Margaret Annie Adelaide Butler (1878–1951)

Some recipes are more than instructions — they're proof of a life that had to be practical, resourceful, and steady day after day. That's the kind of baking my grandmother, Margaret Annie Adelaide Butler, brought to the family. The desserts connected to her name aren't fancy for the sake of it. They're the reliable kind: the ones that turned out, fed a table, and lifted tired spirits.

This page is my way of preserving her story alongside the recipes that survived her — because when you bake from old handwritten notes, you're not just making dessert. You're stepping into the rhythms of a real kitchen, from a real time, kept alive one batch at a time.

Margaret Annie Adelaide Butler: My "Grandma McIlmoyle"

Margaret Annie Adelaide (Daisy) Butler (1878-1951)
(Source: ©Don Bell)

Born in Shropshire, England, in 1878, Margaret Annie Adelaide Butler emigrated with her parents to Ontario, Canada in 1887. As a young woman she married Herbert Leslie McIlmoyle (1872-1936) in 1899, and after heading west, they became homesteaders near Airdrie, Alberta in 1901 — the kind of life where you learned quickly what mattered, and what worked.

Grandma McIlmoyle worked long, hard days as a pioneer rancher's wife. She watered cattle, forked hay, groomed horses, and tended her large vegetable garden. She also kept the house and prepared hearty, delicious meals for her hardworking husband and eight small children.

Nothing topped a meal off or brightened an exhausting day like a tasty dessert. Since Grandma's time had been limited, she chose the proven family recipes she knew would always turn out delicious.

Life was often difficult for homesteaders on the lonely prairie. They needed to be strong and resourceful and ready for any emergency. Once, when Grandpa had been in Airdrie purchasing supplies, the billowing smoke of a grass fire loomed on the horizon. Leaving the older children in charge of the youngest, Grandma quickly harnessed the oxen and ploughed furrows around the house and barn to prevent disaster.

Sometime after their eighth child was born, they moved to Calgary where my mother (Daisy) and her twin brother (Herbert) were born in 1911.

The McIlmoyle Home in Calgary, circa 1911
(Source: Don Bell)

That same year the McIlmoyle family returned to Ontario, and Grandpa eventually purchased a farm at Selwyn, near the Village of Lakefield.

Grandma McIlmoyle died when I was very young, so I have only fleeting memories of her. I cannot recall her cooking or baking, though I must have sampled some of her famous hermit cookies at times. However, my older cousins well remember the taste of Grandma's wonderful desserts.

Grandma's legacy of cooking skills and proven recipes was lovingly passed down to her daughters, and they continued the tradition of baking homemade cakes, pies, puddings, and other delicious treats for their families.

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Don Bell, Founder & Archivist, Old Fashioned Dessert Recipes. Don has spent over two decades preserving heritage dessert recipes from handwritten family notebooks, vintage cookbooks, and recipe scrapbooks. His collection spans hundreds of authentic, old fashioned recipes presented exactly as originally written.