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  • Barn

    ALL HOUSES Barn NEXT PAGE The Barn has a long history, it is about 150 years old! Built shortly after the main Rhodes house in the 1870's, the Barn has been Kitchen, Scullery, IceHouse, Maid's Quarters, Chicken Coop, and Summer Cottage! The "Barn" was built shortly after the main Rhodes Cottage was built in 1860, and at first served as maid's quarters, ice house, larder and kitchen for the main house. When the Rhodes Cottage burned in 1932 and was rebuilt in 1933, the new house named Brynhyfryd included a kitchen and servants' rooms. Chickens were kept in the Barn until it was converted into a summer cottage in 1934. Letter from Enid Williams, October 1981 The "Barn" has had many uses. First I understand it was built by Col. Rhodes as a kitchen for the big house. The maids slept upstairs, the kitchen being downstairs. The meals were carried over to the big house. When it rained, one maid carried the food and another carried an umbrella. When the big house was done over, the Barn became a place for the chickens. I am not sure if they kept a cow there as well. Eventually it was done over by Mr Frank Morewood and made into a house, in the year 1934. When my father-in-law [Lennox Williams] died and my husband [Sydney Williams] inherited the Barn [1959], he made a few alterations, such as the picture window. The original beams are still being used but are covered up. Mrs Williams bought some land from Mrs Dwight when the Barn was completed [1934] on the Lewis Evans side. I can't think of anything more about the Barn, but I do remember the chickens there when I was married. Sincerely Enid Williams From Michael Alexander Lots of people stayed there. During the War I stayed there with my mother. Jean and Johnny Aylan Parker, Ron, Jim and Ted and I were there when the S.S.Quebec burned at the Wharf - great view from the bedroom up stairs! Bob and Nan Leggat were there at least one summer. It was a great place for all the excess people at Brynhyfryd and quite a popular spot to be. Only thing - it was a long way from 8 o'clock morning prayers led by Grandad (the Bishop) in the Brynhyfryd living room - a command appearance for all before breakfast - every day! The Barn "The Barn" a une longue histoire, elle a environ 150 ans ! Construite peu de temps après la maison principale de Rhodes dans les années 1870, la grange a été la cuisine, l'arrière-cuisine, la glacière, le logement de la bonne, le poulailler et le cottage d'été ! La "Barn" a été construite peu de temps après la construction du cottage principal de Rhodes en 1860 et a d'abord servi de logement de bonne, de glacière, de garde-manger et de cuisine pour la maison principale. Lorsque le Rhodes Cottage a brûlé en 1932 et a été reconstruit en 1933, la nouvelle maison nommée Brynhyfryd comprenait une cuisine et des chambres de domestiques. Les poulets étaient gardés dans la grange jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit transformée en chalet d'été en 1934. Lettre d'Enid Williams, octobre 1981 La "Barn" a eu de nombreuses utilisations. D'abord, je comprends qu'il a été construit par le colonel Rhodes comme cuisine pour la grande maison. Les bonnes dormaient à l'étage, la cuisine étant en bas. Les repas étaient transportés dans la grande maison. Quand il pleuvait, une servante portait la nourriture et une autre portait un parapluie. Lorsque la grande maison a été refaite, la grange est devenue un endroit pour les poulets. Je ne sais pas s'ils y gardaient aussi une vache. Finalement, il a été refait par M. Frank Morewood et transformé en maison, en 1934. Lorsque mon beau-père [Lennox Williams] est décédé et que mon mari [Sydney Williams] a hérité de la grange [1959], il a fait quelques modifications, comme la baie vitrée. Les poutres d'origine sont toujours utilisées mais sont recouvertes. Mme Williams a acheté un terrain à Mme Dwight lorsque la grange a été achevée [1934] du côté de Lewis Evans. Je ne peux rien penser de plus à propos de la grange, mais je me souviens des poulets là-bas quand j'étais marié. Cordialement Enid Williams De Michel Alexandre Beaucoup de monde y est resté. Pendant la guerre, j'y suis resté avec ma mère. Jean et Johnny Aylan Parker, Ron, Jim et Ted et moi étions là lorsque le S. S. Québec a brûlé au quai - superbe vue depuis la chambre en haut des escaliers ! Bob et Nan Leggat y ont passé au moins un été. C'était un endroit formidable pour toutes les personnes excédentaires de Brynhyfryd et un endroit très populaire. La seule chose - c'était loin des prières du matin de 8 heures dirigées par grand-père (l'évêque) dans le salon Brynhyfryd - une apparition sur commande pour tous avant le petit déjeuner - tous les jours! 1974 James Lennox Williams 1959 Rev Canon Sydney Waldron Williams East part of property 1940 Ethel Adam (Dwight) 1911 Jonathan Dwight, Jr Previous 1950's? Before the picture window was installed 1980? That's Betty Evans talking to Enid Williams 20 More photos of The Barn below! CLICK on the first one then use the scroll arrows<> 1/20 20 More photos of The Barn below! CLICK on the first one then use the scroll arrows<>

  • Dewart, Russell and Ann (Stevenson)

    Dewart, Russell and Ann (Stevenson) Back to ALL Bios ​ Ann (Stevenson) 1915 - 2008 & the Rev. Russell Dewart 1901 - 1997 Ann de Duplessis Stevenson was born in 1915 at 83 rue d’Auteuil in Quebec City, the daughter of Florence Louisa Maude Russell and Dr James Stevenson. The Stevenson sisters (Margaret, Ann, and Elizabeth) spent their childhood summers in Tadoussac staying at their grandmother's house in the village, the original family cottage Spruce Cliff built by their great-grandfather, Willis Russell in 1861. In 1922, Ann’s father, Dr Stevenson, had their own cottage built for his family in Languedoc Park on land given to them by their cousin, Erie Russell Languedoc. This cottage now remains in Margaret's family and is owned by Margaret's son, Dennis Reilley. In the late 1920s, Dr Stevenson built a second cottage nearby which now remains in Elizabeth's family (the O'Neill house). In 1938, Ann married a Bostonian, Russell Dewart - coincidently her third cousin (Ann was a direct descendant of Willis Russell and Russell was a direct descendant of Willis's brother, William Russell). When one of Russell’s sisters was getting married in Boston, Ann was sent to represent the Canadian branch of the family and was met at the train station by her future husband, Russell. Later, in the 1940s, Ann and Russell Dewart purchased Tivoli, the third Stevenson cottage (now the Dewart house). Tivoli has an interesting history. Shortly after World War I, Erie Languedoc had two square log cabins from the golf course moved on rollers to Tivoli's present location where she joined them together and rented it out. It was then bought from Erie Languedoc by Professor Maclean from Rochester, NY, who named it Tivoli. In 1945, Ann and Russell purchased the cottage from the professor and continued summering there every summer with their six children, Timothy, Alan, Brian, Ted, Beth, and Judy. Many years later, in the mid-1980s, Russell and Ann built their own little chalet across the road from Tivoli. Among Ann's additional pleasures were stimulating and philosophical conversations, exchanging aphorisms, delving into history, reading and writing, brisk walks, and sharing a cup of tea. Ann’s time spent with family at her summer home in Tadoussac was a source of great joy and spiritual renewal. She authored a self-published memoir Nose to the Window which included reflections, poems, letters, and anecdotes of her rich and vibrant life including much history of early Tadoussac and growing up in Quebec City. Russell Dewart, was asked to tell of his life for his 50th college anniversary and part of what Russell wrote is below: “… after getting a delayed degree at Harvard, I took the rather conventional business route of selling everything from rubber boots to investment counselling. The salesman whom my long-suffering wife married turned up a few years later in the pulpit with a round collar, but with few of the other less discernible attributes usually associated with the Ministry. I regard this complete change of direction as one of the many paradoxes of my life and makeup. Having entered the Episcopal Seminary in Cambridge at the age of forty-three it was hard for me to believe that I had spent twenty-three years as a parish priest when I retired (for the first time). While a clergyman’s life can be parochial and unexciting, I have found it a most challenging profession and one that is deeply rewarding. Perhaps the reason I say this is that the greatest joy I find in life is through my relationships with people of all ages and conditions - beginning of course with my own family and friends. The church records tell me that it has been my privilege to be called on to baptize, marry or bury some 1600 souls, and to present another 800 to the Bishop for Confirmation. These occasions for most individuals, as well as other times of tragedy and joy, are crucial and searching experiences. They are times when the clergyman is allowed to share some of the most significant moments in a family’s life together. For him, they provide the unique opportunity to do what he was ordained to do – to walk along with his people as one who serves. Because of this, and for what he himself has learned from them – these times are never forgotten. My entire Ministry has been here in Massachusetts - at Epiphany, Walpole; Grace Church, Chicopee, and St. Peter’s, Beverly. Since retiring in 1967, I have served part-time at the Old North Church in Boston where my father was Rector fifty years ago, and more recently as Interim Pastor at St. John’s, Beverly Farms. Throughout these years I have been blessed beyond measure with the kindness and appreciation of so many people in return for what little I on my own might give. God does work in mysterious ways. Other activities during the past fifty years have centred largely around my family and home. Since the war, we have spent some part of most summers at our cottage in Tadoussac, Quebec – where the Saguenay River joins the St. Lawrence. It is here where my wife came as a child and where we as a family have spent some of our happiest days. Now our children return there with their children and friends – to the place they consider their first home. We acquired our present home here, a small, cosy, New England house built originally by one Jeffrey Thistle, a planter, in 1668. Jeffrey built well but there is enough to keep me busy and happy in caring for his clapboard house and half-acre of land. It is here we expect to live out our days with occasional visits to our six children, and possibly further travel abroad if the spirit moves and the conditions are favourable. But we are quite content to remain where we are. There is a good stack of Vermont hardwood outside for our fireplaces; there are some fish left in the ocean a half-mile away. And we are surrounded by friends. Fortunately, Ann and I still enjoy good health and, most of the time, our sense of humour. We are able to pursue our individual interests and to look forward not to vegetating, but to making the most of what time is left to us in being useful and helpful to others in our own particular way. The Lord has been good to us; our life together has been a full and happy one.” Russell Dewart served faithfully as a summer rector for twenty-one years (1953-1974). He died in 1997 and Ann died eleven years later in 2008. Both are buried in the family plot in Mount Hermon Cemetery, Quebec. Brian Dewart

  • Craig, George & Micheline

    Craig, George & Micheline Back to ALL Bios ​ Micheline Caron 1910 – 1969 and George Craig 1902 – 1971 Oh song of Northern Valleys, Played upon the winds That sweep across the wilderness Of tamaracks and pines, In that sweet, wild abandon Of a dark glade midst the trees, Oh, let me drink the passion Of your spirit to the lees. There was a smile you gave me That was native to the land Of wide and tossing oceans And of silver sifting sand, It set my blood a-tingling And I felt the call of love While the northern stars kept twinkling In the Heavens far above. You may, perchance, forget me As years flit quickly by, Perhaps a fleeting memory In a pale star-scattered sky. Not so with me; forever Will I live in that warm bliss – The soft enduring fragrance Of Micheline’s sweet kiss. “Micheline on the Saguenay” by A. G. Bailey Not many people can claim to be the inspiration for a published poet’s work but Micheline Caron could. She is said to have been so beautiful that Canadian poet, Alfred G. Bailey, included the above in his first book of poems called Songs of the Saguenay. Called “Mike” by her English friends and her family, she was also a great cook, so great that her apple and blueberry pies were legendary! Her parents were Anita Dion and Joseph Eugène Caron who lived in Quebec City. Micheline’s great-grandfather, Michel, is credited with bringing the family to Tadoussac. He worked for Price Brothers Lumber at the top of the Saguenay, and for a time was mayor of Chicoutimi. He later moved to Tadoussac, still with Price Brothers, when he was promoted to “Agent de la Couronne pour la Region de Charlevoix et le Saguenay.” In this work he had responsibilities both for the forests and the fisheries. His son, Eugene Caron, (Micheline’s grandfather) was mayor of Tadoussac (1899 – 1927). Up until about 1960 there was a bridge over the gully on Rue des Pionniers leading up the hill toward our chapel. This was named Pont Caron, after Eugene. In Tadoussac, the family lived in the house that is currently the chapel rectory, and then moved to the Coté house around the corner that became the post office. This is the same building that later became the Gite called Passe-Pierre. Micheline was born in Tadoussac in July of 1910, but her family lived in Quebec City and she attended school at the Ursulines. It was in Quebec that she met her future husband, George. George Craig was born in Quebec City in 1902. His father was Thomas Craig, who was the head of the Ross Rifle Company, a very prominent supplier to the Canadian Military in the first part of the century. George attended Bishop’s College School in Lennoxville, a private boy’s boarding school, but finished at the Boys High School in Quebec City. His family was staunchly Presbyterian and it was in a Presbyterian church in Quebec City that he and Micheline were wed on June 22nd, 1935. This suggests a certain bravery on Micheline’s part. She had been brought up Roman Catholic and was told she would go to hell for marrying a Protestant! George and Micheline’s daughter, Louise, (who became known as Popsy) was born in Quebec City but then the family settled in Kenogami where George worked for H. B. Bignal Insurance. This was the company that insured the Price Brothers company, among others. They were great friends with the Prices and their son, Ian, who was born there in 1941, remembers baby-sitting Cynthia Price. He was also a very close friend of Toby Price. When the children were grown up, the family moved back to Quebec City. Both George and Micheline were very enthusiastic about fly-fishing, and very strict in their pursuit of that sport. Wet flies only, please, and, careful adherence to local regulations and quotas. They were very active members of the Onatchiway Fish and Game Club, due north of Chicoutimi, situated in land where the Price lumber company was logging. They loved Tadoussac and also fished locally in the Marguerite River and Les Bergeronnes with their children. When in Tadoussac, Micheline and George always stayed with Mary and Lex Smith who owned Bayview Cottage until the mid-1960s, which was a very busy place in those days, centrally located, with lots of people dropping in. They were very close friends and some summers the two couples would cruise from Quebec City to Tadoussac together on Lex’s powerboat, the Lady Mary. Arthur Smith, who was Lex’s “Uncle Art,” would often drop by in the evenings from where he stayed at the nearby Boulianne Hotel (situated where L’Hotel les Pionniers is today.) On one memorable occasion the Craig family were all out on Uncle Art’s boat, Empress of Tadoussac, and arrived from the Saguenay just as the CSL boat Quebec was entering the bay on fire. They were directed to head out into the river to see if anyone had jumped overboard but thankfully, only found a deckchair. When the Smiths wanted to sell Bayview, George and Micheline’s daughter and her husband (Popsy and Robert) were very tempted to buy it, but they passed on the opportunity in spite of saying that many of the family’s happiest times had been spent in Tadoussac. The cottage was subsequently bought by Dennis and Sue Stairs and has remained in the Stairs family ever since. At the age of 59, Micheline had a very sudden heart attack at her home in Quebec City. She died in her son’s arms before she could even get to the hospital. After her death, George moved to Washington for a short time to stay with daughter Popsy and her family. That worked well at first, but he missed Quebec City where he always felt more at home. He returned, but also suffered a heart attack and died in 1971, two years after he had lost Micheline. Alan Evans and Cynthia Price The center guy in the fish camp one is George Craig. The Craigs photo is Popsy, Micheline, Ian and George Craig. Group Photo George Craig, Mrs. Atkinson (Mary Smith’s mother), ?Dunno?, Mary Smith, Lex Smith, Micheline Craig Ian Craig, Popsy Craig, Susan Smith, Mickey the dog

  • Price, Henry Edward & Helen Muriel (Gilmour)

    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

  • Price, Henry Ferrier

    Price, Henry Ferrier Back to ALL Bios ​ Henry Ferrier Price 1833-1898 Henry Price was born at Wolfesfield in Sillery, Quebec, the Price family estate acquired by his father, William Price, who had arrived from Wales in 1810 and began the wood-cutting operations on the Saguenay River that would later become Price Brothers. Henry was the fourth son of William and his mother, Jane Stewart, who was descended from Scottish supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie. They had fourteen children. In 1849, Henry left Quebec for Chile to join his uncle, Richard Price, working in his business of cattle and horses. In 1866 he married Florence Stoker Rogerson who was born in Ireland in 1841. They settled on their “Estancia” in Talcahuano, Chile where all seven of their children were born: William, Henry Edward, Teresa Jane (Aunt Terry), Arthur John, Florence Mary (Aunt Flo Bradshaw), Frederick Courtnay, and Lewellyn. In 1884 the family moved to Canada and settled in Toronto. The children were sent to different schools as they matured. William, the eldest, was sent to BCS in Lennoxville, Quebec for a year before going to school in England. He would later take over building Price Brothers and was knighted (Sir William). In Tadoussac, he rebuilt Fletcher Cottage for his family and after his father died, he built a house nearby for his mother which later became the Harry Price House. Henry Edward, the second son went to Trinity College, Port Hope as did Arthur. Fred and Lewellyn were sent to Ridley College, Ontario. Henry Ferrier died in Toronto in 1898 and is buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. His wife, Florence, died in 1921 and is buried beside him. Greville Price

  • Smith, George Carington

    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

  • Rhodes, Army & Phebe Ida (Alleman) & Catherine (Katie) (von Iffland)

    Rhodes, Army & Phebe Ida (Alleman) & Catherine (Katie) (von Iffland) Back to ALL Bios ​ Armitage Rhodes – 1848 – 1909 Phebe Ida Alleman 1854 - 1893 Armitage Rhodes was born September 02, 1848 at Benmore (Sillery) Quebec, the eldest son of Col. William Rhodes and Anne Catherine Dunn. He died in 1909. A Civil Engineer, (a founding member of the Society of Engineers of Quebec), he was educated at Bishop’s College School and in Philadelphia, U.S.A. He enjoyed camping, hunting, boating, and fishing. As a young man, he sang in the choir of the Tadoussac chapel. His first wife was Phebe Ida Alleman who was born in Pennsylvania in June 1854, the daughter of Frederick O. Alleman and Mary B. Alleman (born Ogelsby). Their children were Mathew Charle Kingsley Rhodes (adopted) and his daughter Dorothy Gwendolyn Esther Rhodes who was born in 1892. Ida was a prolific amateur painter. Several of her oil portraits, sea and landscapes survive to this day in family hands. She died June 05, 1893 in Sillery, Quebec at age 39. Armitage subsequently married Catherine von Iffland and had children including Monica Rhodes, Armitage (Peter) Rhodes mother of Ann Hargreaves Cumyn. Like his father William, Armitage was a prominent Quebec City businessman and served as President and Chairman of several companies including Quebec Warehousing Corporation, the Quebec Bridge Corporation, a director of the Union Bank and the Grand Trunk Railway. He served as president of the Royal Literary and Historical Society. Armitage brought his family to the family cottage, Brynhyfryd, in Tadoussac, for many summers spent with the rest of the Rhodes family. The memorial plaque in the chapel lists the names and dates of Armitage and his first wife, as well as his daughter, Dorothy, and her husband, Trevor. Michael Skutezky More Photos at https://www.tidesoftadoussac.com/armitage-rhodes-1848-1909

  • Scott, Mabel Emily (Russell)

    Scott, Mabel Emily (Russell) Back to ALL Bios ​ Mabel Emily Russell Scott (1875 – 1952) Mabel Emily Russell (b. 1875) was the granddaughter of Willis Russell and the daughter of William Edward Russell and Fanny Eliza Pope. Her sister was Florence Louisa “Nonie” Russell and her brother was Willis Robert Russell who died young at age 20 of TB. Mabel was born in Quebec and at age 27, married Charles Cunningham Scott. Soon after, Mabel and Charles relocated to the Buffalo, New York area where Charles continued his career as sales manager for a steam equipment company. They brought with them their two young children, Frances Grace Scott and Charles Russell Scott. Mabel and Charles, along with their children, continued summering in Tadoussac at the family cottage, “Spruce Cliff”. Mabel died near Buffalo at age 76 in in 1952 and her husband, Charles, died a few years later, in 1955. Their daughter, Frances Grace Scott, never married and became a school teacher in the Buffalo area (Kenmore) where she lived until her death in 1993 at age 88. Grace’s brother, Charles (Charlie), married Christine Marchington. Both Charles and Grace continued summering at Tadoussac at “Spruce Cliff” throughout their lives. Charlie died in London, Ontario in 1995 and his wife, Christine, died in 2010. Their two children are Susan and Robert Scott. Susan (Susie) married George Bruemmer and they along with children Andrew, Matthew and Jennifer continue enjoying some or all of their summers at Tad. Brian Dewart

  • Smith, George Herbert Carington

    Smith, George Herbert Carington Back to ALL Bios ​ Herbert Carington Smith 1906 - 1966 Known as Herbie, Herbert Carington Smith was the third of four children born to Charles and Aileen Carington Smith. The family lived at Montmorency Falls, where he told of a life of skiing and skating to school, canoeing on the river, and sailing in the sea. Like his brother Noel, Herbie was an accomplished horse rider, and when he lived in Hereford, England, much later in life, he used to run the local pony club and annual camp. His engineering skills started early when he and a friend built a wall across a road one night, and on another occasion, craned a car onto the top of a roof when they tired of the boastful chap who owned it! He went to the Lower and Upper Canada College, before spending four years training at the Royal Military College in Kingston. Following in brother Noel's footsteps, Herbie joined the British Army as a Royal Engineer and studied at Cambridge University. From 1930 he was posted to Ordnance Survey Companies at Fort Southwick, Southampton, and Edinburgh. In 1931 he took part in a Trans-Atlantic Ocean race with the Royal Engineers. He had the last crew position as a cook and had to hastily ask his mother for cookery lessons! He told of having to put the dough for the bread in a tin, and take it to bed with him to make it rise. In 1933 he took part as a surveyor in an Oxford and Cambridge University expedition to Spitzbergen. In 1935 Herbie spent two and half years with the British Guiana-Brazil Boundary Commission. Then he served as Captain for another eighteen months with the 19th Field Survey Company, which included a tour in France with the British Expeditionary Force. He worked at survey and training centres in Scarborough, Derby, and then Ripon, as an instructor in Fields Works and Bridging. He also obtained his pilot’s licence at that time. Following this, he again visited Spitzbergen for special duties with Force 111, a joint Canadian, British and Norwegian operation largely composed of Canadian Sappers sent to evacuate the inhabitants, destroy fuel stocks and render all facilities useless to the enemy. He received a mention in despatches for saving a Sunderland flying boat from being driven ashore in a storm. He collected some French-Canadian soldiers, none of whom had ever handled an oar before and took out a small rowing boat. With that, he was able to get a line to the Sunderland and tow it to safety. He then went as General Staff Officer (Grade 1) on a liaison mission to Australia, where he was highly regarded, working with Australian and US intelligence. He served as a Special Operations Executive, and Officer of Strategic Services, taking part in the top-secret behind-the-lines network. His experience included battles at Salamanca, during August and September of 1943, Finischafen and Lae in September of 1943, The Admiralty Islands in March 1944, and Hollandia in April of 1944. He got experience being in charge of staff and working with Aerial Photography, Combined Ops, Jungle Warfare, Airborne, Mortars and Pioneer duties. He was in charge of small pockets of men, walking in and out of the jungle multiple times during 1943 and 1944 on missions that are still highly classified. It would seem that he was in Force 136, a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation. Royal Engineers were involved in building the bridge over the River Kwai in 1942 and 1943. His next foreign tour took him back to the Far East as CRE to the British and Indian Divisional Engineers, British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, and then in May 1948, to Command of the Engineer Training Centre, FAREFLY at Kluan, Malaya, until November of 1952. In Japan in 1947, the Lt Gen. Commander in chief of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force recommended him for the Order of the British Empire for his meritorious service in carrying out his duties most efficiently, making troops comfortable, hard-working, taking a keen interest in his work and because his mechanical aptitude was excellent. “Success of the engineering work in this formation 268 Indian Infantry Brigade Group, is entirely due to the organizational capacity of Colonel Smith and his untiring zeal and energy to see the task through. He carried out his task despite the great difficulties of lack of any precedence and procedure. He had to organize the procurement of the Engineer Store which in itself was a complicated task, and needed an officer of Colonel Smith's calibre.” In 1948, he was awarded Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire following his engineering work and organizational skills in the Far East. He was mentioned in despatches in December 1949. His medals included The Pacific Star, British War Medal ribbons, France & Germany Star, and the Italy Star. Herbie met Alison (Ty) Gatey, a Major in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, also working in intelligence, and they married in London in 1950. Their son, Anthony, was born in Malaya in 1951. Herbie used to love getting parcels from his sisters in Canada – they used to send blocks of maple sugar - and he loved slicing this on his porridge. He passed his love of swimming, rowing, riding and dogs on to his son and daughter. Herbie returned to the UK in May 1953 on promotion to Colonel, as Assistant Director of the Directorate of Royal Engineers at the Ministry of Supply in London. He had a passionate love of sailing and the sea, and as a member of the Royal Engineers Yacht Club, he was Skipper of the Right Royal. In the 1956 Channel Race, he saved the yacht, which was dismasted in a gale. He refused to abandon ship, despite offers to be taken off, and got the boat and crew, battered but safe, into Dunkirk. His final posting, in 1957, was as Commanding Officer of the Special Air Service base in Hereford, although it was officially known as the Territorial Army base. Herbie retired in 1960. When he retired from the Army Herbie spent some time working as a surveyor on the M4 motorway that was being built. He and Ty then moved to Keswick. He enjoyed rowing on the lake and climbing the mountains. The family used to go on a narrowboat every year on the canal. When his daughter was seven, he saved her life when she fell overboard and became trapped between the boat and the canal bank. He hooked her out with the boat hook. He was a warden at Crosthwaite Church in Keswick. He loved seeing his brother Noel and family in Scotland, and his sister Doris came over to England in 1954. He had plans to take the family to Canada in 1966, but sadly became ill that year and passed away just before his 60th birthday. His varied career well reflected his ever-inquiring mind, objectivity and problem-solving. A man of immense courage, with unfailing good humour and quiet enthusiasm, earned him universal respect and made him many friends. Eve Wickwire & Georgina Williams

  • Imbeau, Armand

    Imbeau, Armand Back to ALL Bios En français et en anglais ! In french and english! Armand Imbeau Entrepreneur et Constructeur de goélettes Des personnages, certains lieux, des événements sont incontournables à Tadoussac. La baie, une des « belles baies du monde », les dunes et bien entendu, la «Toupie » du haut-fond prince au lointain, la petite chapelle, tous sont des emblèmes distinctifs de l’endroit. Le feu du Ss Québec au quai de Tadoussac en 1950 restera également un évènement qui restera en mémoire. Parmi les gens, on reconnaît assurément les noms de certains témoins du passé. C’est le cas du célèbre capitaine Jos Deschênes et de l’entrepreneur Armand Imbeau, Tadoussaciens dont on a attribué les noms aux traversiers de première et deuxième générations qui font la navette incessante entre Baie-Ste-Catherine et Tadoussac. Bien avant les traversiers, la Côte-Nord a connu l’âge de la navigation dite de nécessité locale: transport de produits essentiels depuis les grands centres vers les villes et villages, et expéditions de ressources naturelles, notamment le bois des moulins à scie de la région vers les centres de distribution. Pour répondre à ces besoins, les constructeurs navals québécois ont développé une expertise dans la construction de bâtiments de bois, à voiles et plus tard à moteur, particulièrement les goélettes à fonds plats permettant un échouage sur la grève pour faciliter le chargement dans les endroits dépourvus de quai. Parmi ces renommés constructeurs de goélettes de la région de Charlevoix et de la Côte-Nord, Armand Imbeau, fils de charpentier naval de Baie-Ste-Catherine. Navigateur, charpentier, entrepreneur, citoyen impliqué dans sa communauté, Armand Imbeau a marqué sa profession, sa ville, sa région et son époque. Imbeau de Charlevoix Le patronyme Imbeau (Imbeault, Imbault ou Imbeaux) était très répandu dans la région de Charlevoix entre le 17e et le 19e siècle. Nous retrouvons les traces de l’ancêtre des Imbeault, François Imbeault (1737-1823) dit Lagrange, militaire français et de sa conjointe Catherine Ringuet, à La Malbaie–Pointe-au-Pic. Graduellement, on note la présence des nombreuses familles de la descendance plus au nord de la région, à Saint-Siméon jusqu’à St-Firmain (Baie-Sainte-Catherine). En fin de 19e et début du 20e, des Imbeau se déplacent sur la Haute-Côte-Nord. (1, 2) Né à Baie-Sainte-Catherine le 30 août 1893, Armand Imbeau est le fils de Thomas Imbeau, de Baie-Sainte-Catherine, charpentier de profession et de Marie Laprise de Grandes-Bergeronnes. Son grand-père, Louis Imbeau travaillait aux chantiers de William Price à Baie-Sainte-Catherine et à Rivière-aux-canards. La famille de Louis comprend de nombreux enfants. À cette époque, plusieurs familles Imbeau étaient installées à Baie-Sainte-Catherine. Thomas, le père d’Armand aura deux autres fils, Lucien, Thomas-Louis (Mrg Imbeau, évêque de Charlevoix) et sept filles. Armand fait ses classes en charpenterie et apprend la construction navale auprès de son père. À l’âge de 25 ans, le 22 avril 1919, il épouse à Tadoussac, Marie-Louise Caron, enseignante à l’école du village (1900 -?), âgée de 19 ans, fille de monsieur John (Benny) Caron et madame Éveline Pedneault de Tadoussac. De cette union naissent quatre enfants; Georgette (Marie-Louise-Emma-Georgette), le 11 mars 1920, décédée le 25 mai 1973. Elle épousera Émile Baril (1904-1989) de Saint-Charles de Mandeville le 30 juin 1956. Le couple n’aura pas d’enfant. Monsieur Baril sera enseignant et directeur de l’école primaire de Tadoussac; Jacques, né en 1924 à Tadoussac et décédé à La Malbaie en 2011. Il épouse le 1er octobre 1949 Jaqueline Gauthier (1930-2013), fille de Hector Gauthier, propriétaire de l’Hôtel Gauthier qui deviendra le Manoir Tadoussac, et de Émilie Brisson. Employé du ministère des terres et forêts, Jacques Imbeau est appelé à travailler à Hauterive et à Havre-St-Pierre. Un enfant naitra de cette union, Claudine, dernière de la lignée de Armand Imbeau; Simonne, décédée très jeune (1927-1939); Rachelle (1933-1937) décédée à l’âge de 4 ans; Jacqueline (19??), qui épouse Rosaire Bouchard (1924-1987) le 15 mai 1954 à Tadoussac. Le couple s’installe à Chicoutimi, parents de deux garçons Pierre et Jean, décédés en bas âge. La cale sèche Imbeau À l’extrémité ouest de la plage, donnant sur la baie avant d’atteindre L’Islet, se trouve à droite, au pied sud-est de la colline de l’Anse à l’eau, une petite crique, un bassin naturel qui prolonge l’Anse à L’Islet, dont une bande de rochers délimite l’entrée: l’«Anse à cale sèche». Se remplissant à marée haute, l’endroit donne accès au fjord profond et facilite l’entrée et la mise à l’eau des navires. Du côté de la plage, l’anse est séparée de la baie par un isthme reliant la presqu’ile à la terre ferme. Certains résidents de Tadoussac s’installent à même la plage de la baie pour construire des embarcations. En 1923, monsieur Imbeau loue l’emplacement à ses propriétaires : la Canada steamship lines. En 1930, il fonde la « Cale sèche Imbeau » à Tadoussac, une compagnie spécialisée dans la construction et la réparation de navires à coque de bois, particulièrement ceux destinés au transport du bois et à la plaisance. La cale sèche sera opérationnelle en novembre 1931. Elle sera creusée à la main l’année suivante pour améliorer sa fonctionnalité. Grâce à une subvention gouvernementale obtenue grâce à l’appui de la municipalité et du curé du Village, les citoyens sont embauchés pour deux semaines au chantier de la cale sèche. Afin de stimuler l’économie locale, au bout de deux semaines un autre groupe de travailleurs prenait la relève afin de permettre à un maximum de personne d’éteint un travail rémunéré en ces temps difficiles. Un bâtiment nécessaire à l’entreposage des matériaux et des outils sont érigés sur les rochers, là où actuellement se trouvent les installations du « Centre d’interprétation des mammifères marins ». On retrouvait dans ce garage, les divers outils du charpentier, tel que des herminettes, plusieurs fers à calfat et maillets à calfat, des tarières, chignoles à main, vilebrequins, planes, gouges, plusieurs ciseaux à bois, scies, égoïnes à chantourner, rabots de toutes grosseurs, etc. De massives portes de bois sont installées à l’entrée de l’anse afin d’y contrôler l’entrée d’eau. Les activités de constructions et de réparations s’y dérouleront jusqu’en 1965 environ, quelques années avant le décès de monsieur Imbeau. L’âge d’or des activités du chantier se situant entre 1930 et 1950. Selon les statistiques gouvernementales d’enregistrement des nouveaux navires, au cours de cette période au moins 300 caboteurs de bois à moteur furent construits au total au Québec, dont près de 40% dans la région de Charlevoix. À Tadoussac, c’est une douzaine de bâtiments qui sortiront de la cale sèche Imbeau, dont le Saint-Jude en 1935, le Victoire en 1936, le Tadoussac Transport en 1938, le Royal Trader en 1939 et le Vaillant en 1943, son bateau personnel, le St-Étienne Murray Bay en 1939, le Raguenau en 1941. Étant donné l’espace restreint de la cale sèche, les bateaux construits devaient être de petites et de moyen tonnage. (3, 4) L’essor industriel d’après guerre et la construction de routes reliant les villes et villages des régions de Charlevoix et de la Côte-Nord contribuent à la diminution des besoins en transport naval et marquent la fin de l’ère des goélettes de même que des petits chantiers maritimes. Armand Imbeau continu tout de même la réparation et l’hivernent des bateaux dans la cale sèche jusqu’en 1965 environ. Homme aux multiples talents, il réalise la construction que quelques maisons. Pour combler le temps libre qui lui reste, il bricole, répare tout ce qu’on lui confie. Il va même jusqu’à faire office de cordonnier, domaine dans lequel il excellait. Lors de la création d’un parc national, le « Parc marin du Saguenay–Saint-Laurent » en 1998, le site alors inactif, est acquis par le gouvernement provincial et intégré au parc. Aujourd’hui, sous l’administration municipale, la cale sèche Imbeau accueille les bateaux de plaisance pendant la saison hivernale. En été, le lieu sert de stationnement automobile pour les touristes. Armand Imbeau: Le citoyen impliqué L’implication sociale de monsieur Armand Imbeau est également notable. Conseiller municipal de 1928 à 1939, il a consacré sa vie à favoriser la prospérité économique de sa région et employait jusqu’à 75 personnes au tournant des années 40. (5) Armand Imbeau s’est également engagé plusieurs années dans les organismes de l’église Sainte-Croix comme marguillier ou encore à la Ligue du Sacré-Cœur. Un événement inusité : Le trésor archéologique Un événement inusité arrive à Armand Imbeau en 1923. L’année suivant son mariage, il achète la résidence de Arthur Hovington située près de L’Islet, sur un plateau surplombant l’Anse à cale sèche, orientée face à la rivière Saguenay, le jeune père de famille s’affaire à creuser la cave en terre battue. A quelques coups de pelles de la surface, il fait la découverte d’une pochette de toile contenant des pièces de monnaie anciennes. Le magot était constitué de 102 pièces. Deux d’entre elles étaient des pièces de métal blanc d’une grande équivalente à une pièce d’un dollar canadien actuel. Elles sont en bon état, sans usure excessive et portent l’effigie de Louis XIV, et date respectivement de 1655 et 1659. Deux autres du même métal sont plus petites et plus usées, datant de 1591. Le reste de la collection comprend des pièces de métal jaune, un peu plus grandes qu’une pièce de 10 cents et sont relativement usées par le temps. Elles sont de la même époque que les deux premières. (6) L’histoire ne dit pas si le « trésor » avait une grande valeur marchande qui aurait enrichi son propriétaire, mais selon les archéologues numismates consultés, la valeur historique est réellement importante. Où sont rendues ces pièces de monnaie? Après un certain temps, Armand Imbeau les donne à son garçon Jacques qui en prend un soin jaloux pendant de nombreuses années. Alors que ce dernier résidait à Hauterive, les pièces disparaissent lors d’un vol au domicile familial. Au terme d’une vie bien remplie, Armand Imbeau s’éteint à Tadoussac en 1969 à l’âge vénérable de 76 ans. Une stèle familiale est érigée au cimetière ancestral de Tadoussac. Il laisse en héritage marquant à son village une foule de réalisations économiques et de contributions sociales. Son nom, qui baptise maintenant deux navires de la Société des traversiers du Québec est connu dans toute la province et au-delà de nos frontières. Daniel Delisle PhD avec la précieuse collaboration de Claudine Imbeau, petite fille de Armand Imbeau Inconnu, Illégitimes en Charlevoix (2), les Imbeault, https://www.touslestemps.net/2-imbeault-1-2/ Inconnu, Illégitimes en Charlevoix (3), les Imbeault, https://www.touslestemps.net/imbeault-2-2/ Frank, A., Les chantiers maritimes traditionnels: il était de petits navires, Continuité, 2001, (89), 37-39 Desjardins, Robert, Les voitures d’eau, le cabotage artisanal sur le St-Laurent, 2013, http://goelettesduquebec.ca Société des traversiers du Québec, https://www.traversiers.com/fr/a-propos-de-la-societe/nos-navires/nm-armand-imbeau/ Bulletin des recherches historiques : bulletin d'archéologie, d'histoire, de biographie, de numismatique, etc., décembre 1923 Armand Imbeau Contractor and Builder of Schooners Certain people, places and events are essential to Tadoussac. The bay, one of the "beautiful bays in the world", the dunes and of course, the "Toupie" from the Prince Shoal in the distance, the little chapel, all are distinctive emblems of the place. The fire of the SS Quebec at the Quai de Tadoussac in 1950 will also remain an event that will be remembered. Among the people, we certainly recognize the names of certain witnesses of the past. This is the case of the famous captain Jos Deschênes and the entrepreneur Armand Imbeau, Tadoussaciens whose names have been attributed to the first and second generation ferries that shuttle incessantly between Baie-Ste-Catherine and Tadoussac. Long before the ferries, the Côte-Nord knew the age of navigation born of local necessity: transport of essential products from the large centers to towns and villages, and shipments of natural resources, notably wood from the sawmills of the region to distribution centers. To meet these needs, Quebec shipbuilders have developed expertise in the construction of wood, sail and later motor vessels, particularly flat-bottomed schooners allowing beaching on the shore to facilitate loading in places without dock. Among these renowned schooner builders from the Charlevoix and Côte-Nord regions, is Armand Imbeau, son of a shipwright from Baie-Ste-Catherine. Navigator, carpenter, entrepreneur, citizen involved in his community, Armand Imbeau left his mark on his profession, his city, his region and his time. Imbeau de Charlevoix The surname Imbeau (Imbeault, Imbault or Imbeaux) was very common in the Charlevoix region between the 17th and the 19th century. We find traces of the ancestor of the Imbeault, François Imbeault (1737-1823) dit Lagrange, a French soldier, and his wife Catherine Ringuet, in La Malbaie – Pointe-au-Pic. Gradually, we note the presence of many families of descent further north of the region, from Saint-Siméon to St-Firmain (Baie-Sainte-Catherine). At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th, Imbeau moved to the Haute-Côte-Nord. (1, 2) Born in Baie-Sainte-Catherine on August 30, 1893, Armand Imbeau is the son of Thomas Imbeau, of Baie-Sainte-Catherine, a carpenter by profession, and of Marie Laprise of Grandes-Bergeronnes. His grandfather, Louis Imbeau, worked at William Price shipyards in Baie-Sainte-Catherine and Rivière-aux-Canards. Louis's family includes many children. At that time, several Imbeau families were settled in Baie-Sainte-Catherine. Thomas, Armand’s father, would have two other sons, Lucien, Thomas-Louis (Mrg Imbeau, bishop of Charlevoix) and seven daughters. Armand studied carpentry and learned shipbuilding from his father. At the age of 25, on April 22, 1919, he married in Tadoussac, Marie-Louise Caron, teacher at the village school (1900 -?), 19 years old, daughter of Mr. John (Benny) Caron and Ms. Éveline Pedneault from Tadoussac. From this union are born five children; Georgette (Marie-Louise-Emma-Georgette), March 11, 1920, died May 25, 1973. She will marry Émile Baril (1904-1989) from Saint-Charles de Mandeville on June 30, 1956. The couple will have no children. Mr. Baril will be a teacher and principal of the Tadoussac elementary school; Jacques, born in 1924 in Tadoussac and died in La Malbaie in 2011. On October 1, 1949, he married Jaqueline Gauthier (1930-2013), daughter of Hector Gauthier, owner of the Hotel Gauthier which would become the Manoir Tadoussac, and of Émilie Brisson. Jacques Imbeau, employed by the Ministry of Lands and Forests, is called upon to work in Hauterive and Havre-St-Pierre. A child will be born from this union, Claudine, the last of the line of Armand Imbeau; Simonne, who died very young (1927-1939); Rachelle (1933-1937) died at the age of 4; Jacqueline (19 ??), who married Rosaire Bouchard (1924-1987) on May 15, 1954 in Tadoussac. The couple settled in Chicoutimi, parents of two boys, Pierre and Jean, who died in infancy. The Imbeau dry dock At the western end of the beach, overlooking the bay before reaching L'Islet, is to the right, at the south-eastern foot of the hill of Anse à l'eau, a small cove, a natural basin which extends the Anse à L'Islet, of which a band of rocks delimits the entrance: the “Dry dock”. Filling at high tide, the place provides access to the deep fjord and makes it easier for ships to enter and launch. On the beach side, the cove is separated from the bay by an isthmus connecting the peninsula to the mainland. Some residents of Tadoussac settle on the bay beach to build boats. In 1923, Mr. Imbeau rented the site from its owners: the Canada Steamship Lines. In 1930, he founded the “Imbeau Dry Dock” in Tadoussac, a company specializing in the construction and repair of wood-hulled ships, particularly those intended for the transport of wood and for yachting. The dry dock will be operational in November 1931. It will be dug by hand the following year to improve its functionality. Thanks to a government subsidy obtained with the support of the municipality and the village priest, the citizens are hired for two weeks at the dry dock site. In order to stimulate the local economy, after two weeks another group of workers took over to allow as many people as possible to get paid work in these difficult times. A building for the storage of materials and tools is erected on the rocks, where the facilities of the "Center for the Interpretation of Marine Mammals" are currently located. We found in this garage, the various tools of the carpenter, such as adzes, several caulking irons and caulking mallets, augers, hand chignoles, crankshafts, planes, gouges, several wood chisels, saws, scrolling hands, planes of all sizes, etc. Massive wooden doors are installed at the entrance to the cove to control the entry of water. Construction and repair activities would take place there until around 1965, a few years before Mr. Imbeau's death. The golden age of the shipyard's activities was between 1930 and 1950. According to government statistics for the registration of new ships, during this period at least 300 motorized wood coasters were built in Quebec, of which nearly 40% in the Charlevoix region. In Tadoussac, a dozen goelettes will emerge from the Imbeau dry dock, including the Saint-Jude in 1935, the Victoire in 1936, the Tadoussac Transport in 1938, the Royal Trader in 1939 and the Vaillant in 1943, his personal boat the St-Étienne Murray Bay in 1939, the Raguenau in 1941. Given the limited space of the dry dock, the boats built had to be of small and medium tonnage. (3, 4) The post-war industrial boom and the construction of roads connecting the towns and villages of the Charlevoix and Côte-Nord regions contributed to the decrease in naval transport needs and marked the end of the schooner era as well as small shipyards. Armand Imbeau nonetheless continued to repair and winterize the boats in the dry dock until around 1965. A man of many talents, he builds a few houses. To fill in the free time that remains to him, he tinkers, repairs everything that is entrusted to him. He even went so far as to act as a shoemaker, an area in which he excelled. When a national park was created, the "Saguenay – St. Lawrence Marine Park" in 1998, the then inactive site was acquired by the provincial government and integrated into the park. Today, under municipal administration, the Imbeau dry dock accommodates pleasure boats during the winter season. In summer, the place serves as a car park for tourists. Armand Imbeau: The citizen involved The social involvement of Mr. Armand Imbeau is also notable. A city councilor from 1928 to 1939, he devoted his life to fostering the economic prosperity of his region and employed up to 75 people at the turn of the 1940s. (5) Armand Imbeau was also involved for several years in the organizations of the Sainte-Croix Church as churchwarden or in the League of the Sacred Heart. An unusual event: The archaeological treasure An unusual event happened to Armand Imbeau in 1923. The year following his marriage, he bought Arthur Hovington's residence located near L'Islet, on a plateau overlooking the Dry Dock Cove, facing the Saguenay River. The young father is busy digging the dirt cellar. A few shovels from the surface, he discovers a canvas pouch containing old coins. The nest egg consisted of 102 coins. Two of them were white metal coins of a size equivalent to today's Canadian dollar. They are in good condition, without excessive wear and bear the effigy of Louis XIV, and date respectively from 1655 and 1659. Two others of the same metal are smaller and more worn, dating from 1591. The rest of the collection includes pieces of yellow metal, a little larger than a dime and relatively worn with time. They are from the same period as the first two. (6) History does not say whether the "treasure" had a great market value which would have enriched its owner, but according to the numismatic archaeologists consulted, the historical value is really significant. Where are these coins? After a while, Armand Imbeau gives them to his boy Jacques, who takes care of them for many years. While the latter resided in Hauterive, the coins disappeared during a theft from the family home. At the end of a busy life, Armand Imbeau passed away in Tadoussac in 1969 at the venerable age of 76. A family monument is erected at the ancestral cemetery of Tadoussac. He left as a legacy marking his village a host of economic achievements and social contributions. His name, which now names two ships of the Société des Traversiers du Québec, is known throughout the province and beyond our borders. Daniel Delisle PhD with the precious collaboration of Claudine Imbeau, granddaughter of Armand Imbeau

  • Morewood, Gertrude Isobel

    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

  • Palmer, Noeline (Pixie) Winnifred Smith

    Palmer, Noeline (Pixie) Winnifred Smith Back to ALL Bios ​ Noeline (Pixie) Winnifred (Smith) Palmer 1902 - 1986 Pixie Smith, daughter of George Carington Smith and Winnifred Dawes Smith, had one sister, Marion, below. She was born on Christmas Eve in 1902, and so was named Noeline. She strongly disliked her given name because she linked it to the children’s nursery rhyme “Jack Spratt could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean”. Thus, due to her diminutive size, she came to be called Pixie. Pixie grew up in Montreal, attended King’s Hall, Compton, and then married Leonard Charles Dunlop Palmer (1898-1982). She and Leo moved to Ottawa in Rockcliffe Park and raised two children, George (1924-2019) and Linda born in 1930. Leo’s job with TWA involved taking care of visiting diplomats from around the world. Pixie was well-known in the Ottawa community as a gracious hostess and wonderful conversationalist. Her creative decorations for their annual Christmas party even made the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. Pixie was also a very accomplished seamstress. Once George was grown, and following his career in theatre, Pixie often helped sew the costumes for The Ottawa Little Theatre Productions. She and Leo travelled extensively throughout Europe. Pixie devoted her life to her family, supporting her husband in his career and then caring for Leo after he retired and when he suffered from PTSD due to his wartime experiences. Pixie died in 1986, in Ottawa, and is buried in Beechwood Cemetery. Eve Wickwire

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