were all prolific diarists, who also recorded many drawings. Library and Archives Canada acquired an extensive collection of their drawings and diaries, in 2003. They speculate that Eleanora's share of that collection is more extensive than that of other family members because she died at just 23, and her family took better care of her papers, in order to remember her.

Freelance writer Caroline Parry published a 220 page annotated version of her diaries, entitled "Eleanora's Diary The Journals of a Canadian Pioneer Girl".

Library and Archives Canada noted that, while Eleanora provided a detailed account of pioneer life, she barely mentioned big events. In particular the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, earned just five sentences in her diary.