Mat No More — Wyman, Marlena

Originally from Ontario, Matthew (Mat) and Mary Hyde arrived in Edmonton on April 29, 1911. They had four children, one who died in infancy. On July 7 1915, Mat enlisted in the Canadian military. Mat was killed in action on 26 Sep 1916, likely near Courcelette, France on the Somme Front. While Mat was serving overseas, Mary noted in her daily diary entries “Mat in England” or “Mat somewhere in France”. Mary did not know that Mat had died on September 26th until she received a telegram on October 13th. After hearing of his death, she went back into her diary and between the dates of September 26th and October 13th, she crossed out where she had originally written “Mat somewhere in France”. Thereafter she wrote, “Mat no more” every day in her diary passages until her last diary entry on December 28, 1944, shortly before she died. Mary never remarried. Painting inspired by the handwritten diary and photos of Mary Capling Hyde, City of Edmonton Archives #MS253