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  • Price, H. Edward (Teddy) C. & Mary Winifred (Hampson)

    Price, H. Edward (Teddy) C. & Mary Winifred (Hampson) Back to ALL Bios ​ H. Edward C. Price 1916 - 1995 & Mary Winifred (Hampson) 1917 - 1977 Henry Edward Clifford (Teddy) Price was born in Quebec City in 1916, the eighth child and third son of Harry Price and Muriel Gilmour. He grew up in Quebec among his family at 2 and 18 rue Saint-Denis in old Quebec near the Citadel. He spent his summers in Tadoussac where he had many friends including Jim and Jean Alexander and met his wife Mary Hampson in the mid-1930s. From 1929 to 1931 he attended Trinity College School in Port Hope but was withdrawn when he became homesick. When he wanted to go back later, the family could no longer afford it having lost money in the depression. He graduated in 1935 from the High School of Quebec, and attended the Royal Military College in Kingston, just as many of his relatives did before him. Mary Winifred Hampson was born in Montreal in 1917, to Edward Greville Hampson and Helen Winifred Stanway. She grew up in Montreal with her younger sister Barbara Isabel and brother John Greville. They lived initially on Bishop Street and later moved to 1501 MacGregor Street at the corner of Simpson. (MacGregor Street had its name changed to Avenue Docteur Penfield long after the Hampsons sold their house.) As well as their house in Montreal, the Hampsons acquired a farm near Ste. Therese where they spent their weekends. Mary attended the Study School in Montreal and was a boarder at Elmwood School in Ottawa from which she graduated in 1935. She later attended finishing schools in Germany and England. She was not allowed to attend university by her father who did not believe girls should attend university. Instead, she used to audit the courses for her friends at McGill so they would be marked as present at their lectures when they were absent. For the rest of her life, she always enjoyed reading books to make up for her lack of a university career but made sure her daughters were properly educated. The Hampsons spent many summers in Murray Bay and Cap a l’Aigle. Sometime in the mid-1930s the Hampsons came to Tadoussac by boat and stayed at the Hotel Tadoussac. There Mary encountered many friends, including her future husband Ted Price, as well as Jim Alexander who would marry her sister Barbara. At the start of World War II in 1939, Ted joined the Canadian Army and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Permanent Force and went overseas with the Royal Canadian Regiment. Prior to his departure he and Mary were married on a week’s notice on November 18, 1939, at St. George’s Church in Montreal. Mary followed Ted overseas to Surrey, England where they set up house in Yew Tree Cottage in Lower Kingswood near Reigate, Surrey and their four children were born: Greville in February 1941, twins Tim and Ginny in January 1943, and Sally in September 1944 In 1942 Ted was transferred to the headquarters of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division in England and served in the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy. After attending the British Army Staff College in 1944 he was posted to the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division in the United Kingdom and North-West Europe until the end of the war. In August 1945, the family returned to Canada where they received a tremendous welcome coming off the boat in Tadoussac meeting parents, siblings, cousins, and friends they had not seen in many years. Ted remained in the Army after the war serving in a variety of military positions. His many postings included Kingston, Ottawa, Vancouver, and England. Then he was back to Canada in Petawawa before going to Germany, then Victoria, Newfoundland, and even Tanzania before his final posting in Washington. He retired from the Canadian army in 1970 with the rank of Colonel. The family went with Ted on all these moves, which came regularly every two to three years. It was up to Mary to find a home (if a PMQ was not allotted by the army), find schools for the children, make new friends or find out if they knew some of the military families from previous postings, and get to know some friends in the new location. In 1946 they purchased a house at 118 Lisgar Road, Rockcliffe as a pied de terre, whenever they were in Ottawa, and as a place to retire, which they did in 1970. Mary took advantage of the frequent moves to take the family with or without Ted on trips around British Columbia, England or Europe. When the family were older, they would bring their spouses and later grandchildren to the postings in Tanzania for the game parks, and Washington. The trips were always well-planned. He remained active in many charitable activities, particularly the Order of St. Lazarus as its Secretary General for several years. He was active as a golfer at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club and was a member of the Rideau Club where he served a term as Secretary. He also enjoyed tennis, squash and skiing. He was a keen fisherman belonging to several fishing clubs, particularly the Magnassippi Angling Club near Deux Rivieres, Ontario. In 1956, Mary bought Ted’s family’s summer house, the Harry Price House, in Tadoussac from her brother-in-law Jimmy, so she was able to spend most summers in Tadoussac. She was able to get to Tad from most places in North America, except the West coast, and for every summer after Ted retired. While in Tadoussac she enjoyed the picnics, played bridge with many friends, read books, swam in the lake and entertained friends and relatives. She introduced her many friends they had met during the army days to the Saguenay and their Tadoussac friends. During his retirement leave at the start of 1970, Ted and Mary embarked on a long-planned round-the-world tour to see their many friends in many places. After retirement, Mary and Ted lived in their house in Ottawa and watched their four children all get married between 1966 and 1972 and eventually grandchildren arrived. They enjoyed visiting Ginny and Randy in Newfoundland, Sally and Ross in Somerset, England, Tim and Frances in Montreal and Antigua, and Greville and Kerry who remained in Ottawa. Mary got sick in the fall of 1976 and died of pancreatic cancer in April 1977, three months before her 60th birthday. Ted remained strongly committed to the Price family corresponding with many relatives in various parts of the world in the 1970s and 1980s, building up voluminous files. He developed the initial family tree in 1974. He supported the start of the reunions in 1987 and gave the address to the 1992 Tadoussac reunion at the Tadoussac Protestant Chapel. In 1971, Ted joined the Standards Council of Canada on its formation, serving as its Director of Administration and Secretary General until his second retirement in July 1981. After Mary died, Ted married Martha “Marty” Eberts, who was also recently widowed. She had been the wife of Chris Eberts, the brother of Bea Eberts who was married to Ted’s cousin Charlie Price. They lived in Ottawa and were very supportive of their families. Marty developed dementia and in 1990 had to be admitted to a home, which was stressful for Ted. He developed prostate cancer and died on November 16, 1995, in Ottawa with his funeral being held two days later on the date of his original wedding anniversary. At his memorial service a few days later, the eulogy was given by his godson Tony Price.

  • Smith, Gordon Carington

    Smith, Gordon Carington Back to ALL Bios ​ Gordon Carington Smith 1906 - 1974 Family, dedication to the Canadian Armed Forces, and Tadoussac, were the most important things in the life of Gordon Carington Smith. Gordon was born in 1906 in Quebec City to Robert Harcourt Smith and Mary Valliere Gunn Smith. He was the second of three sons. His older brother was Alexander (Lex) and his younger brother was Guy. They enjoyed a happy childhood growing up on Grande Allée in the English area of Quebec City. In 1911 the family purchased Dufferin House and so began the family love affair with Tadoussac. Following the family tradition, Gordon was educated at Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville, and the Royal Military College in Kingston, from which he graduated in 1927. He completed his engineering degree at McGill in 1929. Immediately, Gordon joined the Royal Canadian Artillery and was appointed a Lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery with which he remained until the beginning of World War II when he joined the staff of General Worthington and participated in the formation of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps at Camp Borden. On April 30, 1941, while on his way to England to begin his war service, Gordon’s ship the S.S. Nerissa was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. He was rescued and proceeded to London. Gordon then served in the Italian Campaign and was twice wounded in action, once while second in command of the British Columbia Dragoons. He served in the liberation of France and ended the war at the Canadian General Reinforcement Unit in Britain. He returned to Canada and his first posting was in Halifax, followed by Kingston, Washington DC, and his final posting was in Ottawa. He received an Honorary Discharge in March 1959. Following his retirement, Gordon and his family moved to Halifax where he joined the architectural firm of Dumaresq and Byrne. He was a loyal board member of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, the Royal Commonwealth Society, and the United Institute of Canada. In 1933 Gordon married Jacqueline Dumaresq of Halifax. They had two children, a son Arthur Harcourt Carington Smith in 1934, and a daughter Eve D’Auvergne Smith in 1939. Also, five grandchildren, Gordon and Christopher Smith and Donald, Janet and Ted McInnes. After family and career, Gordon’s main love was Tadoussac. Whenever possible he and his family would make the trip to Tad. He had sold his share of Dufferin House to Guy Smith in the 1930s so he and his family enjoyed many different cottages. His pride and joy, was his Cape Island boat, Penwa. He was never happier than being in Tad and spending time with his extended family, especially his two beloved brothers. That was his heaven! Gordon died in Halifax in 1974, aged sixty-eight, and is buried there in Fairview Cemetery. Eve Wickwire

  • Humphrys, Phyllis Frances

    Humphrys, Phyllis Frances Back to ALL Bios Died in 1974 so someone must remember her. Please let me know! NOTE: We have almost no information. Who spent time with her? Who put the memorial plaque up? Any memories or even conjecture might be helpful. Phyliss Frances Humphreys 1900 - 1974 Very little is known about Phyliss Frances Humphrys. Several people remember her name, but no details about her. It is thought that she first came to Tadoussac with the Languedoc's. She stayed with Adele Languedoc at Amberly, and sometimes with Grace Scott at Spruce Cliff. She was born on August 8, 1900 in Ottawa, Ontario. Her father, Beauchamp, was 50 and her mother, Clara, was 38 when Phyliss was born. She had six brothers and two sisters. She died on May 28, 1974 in Ottawa and is buried in Beechwood Cemetery, the National Cemetery of Canada with her parents and siblings. Her mother Clara, was born in Quebec City in 1861, her father in Montreal in 1849. Several of her siblings were born in Manitoba. Her father died when she was one.

  • Price, Frederick Courtnay & Llewellyn

    Price, Frederick Courtnay & Llewellyn Back to ALL Bios ​ Frederick Courtnay Price 1877 – 1898 and Llewellyn Price 1878 - 1899 Frederick and Llewellyn were the youngest sons of Henry Ferrier Price and Florence Rogerson Price. They were both born in Chile while the family was living there; Frederick in 1877 and Llewellyn in 1878. Their older siblings were Sir William, Henry Edward, Teresa Jane, Arthur John and Florence Mary (Bradshaw). After the family returned to Canada in 1884 they lived in Toronto and both Frederick and Llewellyn attended Ridley College in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. Sadly, both brothers died at age 21. Frederick died in Toronto in 1898 of tuberculosis and is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. Llewellyn died in 1999 of diphtheria and is buried in the family plot at Mount Hermon Cemetery, Sillery, Quebec.

  • Burns Louisa Jane

    Burns Louisa Jane Back to ALL Bios ​ Louisa Jane Burns d. 1921 There is a plaque dedicated to the memory of Louisa Jane Burns but all it tells us is that she died on August 4th, 1921, and that it was installed by her nieces and/or nephews. More information has not been found in spite of many attempts and inquiries, which serves to illustrate the purpose of these memorial biographies. Alan Evans

  • Smith, Amelia Jane (LeMesurier)

    Smith, Amelia Jane (LeMesurier) Back to ALL Bios ​ Amelia Jane LeMesurier Smith 1832-1917 Amelia Jane LeMesurier was born in Quebec City in 1832. She was the 4th daughter and one of 12 children of Henry LeMesurier and his wife Julie Guerout. In 1857 she married Robert Herbert Smith also of Quebec City. He was involved in the Timber and Shipping business. They had 6 sons, Robert Harcourt, Herbert, Charles, George, Edmund and Arthur and 2 daughters, Edith and Amelia Blanche. She died in Quebec City in 1917 having been predeceased by her sons Robert Harcourt in 1913 and Herbert in 1915. She is buried with her husband in Mount Hermon Cemetery, in Quebec City. Eve Wickwire Photo circa 1906 shows Amelia Jane Lemesurier Smith, her son Robert Harcourt Carrington Smith, and his son Gordon Smith, father of Eve Wickwire!

  • Campbell, Robert Peel

    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

  • Russell, William Edward & Fanny Eliza (Pope)

    Russell, William Edward & Fanny Eliza (Pope) Back to ALL Bios ​ William Edward Russell and Fanny Eliza Pope (1849-1893) (1856-1936) William Edward Russell, son of Willis Russell and Rebecca Page Sanborn, was born in Quebec in 1849. As a child in Tad in his mid-teens, William (Willy) was a playmate of his neighbor, Godfrey Rhodes, Colonel Rhodes's son, and many of their teenage exploits are detailed in Godfrey's diary. Fanny Eliza Pope, wife of William Edward Russell, was born in Chatham, England, in 1856. Her father, Lieutenant Colonel James Pope, later became the commander of the English army stationed in Quebec and at some point, her and William Edward Russell's paths crossed and they married at Trinity Cathedral in Quebec in 1874 - Fanny being then the tender age of 18. William Edward inherited the hotel business from his father, Willis, but unfortunately, William was not much of a businessman and died practically insolvent 6 years after his father's death - leaving Fanny Eliza as a young widow of 37 with 5 children - at least three of whom (Florence Louisa “Nonie” Russell, Willis Robert Russell, and Mabel Emily Russell) continued summering at Tad. It was Fanny Eliza Pope's sister, Louisa Floriana Pope, that later had a profound effect on her goddaughter and grandniece, Ann Stevenson, future wife of the Rev. Russell Dewart. As Ann Stevenson relates in her book, “Nose to the Window”, “Louisa, or 'Auntie Totie' as she was called, was born in Malta in about 1852, where her father, Colonel James Pope, was stationed with the British Army . She was a tall, white-haired maiden lady, straight as a ramrod. When she died from a heart attack at the age of eighty, she still did her "daily dozen" and could touch her toes. She always wore black, with a big white scarf at her throat and several strands of robin's-egg blue and crystal beads, which she strung herself. At her waist she wore a reticule, which was a kind of hanging pocket of black moiré for her hanky and spectacles. In winter she wore black wool wristlets to ward off chilblains. Mum said that she had once been very much in love, but that her father had taken a dislike to the young man ‘because the back of his head didn't look a gentleman's.’ The relationship was broken off, and she never married. This absolute power of one's father to determine a daughter's life existed even into my own life. If the suitor didn't meet with parental approval, or if the chosen career was not conformable to what the parents deemed best, the necessary pressure was brought to bear until the girl gave in. Generally, the young man was told that his attentions were not welcome. To go against one's parents' wishes was more emotionally traumatic than to give in and simply suffer the loss. As the sole surviving member of the older generation, Auntie Totie was the arbiter of speech and manners. When the Dionne Quints were born and no one knew how to pronounce this strange new word, ‘Quintuplets,’ she announced that the accent should be on the first syllable. Like most Victorians, she idolized the Royal family, and it was she who always proposed the toast to the King at Christmas dinner. After she had said grace, we would all stand with her and say "The King! God Bless Him!" and drink to his health. However, because Auntie Totie's name was Pope, and because Mum was particularly fond of the tail of the turkey, known derisively in Protestant England as the Pope's nose, when Dad carved the turkey he would turn to Mum and say, ‘Nonie, do you want the Pope's nose? ‘ We would have to stifle our giggles with our napkins and try not to look at Auntie Totie. ” Louisa died in Quebec in 1934 and her sister, Fanny Eliza, died 2 years later in Toronto. Brian Dewart (with excerpts from Ann Stevenson Dewart’s writings)

  • Rhodes, Lily Bell

    Rhodes, Lily Bell Back to ALL Bios ​ Lily Bell Rhodes 1889 - 1975 “Quick! Get a jar. Take it to Lily Bell!” With those words an oddly attractive, but rare insect would (to its astonishment) find itself trapped behind glass and on its way to be sketched by Lily Bell, an avid artist and lover of all things natural. And whatever that bug looked like, she would kindly turn it loose when she was done. Daughter of Francis Rhodes and Totie LeMoine, (grand-daughter of Colonel and Anne Rhodes) she would likely have been brought up in the LeMoine family home, known as Spencer Grange, in Quebec City, which became the Lieutenant-Governor’s residence, and then a Canadian Heritage property and museum. Lily Bell had a sister Frances and two other sisters who died in infancy. One of those, Anne, died before she was born but the other, Gertrude, was born when Lily Bell was seven years old. She was distraught when that child died, and whether that contributed to her nervousness as a young girl can only be speculated upon at this point. Neither Frances nor Lily Bell ever married. Lily Bell was always very good at sketching and devoted a great deal of her time to developing her artistic skills. Her maternal grandfather was the Canadian author, historian and past President of The Royal Society of Canada, Sir James McPherson Le Moine (1825-1912). Lily Bell studied art at Les Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City under Henry Ivan Neilson (Professor of Painting, Drawing and Anatomy), as well as with instructor and noted Canadian artist Jean Paul Lemieux. It was said: “Although Miss Rhodes painted for her own enjoyment and is not a listed artist, her competency of composition, perspective and palette … underscores an undeniable and elevated degree of ability.” But in Tadoussac she was remembered for being very soft-spoken and sweet. She adored children and would take her young nieces on walks in the woods, telling them the names of all the flowers and mushrooms they could find, and firing their imaginations by insisting there were fairies dancing under each of them. Not surprisingly she was a great gardener along with her sister, Frances, and loved animals, particularly dogs which she used to sketch often. She even had a favourite white sweater made from the fur of a long-haired dachshund she used to own. She would often be seen sitting very still on a log or rock under a shapeless sunhat quietly sketching some composition that had caught her eye. Many of these sketches became very small paintings that were often given to her many cousins in Tadoussac. In the summers she usually stayed with her cousin, Lennox Williams, for a week or so, and then after he died, she was made welcome in the home of her friend, Grace Scott. Looking back now, one can only imagine there was a depth to her which few of us knew. What we remember is her loving kindness and her reverence for nature. And some of us are still trying to collect her delightful paintings when they come available. Alan Evans Quotation from: ernestjohnsonantiques.com See many Photos of LILY's ART at https://www.tidesoftadoussac.com/lilybell-rhodes

  • Price, Sir William & Amelia Blanche (Smith)

    Price, Sir William & Amelia Blanche (Smith) Back to ALL Bios ​ Sir William Price 1867 - 1924 and Amelia Blanche Smith 1863 - 1947 William Price was born in Talca, Chile to Henry Ferrier Price (1833-1898) and Florence Stoker Rogerson. He was the eldest of seven children (though 2 died young). His brothers and sisters were Henry (Harry), Edward, Arthur, John, Terracita (Terry), and Florence (Flo). Amelia Blanche Smith was born in Quebec City to Robert Herbert Smith (1825-1898) and Amelia Jane (Lemesurier) (1832-1917). She had six brothers and one sister (see above). The three original Price Brothers running the family lumber company were bachelors. Having no heirs, they turned to their brother Henry Ferrier and his family, his eldest son being William Price Senior’s eldest grandson, and persuaded them to return to Canada. William arrived in Canada in 1879, five years before his family moved north. After one semester at Bishop’s College School, he was sent to St Mark’s in England where he completed his studies in 1886. He then started an apprenticeship with Price Brothers. In 1899, with the death of the last surviving ‘Price Brother’, he became sole proprietor, president, and managing director of the family business. In 1884, William married Amelia Blanche (Smith) at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Quebec City. Three years his senior and a celebrated beauty, she would bear him eight children. The first two died in infancy. The surviving six were John (Jack), Arthur Clifford (Coosie), Charles Edward, Willa (Bill) (Glassco), Richard Harcourt (Dick), and Jean (Trenier-Michel) (Harvey). At the turn of the century, they built a substantial residence at 145 Rue Grand Allee a building which, albeit much modified, stands to this day. William inherited a tottering empire, heavily indebted, technically in receivership…. more of potential than actual wealth. In the first decade of the 20th century, William planned and built a large newsprint mill in the town of Kenogami. The Kenogami Mill, the most productive newsprint mill in the world at that time, began operations in 1912. William associated with James Buchanan Duke, the legendary North Carolina tobacco tycoon, and Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook), who helped with, respectively, hydroelectric power (the Ile Maligne dam and power plant in which he and Duke were partners), and financing for the Kenogami Mill. On August 7, 1914, William was asked, by the Minister of Militia, to build, in twenty days, a camp where troops could be assembled and trained. William shut down his establishments, moved his workforce to Valcartier, and built the camp on schedule. Quebec had been selected as the port of embarkation for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. William was appointed Director-General of Embarkation, and, while not a soldier, he joined Quebec’s militia 8th Royal Rifles and had risen to Captain when he resigned in 1903. For his contribution to Canada’s War effort, William was knighted by King George V on January 1, 1915. On October 2nd, 1924, Sir William was taken down by a landslide on the Au Sable River behind the Kenogami Mill. His body was found ten days later in the Saguenay River at St. Fulgence. His grave lies at the end of Price Park in Kenogami on the point of a high cliff overlooking the confluence of the Au Sable and Saguenay Rivers where he lost his life. Also, in Kenogami, is the Sir William Price Museum. Its focus is on the employees of the Company – something that would deeply please Sir William who never tired of demonstrating his appreciation for their loyalty and work skills. There remains today, amongst descendants of those families, fond memories of what it was like working for a company that so valued its employees. To quote from Tony Price’s notes, “Sir William was foremost a family man, a patriot, and an industry visionary and builder; amongst them, it is difficult to say which stood first. While his wife did not share his fascination for a remote, largely wilderness area and his love of the outdoors and, in fact, rarely came to the Saguenay/Lac St. Jean, he was a loving and inspirational father and nobody who knew him mentions his name without talking of his affection for children.” Along with his business, war efforts, political activities, and sport William was President of the Quebec Harbour Commission in 1912, Director of many companies including Union Bank, the Canadian General Electric Company, the Wayagamack Pulp and Paper Company Ltd., the Montreal Trust Company, the Quebec Railway, Light and Power Co., the Transcontinental Railway, and the Prudential Trust Company. William’s first mention of Tadoussac is in a letter written during the summer of 1880 to his parents who were still in Chile. He tells of happy days spent in a canoe in the bay fishing for cod, perhaps hinting at the renowned salmon fisherman he would become. He did not spend much time in Tadoussac but he did acquire Fletcher Cottage, a lifelong source of pleasure for his wife, and built what is known as the Harry Price House where his sister ‘Terry’ spent her summers with the Harry Price family. Blanche travelled occasionally to England and New York with Sir William. A few years after his untimely death she moved from 145 Grande Allee to Ave de Bernier where she lived the rest of her life. Her memory had faded. She was fortunate in her full-time companion, Muriel Hudsbeth, daughter of Dean Evans and his first wife. We are told Blanche was handsome and charming and though her memory faded her charm did not. Teatime at Fletcher Cottage could have been the inspiration for the tea party scenes in the New York Broadway hit ‘Charlie’s Aunt’. She invited whoever passed by… the Bishop, the son of the grocer next door, whomever. Maids skillfully dodged about keeping teacups under the moving teapot spout. Visitors were charmed and left thinking she remembered them well. With her during her summers at Fletcher Cottage were her sister Edie and brother Edmond. The three would play card games and pass the time happily in each other’s company. Also in residence for the summer were many grandchildren (six to ten or more at a time). They were kept to the eastern addition of the original house. The sleeping porch and playroom were where they ate their meals. Bill Glassco’s first stage plays were presented there to an audience of relatives. On school days in Quebec City, six of her grandchildren lunched in the kitchen of her home on de Bernier. By then she remembered only ‘long ago stories’ yet she continued to extend a warm welcome and to look most elegant, dressed in black as she had since the death of her husband. Amelia is buried in Mount Hermon Cemetery in Quebec City. Willa (Lal) Price Mundell – 4/21

  • Powel, Robert Hare

    Powel, Robert Hare Back to ALL Bios Powel Family who built the Bailey house Robert Hare Powel – 1825 – 1883 & Amy Smedley Powel – 1825 – 1908 The Powel family came from Pennsylvania. Robert’s father - John Powel Hare (1786 – 1856) was an American agriculturist, politician, art collector, and philanthropist. He was born John Powel Hare and was adopted by his mother's widowed and childless sister, Elizabeth Willing Powel. He legally changed his name to John Hare Powel when he attained his majority and inherited the immense fortune of his late uncle, Samuel Powel. He was educated at The Academy and College of Philadelphia and after college joined a counting house. As part of his job in mercantile affairs, he travelled to Calcutta and returned at age twenty-two with $22,000 as his share of the profit. Robert’s mother, Julia (De Veaux), was the daughter of Colonel Andrew De Veaux. She and John married in 1817. They had seven children: Samuel, De Veaux, Henry Baring, Robert Hare, Julia, John Hare Jr., and Ida. The couple and their young family lived on the Powel family farmland known as Powelton, in west Philadelphia, where John began efforts to improve American agriculture. Robert Hare Powel married Amy Smedley (Bradley) who had been born in 1825, in Chester, Pennsylvania. Together they had six children: Julia De Veaux (1851), William Platt (1853 who only lived one year) Robert Hare jr. (1857), Amy Ida (1858), De Veaux (1861) and Henry Baring (1864) Robert and Amy purchased land in Tadoussac in 1865 from Willis Russell and built a house next door to him (The Bailey house). The adjoining lots were connected by a gate and Mrs Powel visited Mrs Russell nearly every afternoon. These Rhodes, Russell, and Powel properties were referred to as “our three cottages” by the men and the three of them often played whist together in the evening. Mr Powel was said to be “the life of every party” and they were very generous and hospitable to young people from Tadoussac who visited them in Philadelphia, not least some of Col. Rhodes’s sons who worked in Mr Powel’s rail yards. Both Robert Powel and Willis Russell were charter members of the Marguerite Salmon Club. There were a number of other charter members, all American, Willis Russell being the only Canadian. Robert died in 1883. His obituary, taken from The Daily News of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, describes his activities during his career. “Robert Hare Powel, the great coal operator, died suddenly at Saxton, Bedford County, on Monday evening last. His death was caused by indigestion … On Monday morning he was unable to get up and continued to grow worse until about 7 o'clock in the evening when he expired. Dr Brumbaugh, of this place, had been summoned, but the train did not arrive at Saxton until five minutes after Mr Powel died… The intelligence of his sudden death was received here the same evening, and could scarcely be believed, as he had been well on Saturday and was in the best of health. Mr Powel's loss will be greatly felt in this section. He was the first to penetrate the semi-bituminous coal region in this county and the first to ship the coal to the east. He continued to develop not only the vast deposits of coal but of iron and while wealth accumulated as the result of his foresight and sagacity, he sought other channels for investing his means, thereby giving employment to thousands of workmen. He was honest and honourable in business transactions, plain and unassuming in manner, a self-made man.” 4 His widow and family continued to come to Tadoussac in the summers and it wasn’t until 1906, a year before Amy’s death, that the house was sold to Sam and Alfred Piddington.

  • Stairs, Dennis & Sue

    Stairs, Dennis & Sue Back to ALL Bios ​ Dennis W. Stairs 1923-1975 & Susan E. (Inglis) Stairs 1923-1978 Dennis was born and grew up in Montreal. After attending Bishop’s College School, he joined the Royal Navy and served on the British aircraft carrier Indefatigable as an airplane navigator. He started coming to Tadoussac at an early age, and in his teens went on trips to Les Escoumins and the Marguerite in nor’shore canoes with his brothers and his cousin Peter Turcot - twenty miles rowing is a long way! He was a tennis and skiing enthusiast and was on the McGill University teams for both sports. He graduated from McGill with honours in engineering and took a position with what was then the Price Brothers Company in Kenogami. He married twice having four children by his first marriage and three by his second. Sue Inglis was born and grew up in Pittenweem, Scotland. She moved to London during the war and served in an anti-aircraft unit defending the city. She married Dennis Stairs in 1957 and together they had three children, Alan, John, and Sarah to add to Dennis’s previous four, Judy, George, Felicite, and Philippa, and she treated all seven with the same mixture of poise, no-nonsense strength, and kindness. Sue had left her home in a thriving metropolitan city to move to Kenogami, a small town a mere ninety miles from Tadoussac. She adapted well, learning skiing as well as other winter activities. She also learned French well enough to lead the Girl Guides in the Lac St Jean region! She came to Tadoussac soon after arriving and embarked on the full range of activities – witness her name on the Mixed-Doubles Tennis Trophy in more than one place, her embroidery creations in the church, and the Scottish-dancing parties she hosted - not to mention numerous picnics around Tadoussac on the beaches, in the hills, and along the shores in the freighter-canoe Seven Steps. She tirelessly nursed Dennis when he took ill, enabling him to spend the last few years of his life in the relative peace and comfort of his own homes in Montreal and in Tadoussac. Dennis passed on to us all, with varying degrees of success, his love of the outdoors whether hiking, cross-country skiing, chopping wood, or fishing. He passed along to us his love of small boats, be they canoes, rowboats, motorboats, or even how to use a freighter canoe as a sailboat! And of course, he led by example in tennis and skiing. Perhaps most of all he tried to teach us to be honest, fair, hard-working, and family-oriented people. Many a time we were cajoled into doing unpleasant tasks with the words "you're not going to let your poor father do everything are you?" We and the entire Tadoussac community remember them as good parents, good friends, and good people to have in your corner when the going got tough. George Stairs

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