Ashpan Annie (January 25, 1916[1] – July 18, 2010) was the name given to Anne M. Welsh (née Liggins), a "Halifax Explosion" survivor.
At the time she was 23 months old. Her brother Edwin[2] and mother Anne were killed in the blast, which leveled most of the north Barrington Street structure.[3] She was blown under the kitchen stove, where the still warm ashes in the ashpan kept her alive until she was rescued by a soldier, Sgt Davies, and his dog, along with a neighbour, Mr Henneberry, who was looking for his own family who had lived nearby[4] some 26 hours later.[5]
Her father, Pte Edward, was a soldier who was overseas at the time. She was taken to the Pine Hill Convalescent Hospital, where she was discovered by her grandmother and aunt.[6]
She worked as a laundry worker at a young age, married and raised her own family. Her husband, Angus Welsh, died in the 1990s.[7]
She lived most of her life in the Hydrostone district. She died at The Berkeley, Gladstone Ridge, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
