Search Results

Williams, Sidney Back to ALL Bios Sydney Waldron Williams 1899 - 1972 Sydney Williams was born in Quebec City in 1899 and was the fourth child of Bishop Lennox Waldron Williams and Caroline Annie Rhodes. Sydney had an older brother James (Jimmy) who died at the battle of the Somme in 1916 and older sisters Mary and Gertrude. Sydney attended Quebec High School (Boy’s School) from 1908 until 1916. He was Head Prefect and was awarded the Governor General’s medal (for mathematics) and the Ann Ross Medal (for science). He attended Bishop’s University from 1916 until 1918 and then the Royal Military College from 1918 until 1921 (College Number 1394). Sydney finished his degree in Chemical Engineering at McGill University (as RMC could not grant degrees at the time) graduating in 1923. After graduation, Sydney worked for the Laurentide Paper Company in Grand Mere between 1923 and 1927. He then decided to follow in the footsteps of so many of his ancestors by pursuing a degree in theology at Bishop’s University (1927-1929). He was ordained a deacon in May 1929, and then a priest in 1930, by his father Bishop Lennox Williams at the cathedral in Quebec City. After a short courtship, Sydney married Enid Price in June 1929 and they had four children: Joan, Susan, Jimmy, and Sheila. Sydney was the curate for St Michael’s Church in Bournemouth, England between 1930 and 1932 before returning to work as the curate at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Quebec City while his father was Bishop. From 1933 until 1940 Sydney became the incumbent at St John the Evangelist, in Shawinigan Falls. At the outbreak of war, and based on his previous military background, Sydney volunteered to serve and went overseas serving in the 66th Battery, 14th Field Regiment. While in England, Sydney worked as an instructor and he retired as a Major in 1944. He returned to his parish in Shawinigan as the Anglican Rector where he worked for many years until his retirement in 1967. In addition to an active Parish ministry, he served with great devotion on many Diocesan boards including the Executive Committee of Synod, Church Society, and the Pension Committee, as well as being a member of the Corporation of King’s Hall, Compton. Always a proud military man, in 1956, Sydney was made an Honorary Lt Col. of the 62nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Shawinigan. He was also the Honorary Chaplain for the RMC Club of Canada and would preside over many Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the College. The following quote comes from an article written for the RMC Review about Sydney: “His many friends knew him as a man of understanding and wit, and he is also remembered by a great many people for his help in times of their trouble. His strong faith and deep understanding enabled him to give both spiritual and practical comfort.” Sports were always a great interest of Sydney and as a young man, he was a member of the Bishop’s University hockey and basketball teams. Sydney was also a great marksman and won many prizes for target shooting. He was a member of the Rifle Team at both RMC and McGill University and started the gun club in Shawinigan. Later in life, he taught the police in Shawinigan how to shoot. He used this skill in retirement when he could often be found shooting rats at the dump in Tadoussac. Sydney spent his childhood summers in Tadoussac living with his parents. He was an avid golfer, tennis player, and canoeist. After his ordination, Sydney followed in the footsteps of his father by officiating the church services in July each summer until his retirement. On the death of his father, he inherited The Barn and spent his retirement playing bridge with Coosie and Ray Price and enjoying his children and grandchildren. He had a strong friendship with Dr Taylor, an American clergyman who visited Tadoussac for many years. Sydney died in St Anne’s Military Hospital in 1972 and was buried in Mount Hermon Cemetery in Quebec City. The reredos (panel behind the altar) in the Protestant Chapel in Tadoussac, was presented in his memory by the congregation. Sydney was a beloved minister and his kind and friendly nature left a mark on everyone he met. Tadoussac was blessed to have had such a fine man as their liturgical leader for so many years. Kevin Webster

Russell, Mary Frances Back to ALL Bios Mary Frances Russell (1836-1864) Mary Frances Russell (b. 1836) was the daughter of Willis Russell and Rebecca Page Sanborn. She was the sister of William Edward Russell. At age 22, Mary Frances married a Scotsman, William Duthie Baxter Janes. Sadly, 6 years later, Mary Frances died at age 28 and is buried at Mt. Hermon Cemetery in Quebec. Two of their children (Mary Frances Russell Janes and Erie Russell Janes) continued their connection to Tad. Brian Dewart

Campbell, Robert Peel Back to ALL Bios Robert Peel William Campbell 1853 - 1929 Robert Peel William Campbell was born in St. Hilaire Québec in 1853. He was the second son of Major Thomas Edmund Campbell, seigneur of Rouville, and his wife Henriette-Julie Juchereau Duchesnay. Thomas Campbell became seigneur upon his wife’s inheritance of the seigneury from her father, Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d’Irumberry de Salaberry. Robert’s great uncle was Charles de Salaberry, CB, who led the Canadian troops at the Battle of Chateauguay in their defeat of a numerically superior American army advancing on Montreal during the War of 1812. Robert grew up in the Manoir Rouville, a Tudor-style mansion located on the south bank of the Richelieu River, in the shadow of majestic Mount St. Hilaire. His youth would have been spent exploring the countryside of St. Hilaire and helping his father with the development of his 150-acre model farm, a large portion of which was devoted to the nurturing of trees. Owing to his mother’s French-Canadian roots and his father’s British heritage, he was completely fluent in both English and French. This ability would serve him well later in his life. He attended Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville. He continued his studies at the University of Bishop’s College completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in June of 1873 and a Masters of Arts degree in June of 1876. At the age of twenty-two, this was quite an accomplishment for the day. He went on to study law at Laval University and with the completion of his L.L.B. was awarded the Dufferin Gold Medal. The medal was an official British commendation awarded by the then Governor-General Lord Dufferin, to Canadian students who had achieved high excellence in academics and athletics. While at BCS he would have met boys with ties to Tadoussac. Colonel Rhodes’s boys were all around his age and because Robert’s father Thomas and William Rhodes were both officers in the British Army in Canada at one time in their lives, it is entirely possible that there were family ties before the BCS days. Robert became a great friend of the Rhodes and Williams families and spent many summers visiting their summer home on the banks of Tadoussac Bay. One can imagine these young men leaving Québec on a steamer bound for Tadoussac with the entire summer ahead filled with outdoor adventure on the Saguenay River. Robert was called to the Québec Bar in 1877 and practised law in Québec City. He was appointed Assistant Clerk of the Legislative Council of the Province of Québec in 1883. The Legislative Council was the unelected upper house of the legislature in the province from 1867 to its disbandment in 1968. Concurrently, he was appointed English Journal and English Translator for the Council, no doubt because of his proficiency in both languages. In 1893, he was appointed Clerk of Private Bills and Railways for the Province. He became Clerk of the Legislative Council in 1909. The title of King’s Counsel was conferred upon him in 1903. At some time between 1882 and 1885, Robert purchased the property known as Kirk Ella from John Burstall. The eighty-three-acre property was located on the opposite side of Rue St. Louis from Godfrey Rhodes’ residence Cataraqui. The house on the property was destroyed by fire in 1879 after Burstall had done extensive renovations. A new residence would have been built by Robert Campbell. He lived at Kirk Ella until his death. Robert Campbell never married. Throughout his life, he was devoted to the institutions which were responsible for his education and to the church. For many years he was a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Bishop’s College. He took a leading role in the administration of the affairs of the University. In 1907 and in recognition of his many years of service he was awarded the degree of Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of BCS from 1908 to 1912 and a Trustee of King’s Hall Compton. It was probably through his association with the Anglican Church in Québec that he came to be such good friends with Lennox Williams and his wife Nan. Robert became Chancellor and secretary of the Diocese of Québec in 1905 and had been associated with the church in Québec for many years. While six years older than Lennox Williams, Robert would have known him and his father James at BCS, and certainly would have developed a close bond while Lennox was the minister at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Québec City. Robert died at Kirk Ella in Québec City in 1929. The stories of his time in Tadoussac are lost to the passage of time. The plaque placed in his memory in the Chapel recognizes his long and dedicated service to the Province of Québec, his university, his church, and the great esteem with which he was held by the summer residents of Tadoussac of that generation. Lennox John Leggat _______________ Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume X – Thomas Edmund Campbell Wikipedia – Thomas Edmund Campbell Prominent People of the Province of Quebec in Professional, Social and Business Life, 1923 The Mitre, University of Bishop’s College Volume 37 No.3 December 1929 Pedigree, The Children of the (Late) Colonel William Rhodes of Benmore, Quebec, Canada

Evans, Maria Stewart Back to ALL Bios Dean Evans's first wife, but what else can we find?? Evans, Marie Stewart 1850 - 1903 She was the first wife of Dean Lewis Evans so the mother of Trevor Evans and grandmother of Ainslie Stephen, Phoebe Skutezky, and Trevor and Tim Evans. Said to have the nick-name “Mae the Flirt” (!) Described as Maria in her birth record, and Marie in the marriage index, (It says Marie on her plaque) her full name was Maria Stewart Bethune, born August 20 1840, the second of four children (all girls) of Strachan Bethune (1821-1910) and Maria MacLean Phillips (1826-1901). In 1873 at the age of 23, Maria Stewart Bethune married Dean Thomas Frye Lewis Evans (1845-1920) (he was one of 12 children of an Irish rector called Francis Evans). Dean T.F. Lewis Evans and Maria Stewart Bethune had 5 children: Harry Basil Ashton (1873 – 1958), Muriel Maye (1877 – 1952) Trevor Ainslie (1878 or 9 – 1938 or 9), Cyril Lewis (1882 or 3 – 1887), Ruby Bethune (1885 – 1947). The Dean had a sixth child, Lewis Evans, with his second wife Emily, also a Bethune. In 1903 she (Maria) died at age 63 and is buried in Mount Royal Cemetery. Alan Evans

Smith, George Carington Back to ALL Bios George Carington Smith 1870-1949 George (Tommy) Carington Smith was born in Quebec City in 1870. He was the fourth son of Robert Herbert Smith and Amelia Jane LeMesurier. He was a banker and spent most of his career with the Bank of Montreal. He married Winifred Dawes in 1899 in Lachine, Quebec. They had three children. His son, David Norman, died in infancy. His daughter, Winifred Noeline (known as Pixie), was born in 1902 and his daughter, Marion Sarah Smith Dobson, was born in 1907. He died in 1949 in Montreal and is buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal. Eve Wickwire

McCarter, Douglas Back to ALL Bios G. Douglas McCarter 1935 – 1985 Doug was born to Mrs. G.A. (Edna Thakray) McCarter and Brig. General G.A. McCarter on May 13, 1935 in Ottawa, Ontario upon the return of the family from England in 1933. Doug’s older sister Sallie (Sara Jane) was born in Frimley, England while father “Nick” was in a course at the Staff College in Camberley at the time. Doug enjoyed a happy childhood attending the Rockliffe Park Public School and quickly became the man of the house while his father was involved in the war effort. At the age of 11 Doug accompanied his parents to Victoria, B.C. where his father Nick retired due to ailing health. Doug finished his schooling there at Glenlyon School and University School. In 1952 he enrolled into the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario following in his father’s footsteps. Upon graduating RMC in 1956, Doug attended McGill University to complete his engineering degree. Doug spent the following summer in Chilliwack, B.C. It was during this period at McGill that he met his future wife, Pam Smith, who was studying to be a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital, also in Montreal. After proposing to Pam in Tadoussac, Pam and Doug were married on August 23, 1958 at the Cathedral at Quebec City. Doug arranged for a full honour guard, all in RMC uniforms. In the end, Doug chose not to pursue a military career like his father. He first accepted a position with Bell Telephone in Ottawa causing the two to move there. In 1960, their first child, (Robert Douglas) was born. Regrettably in 1961 Doug’s father died suddenly. A few weeks later their second son (William Arnold) was born. Finally, twins (Susan Elizabeth and Michael Guy) were born in 1963. Shortly thereafter, Doug’s job took the family to Montreal where they found a home in Beaconsfield. In 1968 the family once again moved to Scarsdale, New York where Doug worked for a Canadian investment firm in Manhattan. Living in the suburbs, Doug became deeply involved in work and family. He coached soccer, was a Boy Scout leader, and taught Sunday School in addition to other functions at the Church of St. James the Less where at one time he also served as warden. Eventually Doug’s professional life saw him move to Mutual of America and other investment companies in the heart of Manhattan. On the twins’ 22nd birthday in 1985, while out running in preparation for one of many marathons he would run, Doug suffered a massive heart attack and died at home that day. He was a devoted husband and father. Michael McCarter

Smith, Constance Isobel Carington (Price) Back to ALL Bios Constance Isobel Price 1908 – 1944 “Iso” was born on July 29, 1908 in Buenos Aires, Argentina to her father, Henry Edward Price (39) and to her mother Helen Muriel Gilmour (29). Being born into the Price family meant she had many siblings and cousins. Her siblings included: • William Gilmour – born, December 7, 1910 in Quebec City, Quebec. • James Cuthbert – born, September 17, 1912 • Sheila Hope – born, August 30, 1914 in Quebec City, Quebec. • Henry Edward (Ted) Clifford – born, December 23, 1916 in Quebec City, Quebec. • Llewellyn Evan – born, July 20, 1919 • Barbara Joan – born, November 14, 1921 in Quebec City, Quebec. During her young life, Iso saw the passing of her younger sister Barbara Joan at the age of 3 in 1924, her brother Gilmour in 1940 at the age of 30, Evan in 1944 at the age of 25. Despite this, the family grew up close in the English section of Quebec City. At the age of 23 on April 27, 1932 Isobel married Lt. Col. R. Guy C. Smith in her hometown of Quebec City. They had three children during their marriage. • Valliere Ann – born, July 30, 1933 in Buenos Aires, Argentina • Susan Pamela – born, May 23, 1935 in Buenos Aires, Argentina • Penelope Joan – born, May 20, 1939 in Rye, NY Sadly, Iso passed away at the young age of 36 on November 19, 1944 in Ottawa, Ontario. Constance Isobel Smith is buried at the Mount Hermon Cemetery, 1801 Chemin Saint-Louis, Sillery, Quebec, Quebec Michael McCarter

Price, Henry Edward & Helen Muriel (Gilmour) Back to ALL Bios Henry Edward Price 1869 – 1954 & Helen Muriel (Gilmour) 1879 – 1952 Henry Edward (Harry) Price was born in Zemita, Chile in 1869, the second son out of seven children of Henry Ferrier Price and Florence Stoker Rogerson. As with all his brothers and sisters, he was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church and had Roman Catholics stand proxy for their godparents. Little else is known about their childhood in Chile. At the age of eleven in 1880, he and his older brother William were sent from Chile to Wolfesfield in Sillery, Quebec to live with their uncles and aunts so they could be educated to take over the company, as none of the three Price Brothers and their sisters then living at Wolfesfield was married or had children. At the time the two boys arrived in Canada, they only spoke Spanish. As the aunts and uncles forbade them to speak Spanish to one another, they learned English in a hurry. From the stories Henry told his children, they were quite lonely. Henry attended Trinity College School, Port Hope from 1884 to 1888. After leaving TCS, he lived with his parents (who by then had moved to Canada from Chile) while attending Osgoode Hall Law School from which he graduated. Afterwards, he articled at the firm of Blake, Lash and Cassels, in Toronto. During the mid to late 1890s, he moved to Quebec City to become corporate legal counsel for Price Brothers and following the death of their uncle Evan John in 1899, his brother William became President of Price Brothers. Helen Muriel Gilmour was born in Quebec City in 1879 as the first child of John David Gilmour and Helen Shamberg Fraser. She was usually known as Mimi or Muriel and had two brothers Kenneth and Dudley born in 1881 and 1882 respectively. Her family had founded Allan Gilmour and Co. in Quebec in the 1820s. Muriel was the granddaughter of John Gilmour, a contemporary of the original William Price who arrived in Quebec in 1810 and was an equally renowned lumber merchant. Her mother, Helen Fraser, came from Port Hope in Ontario and was related to the Wotherspoon and Cumberland families. Much of Muriel’s childhood was spent in Port Hope, her mother’s hometown, where she was educated. Harry married Helen Muriel Gilmour in 1901 at St. Andrew’s Church in Quebec. He had to ask her three times to marry him before she finally accepted. All of their ten children, starting with Helen Florence were born in Quebec between 1902 and 1921. Their youngest daughter Joan died of diphtheria or scarlet fever in 1924. Harry was instrumental in founding the Quebec Golf Club, one of North America’s oldest. In 1915, it was compelled to move out of the Plains of Abraham and east to its present-day location near Montmorency Falls. In 1934, King George V granted it the privilege to add the “Royal” prefix to its name. In the winter Harry was a keen curler. They lived at 2 St. Denis Ave, 16 St. Denis Ave., and 269 Laurier Ave. At the time they were comfortably off, as their daughter Helen spoke of trips to Europe in 1913, 1921 and 1928. The wedding of her sister Enid to Sydney Williams at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in 1929 was a grand occasion. In the early 1920s, they were given the use of the house Casa Nueva (also known as the Harry Price House) in Tadoussac by Sir William Price after Harry and William’s mother, Florence Rogerson Price died. The only condition was understood to be that when their sister Terry was in Tadoussac she would stay at Casa Nueva and not next door at Fletcher Cottage. Harry was the Corporate Secretary of Price Brothers until the time of the depression when they lost their money with the bankruptcy of Price Brothers in 1933 because of their stockbroker's inability (or deliberate decision not) to sell all their investments when requested. During the depression, they had to take in boarders, but they never let their old Nanny go. She stayed with them until they both died when she went to live with Ida Price. Helen stayed with them for quite a while, as did Milly until she went off to Europe to join the war effort in 1941. Jimmy also remained with them until both his parents died. In 1948 they gave Jimmy the family house in Tadoussac in appreciation for all he had done for his parents. As a result of the financial difficulties, Muriel set up an investment account for all her children and grandchildren, which was managed by her son Jimmy, a stockbroker. This account continued throughout the lives of her children until 2008. During the 1940s tragedy unrelated to the war struck as three of their children died within five years. First Gilly was killed in an industrial accident at the Price Brothers mill in Riverbend in 1940. Evan was killed in an airplane accident in 1944, on his way to a funeral for a family friend. That same year Iso died in Ottawa after a long illness. During the war when their fathers were away in Europe, Harry visited all his Williams and Smith grandchildren every night to wish them good night. Many of their grandchildren remember Harry and Muriel in Tadoussac in the years after the war. Stories abound of Harry buying ice cream cones for his grandchildren on Cartier Avenue in Quebec or right before their lunch in Tadoussac. He also cheated while endlessly playing patience. They remember Muriel in Tadoussac for giving herself her daily needles for her diabetes after boiling them and yelling at Harry who was ten years older to tell him what he was supposed to be doing next. Some of their grandchildren lived with them while finishing the grade twelve high school courses they needed to qualify for post-secondary education. They celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in November 1951. Helen Muriel died in Quebec in 1952, when she suddenly collapsed on the way to bed with only her deaf husband in the house at the time. Help arrived shortly afterwards, however, when her son Jimmy arrived home. Henry Edward died at the Jeffrey Hale Hospital in Quebec in 1954. Greville Price

Morewood, Gertrude Isobel Back to ALL Bios Gertrude Isobel Morewood 1891 - 1977 Gertrude Isobel Morewood was born in Englewood, New Jersey, on June 13, 1891. She was the fourth child (of five) of Harry and Minnie Morewood, and throughout her life she was known as Bill or Billy. She trained as a nurse, but nothing is known about her working career. When she was about 18 years old, (1909) her parents moved the family to a house called Benmore, in Quebec City, which was the house her grandfather had bought in 1848. It is believed that Billy was interested in a Jewish man for some time, but marriage to him was not acceptable to her mother, and Billy never married. She loved small dogs and often had two. She was excellent at training them to do tricks and delighted many children by showing them what her dogs could do. She always kept a pack of small playing cards in her purse and in her house, she kept a drawer full of toys to amuse visiting children. She was a keen gardener and they had a large garden at Benmore with vegetables in the middle of a huge square border of flowers. There was also a large lily pond at Benmore that had been created by Billy. The pond had not only lilies, but also goldfish. In the fall she would capture as many goldfish as she could and they would spend the winter in a barrel in the basement at Benmore. In the spring she would usually find a few goldfish that had escaped the capturing procedure in the fall and had wintered in the pond, presumably by burrowing into the mud at the bottom of the pond. When Harry and Frank Morewood were small children, their Aunt Bill took them to Tadoussac each summer to their Uncle Frank (Morewood’s) newly built cottage (Windward). They would stay for a month under Billy’s care and thereby give parents Bobby and Margaret a break. They traveled on the CSL boats to get there and back, which was probably a good thing as she was not a gifted driver. She was so short she actually looked through the steering wheel in her car so perhaps being able to see properly was a difficulty for her. Billy had a strong love for children and was adored by them in return. In Tadoussac she often took numbers of children out in the Williams’s Whiteboat, rowing them about in the bay and around Pointe Rouge for picnics. Many people remember her joking and making kids laugh. She used to visit for days at a time when family members had babies, to help the mums in the first week or two at home. She was also known for helping older relatives as they became more helpless toward the end of their lives. At the de Salaberry house, Billy lived as an adult with her sister Nancy, who also never married. She was devoted to Nancy and looked after her until she died. The two of them used to make wooden jigsaw puzzles together. Aunt Bill, again, had a flower garden and a rock garden. After Nancy died in 1946, she invited her brother, Bobby, his wife, Margaret, and Harry and Frank to live with her at that house. Frank was about 12 years old and Harry 15 at that time. Aunt Bill continued to be very much a second mother to the two boys. There were a few disagreements between the two ladies of the house but it was mostly a harmonious relationship. The house had six bedrooms so there was plenty of room for everyone. Aunt Bill had a life-long friend whom she had met when she was training to be a nurse, who became an Anglican nun. Sister Jane Frances, usually called Peg, was a frequent visitor at Benmore and the de Salaberry house. Billy’s younger brother Bobby died in 1964. Aunt Bill and Margaret were alone – the boys now in their 30s had long since moved out – so they decided to sell the house and move into an apartment, not much more than a block away, on St. Louis Road. Aunt Bill died December 5, 1977 at the age of 86. Alan Evans

Evans, Cyril Lewis Back to ALL Bios Cyril Lewis Evans 1882 - 1887 There is a small window in the back wall of the chapel that is dedicated to the memory of Cyril Lewis Evans, who died of hydrocephalus at the age of five. It is hard to imagine how that tragedy played out, the little boy dying in 1887. Hydrocephalus (sometimes called water on the brain) can cause brain damage as a result of the fluid buildup. This can lead to developmental, physical, and intellectual impairments. It requires treatment to prevent serious complications. It is caused by Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which flows through the brain and spinal cord in normal conditions. Under certain conditions, the amount of this fluid in the brain increases if there is a blockage that prevents it from flowing normally, or there is a decrease in the ability of blood vessels to absorb it, or if the brain produces an excess amount of it. Too much of this fluid puts the brain under too much pressure. This pressure can cause brain swelling, which can damage brain tissue. (Facts from: Healthline.com) In the 1880s treatment for this condition was in its infancy, so it must have been a very difficult time for Cyril and his family. Alan Evans

Williams, Lennox Back to ALL Bios Caroline Anne (Nan) Rhodes Williams 1861 – 1937 & Bishop Lennox Williams, DD 1859 – 1958 Lennox Williams was born in 1859, in Chapman House at Bishop’s College School located in Lennoxville, Quebec. His father, James Williams, was the fourth bishop of Quebec and he was born in Aberystwyth, Wales. His mother was Anna Maria Waldron and she was born in 1821. Lennox attended BCS as a boy and eventually became Head Prefect. He would often regale future generations of BCS family members with tales of experiences at the school and in particular his time as Head Prefect. Lennox studied theology at St. John’s College, Oxford, and rowed for the college. His oar, with the names of the team members, still hangs on the wall of his cottage, Brynhyfryd, in Tadoussac. Lennox was ordained in 1885 and his first post was St Matthew’s, Quebec. After this, he attained the positions of Rector, Rural Dean, and Dean of Montreal before finally being made the sixth bishop of Quebec in 1915. While Dean of Quebec, Lennox visited the villages on the north shore of the St Lawrence to provide pastoral services. He would often travel in the summers to participate in confirmations throughout the region. Later in his life, he took services at the Protestant chapel in Tadoussac. Caroline Anne (Nan) Rhodes Williams was the seventh child of Col. William Rhodes and Anne Catherine Dunn. She was born in Sillery, Quebec in 1861. Her family called her “Annie” but to her children she was known as “Nan”. The ages of her brothers and sisters were spread over almost twenty years, yet they grew up actively engaged with each other. Armitage, her eldest brother, made her a big snow house; Godfrey took her and her sister Minnie skating and sliding. They all spent summers in Tadoussac together, Nan with her dog Tiney. She and her brother Godfrey frequently “apple-pied” all the beds, causing bedlam in the house. Growing up at Benmore the family home in Sillery, she was surrounded by an endless collection of birds and animals - geese, chickens, bantams, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks and ponies, and even beehives. All were welcome inhabitants of her family’s farm. Her brothers, Godfrey and Willy procured a bear cub and had a pole for it to climb. The family meals often included caribou and rabbit meat from her father’s hunting trips. Croquet was a favourite family game on the lawn. In winter, Nan and her sister Minnie travelled by sleigh through the deep snow to their lessons at dancing school. Nan was a lively young girl who always loved jokes. Her father described her as “full of play”. Nan became engaged to Lennox when he was at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Sillery. She and Lennox Williams were married there in 1887. Her sister Gerty and her best friend Violet Montizambert were her bridesmaids. Their first child, James, was born in 1888, followed by Mary (Wallace) in 1890, Gertrude (Alexander) in 1894, and Sydney Williams in 1899. As their children were growing up in Quebec, Lennox served at St. Michael’s. His work always involved people and when he became Dean, and later Bishop of Quebec, his duties extended over the vast geography of the Quebec Diocese. Assisting him in his work brought Nan in contact with the many different people in the city and the province, some of whom would go overseas to serve in the South African (Boer) War, World War 1, and World War II. The winter of 1913-14 in Quebec was the last carefree time before World War I began. Nan always welcomed her children’s friends around the Deanery for supper or tea. According to one of her future sons-in-law, “On some evenings it was quite amusing. The Dean and Mrs Williams sat in his study, Jim Williams and Evelyn Meredith sat in an upstairs sitting room, Mary Williams and Jack Wallace in the drawing room, and Gertrude and Ronald Alexander in the dining room. Mrs Williams was a very understanding person.” This was still the age of chaperones. Before going overseas, Jim and Evelyn were married, and both enjoyed summers in Tadoussac with the family at Brynhyfryd. The war also brought devastation for the Williams family as it did for so many families of that generation. James, the eldest son, who had also attended Oxford University, was commissioned into the Canadian Army shortly after the war began. He served valiantly as an officer but was killed at the battle of the Somme in 1916. Lennox was devastated by the loss of his son and many said he was never the same after. Each summer Lennox would read the lesson about King David’s son, Absalom, who was killed in battle and many of the congregation felt that Lennox was lamenting his own son’s death. It was in November 1916, that Nan received the news that her son Jim was killed, and two months later in January 1917, she and Lennox, accompanied by their daughters, Mary and Gertrude, sailed to England. Mary went to see Jack Wallace, Jim’s best friend, and Gertrude was to be married to Ronald Alexander (who was serving with the Victoria Rifles). The wedding took place on February 19, 1917, with Mary participating as a bridesmaid. They stayed in London at Queen Anne’s Mansions and remained there until April. After the War, Nan and Lennox continued their active life together as Lennox had been consecrated as Bishop of Quebec in 1915. The Rhodes family house in Tadoussac, built in 1860, had been left to Nan. It burnt down in 1932 and was rebuilt the next year. Brynhyfryd remains in Nan’s family today. When Lennox retired in 1934, they had more time to spend in Tadoussac and ten grandchildren to enjoy it with them. One day, walking to town with one of her ten grandchildren, Nan discovered that her grandchild had lifted a bit of candy from Pierre Cid’s general store. She marched her back to return it and to apologize. To one of her grandchildren “Granny was always game for some fun and she had lots of energy.” Nan loved to be out rowing the boats and like others her age, she swam regularly in the refreshing saltwater of the bay. On June 30, 1937, she climbed up the path from the beach and, reaching the house feeling a bit tired, she took a rest. Nan died suddenly later that evening. Lennox’s favourite book was Alice in Wonderland, which he would often quote to his grandchildren. His grandchildren also had many fond memories of their time with Lennox in Tadoussac. Every morning at eight am the entire family would meet outside the dining room for prayers with everyone on their knees. Meals were served on time and exemplary manners were expected (elbows off the table). Afternoons were spent smoking his pipe or perhaps on special occasions a cigar, under the trees on the edge of the bank at Brynhyfryd with his white (Samoyed) dog Kara. Evenings were spent playing card games like Old Maid or Bridge with his children and grandchildren. He remained a great athlete and enjoyed tennis and golf into his old age. Eventually, in his nineties, he was slowed a little and transitioned from the golf course to the putting green at the hotel for his activity. Lennox died in Tadoussac in his 100th year on the 8th of July, 1958. The Lychgate at the Protestant chapel in Tadoussac (roofed gateway at the entrance of the chapel) was donated by the congregation in his memory. Kevin Webster

Smith, Jean Alexandra (McCaig) Back to ALL Bios Jean Alexandra (McCaig) Smith 1903-1988 Jean, Mumsie, Aunt Jean, Grannie was born in Quebec in 1903. Her parents were John and Evelyn McCaig. She had 2 sisters, Ruth, born in 1908, and Ester, and one brother, William John, born in 1911. The family moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1911. Jean trained as a stenographer and early in her adult life she developed a love of travel. During the 1920s and 1930s she visited Vancouver, Honolulu, San Francisco, Berkeley, South Hampton and Brazil and settled finally in New York in the early 1940s. She was working as a stenographer in the Canadian Consul General/Trade Commissioner’s office when she met Robert Guy Carington Smith. They were married on December 12, 1945. For the next 20 years she travelled to, and lived in many of, the world’s capital cities and became a gracious hostess for Guy as he pursued his diplomatic career around the world. Upon Guy’s retirement in the early 1960s, they purchased a house in Brockville, Ontario and lived there until Jean’s death in 1988. Summers were always spent in Tadoussac at Dufferin House. Jean and Guy became the Tadoussac version of Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman from Driving Miss Daisy! Guy had purchased a black London Taxi which he named Gertrude. He was often seen in the front seat driving around Tad with Jean in the back regally waving to us all! Jean died in Brockville in February, 1988. Written by various family members