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Record #16237
Name :
: Lily Ivy Agnes WOOD (1897 - 1987)


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 26 Jun 1897

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: Jun 1987   Notes : old age
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Kingston-on-Hull
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialUnited States of America, Oakland, Rochester Hills
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 13 May 1911
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Tunisian

Placement Family
: Newton
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Marchmont Homes (now Barnardos)
NotesIn 1911, Lily A. Wood, 13, arrived at Quebec, Canada, in a group of 21 children en route to Belleville, Ontario, Canada (two children were sent to Pickford).

Excerpt from {website}canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/arthur-clarkson--lily-wood.html generously shared by her daughter, Linda Clarkson Pagnani:

... "Her mother died when Mom was three years old and Mom was sent to live with her paternal grandmother and maiden aunts in Manchester . Mom was as talkative as Dad was quiet and an ardent storyteller. We grew up laughing and crying over the stories of her childhood. Her grandmother was a stern and deeply religious woman who had given birth to 14 children and managed to raise 9 of them to adulthood. One of the two aunts who lived with Mom and her grandmother was very kind - the other the complete opposite. It was a great sorrow for my 7-year-old Mom when her "good" aunt died. Mom told of having to peel potatoes and having to eat the cooked peels if she cut them too thickly. She told of a Christmas when, because she had misbehaved, she was shown the presents that she would have received if she had behaved, and then got a stocking stuffed with coal on Christmas morning.

Mom was only allowed to read the Bible or Pilgrim's Progress. Already an avid reader and hungry for more variety, she once borrowed a book from a school friend. She used to sneak "down the yard to the privy" to read the forbidden book only to be discovered by her vengeful grandmother, who promptly destroyed the book. The loss of that borrowed book caused Mom to lose "one of the only real friends I had ever had". Despite behaviour which sounds like cruelty, Mom always said her grandmother loved her and was good to her in many ways. Because of her advancing age (and the constant prompting of the remaining maiden aunt who resented having to help feed and clothe "the wretched child), Mom's grandmother made the decision to place Mom in Rosen Hall as Home for Girls in Manchester. This decision was hard on Mom's grandmother, who often walked miles to visit her in the home. Not surprisingly, Mom was not happy in the home and so decided, on her own, to volunteer to be sent out to Canada. Her grandmother at first refused to give her permission for Mom's emigration, but she was eventually persuaded to sign the consent papers.

Mom arrived at the Marchmont Home in Canada on May 14, 1911. By May 16 she had been sent to work for a Mrs. Peppiot, whose first reports about Mom were full of praise. But by winter of that year Mrs. Peppiott reported that Mom had run away once and was "acting strangely" ever since. Mom was removed from the Peppiott home on January 2, 1912. As forthcoming as Mom always was about sharing her "stories", she would never give any details about this episode, but she often mentioned that some of the men where she worked were not "good". In later years, we have come to believe that she was probably subjected to sexual abuse, and perhaps by more than one employer, since she later asked to be removed from another farm owned by a Mr. Buck. When asked outright about abuse, Mom would just say it didn't bear talking about and she was just "glad I survived". Her final placement was on the Newton farm in 1914. She was happy there (although she said she worked like a mule), and the Newton family was pleased with her. She came to consider the Newtons her "family" and she and my father continued to visit them several times a year until the Newtons passed away.

While working at the Newton farm she met my Dad - who she "wasn't very impressed by". He however must have been immediately smitten and continued to call on Mom whenever he could until he entered the Canadian Army in 1916. Mom wrote to him while he was away in the Army and when he returned home to Canada he proposed. After his proposal had been made and accepted, Dad sent his younger brother Cyril the passage money to travel to Canada. Cyril arrived in time to "stand up" with Mom and Dad when they were married on March 7, 1919 at Sydenham United Church in Kingston. ...

[After the death of her husband] Mom lived on in the family home for another 7 years before moving to a smaller house to be nearer her daughters. After being married for more than 50 years, adjusting to a life alone was not easy for her, but she carried on with a resolve and acceptance that was typical of her nature. Her education had also stopped when she left England, but she was a voracious reader and accumulated an amazingly wide range of knowledge. She was a great cook and especially loved to bake. She was never without a book or a hand-work project. Every baby born into the family went home from the hospital in a sweater and bonnet she had made. Before she died she made and stored away such a quantity of baby layettes that every great grandchild born also wore one of her creations! Mom remained mentally sharp, following the political news devotedly and working crossword puzzles almost until the day she died in June 1987, 12 days before her 91st birthday." 
ContributorsCreated : 2012-05-09 13:51:29 / From original database

Last Updated : 2013-09-06 15:57:40 /

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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  1 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
16237 WOOD, Lily Ivy Agnes1897ENG,    , Kingston-on-Hull May 1911 : Tunisian CAN Marchmont Homes (now Barnardos)