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Record #15733
Name :
: Annie Emily GEVAUX (1906 - 1978)


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 26 Feb 1906

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 1978
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 23 Sep 1921
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Minnedosa

Placement Family
: Morton family in Dundas
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesIn 1921, Annie E. Gevaux, 15, arrived at Quebec, Canada, in a group of 134 Barnardo children en route to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

This biography was pieced together by Lori Oschefski from on line notes made by Annie's great niece Stephanie Grant Duke. Stephanie loved to write and was keenly interested in Annie and her British Home Child history. Stephanie passed away on March 21, 2010.

Annie Emily Gevaux
A Letter from Hazel Brae

On February 25 1906, fraternal twins were born to Joseph Alfred John Gevaux and his wife Annie Beatrice Jackson. These children were named James Thomas and Annie Emily Gevaux. Their parent Joseph and Annie seemed to have everything going for them when they married in Bermuda in 1897, but in quick succession seven children were born to them in eight years. Thomas and Annie's older sibling were Joseph Albert John Jr, Florence Julie Joan, Frank Reginald, Alexandra May and Albert Robert. The young couple found themselves with nine mouths to feed.

Joseph, retired from the Royal Marines with testimonies that all spoke of his virtues--intelligent, honest, reliable, etc. The Prudential Insurance Company hired him and promoted him to their branch office in Guildford, a pretty little town in Surrey. Unfortunately, his salary of less than three pounds a week was inadequate for his family's needs, and he began to place bets with customer's premiums.Forces of destruction were overtaking him. With all those mouths to feed on three pounds a week, desperation may have led him into gambling away some of the firm's funds. By the time his little game was discovered, he had stolen over eighty pounds. As a gambler he no doubt believed one big win would pay back the losses.

One Saturday morning in August, Joseph made his way into London. There he visited his step mother Annie Ross. He might have been hoping that she would help him out of the serious trouble he had got himself into despite the fact they were not very close. Soon after she became the second wife of his father, Joseph Alfred John joined the Royal Marines. Annie Ross was much closer to her own children. Joseph's father, Joseph Alfred Gevaux , had died a few years earlier, and couldn't be appealed to. Annie had her own draper's shop, and was successful at it but tight-fisted. If he did make an appeal to her and she turned him down, he may have felt he could not return to Guildford where a warrant was out for his arrest. Instead he felt compelled to leave England immediately and escape punishment. His wife may have suffered even more if he had been sent to prison. It would have been intolerable for her to became known as a convict's wife. People were very cruel in those days.

There was an old family story of the golden sovereigns he supposedly left on the kitchen table. It is thought by family members to be apocryphal, or wishful thinking. If he didn't initially intend to leave his family, why would he leave them gold pieces? It's more likely that when he left he was almost penniless. A gambler with gold coins in his pocket would have been unable to resist throwing them into one last foolish gamble. According to the Barnardo papers, his wife was left with only ten shillings and sixpence.

Unable to care for her children, Annie placed the four youngest, Alexandra 4 years old, Albert 2 years old and her nine month old twins Annie and Thomas into the care of the Dr. Barnardo Homes. The older children stayed with her. The year was 1906. Annie kept in constant contact with Barnardo's for the first few years, requesting v.o.'s (visiting orders to see her children in their foster parents' homes), sent them cards, letters, even a little money although she herself was living way beyond the edge of poverty. Sometimes she didn't have money to buy a ticket for the complicated train journey, and had to borrow it.

On September 23 1921, fifteen year old Annie Emily arrived in Canada. She was brought here by the Dr. Barnardo Homes aboard the Minnedosa. Annie would be the only one of her siblings to come to Canada, she had actually volunteered for emigration. She said she wasn't going to stay in England and be somebody's servant. In fact, in Canada Annie had a fulfilling and eventful life.

Annie would come to Hazle Brae in Peterborough, Ontario. There was a camaraderie at Hazel Brae which seemed very nice. Annie was an intelligent girl who had received a pretty good education from Barnardo's--she'd been with them since she was 9 months old, boarded out until 14, and then returned to Barkingside for training as a parlor maid. She would keep in close contact with her friends and family back in England, writing many letters.

In October of 1921 Annie wrote to the Governor at the Girls Village, Barkingside:

Margaret Cox House
Hazel Brae
Peterborough, Ontario
October 7, 1921

Dear Madam:

As I am busy writing letters I thought perhaps you may like to hear from me. We are still at Hazel Brae because diphtheria has broken out among us. Ruth Millerick and Alice Chappel are in a hospital nearby, and Nora Millerick is in our own infirmary. There are ten other girls whose swabs are positive and if the rest of the girls' swabs are negative we are going to our service places. We have not seen much of Mr. and Mrs. Hobday because, we being isolated, they have kept at Toronto. Mrs. Hobday is lovely; she is exactly like a mother to us, and I am sure all the girls love her.

We had two lots of Canadian ice cream, and it is lovely. When Colonel and Mrs. Carless came to see us, the Colonel told us to line up for a dose of 'castor oil,' and we pulled awful faces. I should like you to have been here and seen the difference in our faces when he gave us the dose, for it was Canadian ice cream. The Colonel also had one and he made out he didn't like it, but at any rate he soon ate it. Yesterday we had some races, and I won a prize for high jump; it was a lovely necklace. We really have a nice time here. When Mr. and Mrs. Hoday and Mr. and Mrs. Carless came to see us, we had a concert and several people sent us things such as apples, oranges, chocolates, and cakes. some of the girls did some dances, which Mrs. Gilling had taught them at school.

The Colonel said they were very good, and we all enjoyed that evening very much. We are all patiently waiting for Mrs. Hobday to come back, when we shall be quite happy. Will you kindly remember me to Miss Macnaughton, and kindest regards to yourself.

I remain,
Yours Truly,
Annie Gevaux

The Governor's reply

4th November, 1921

Dear Annie,

I was very glad to hear from you, but very sorry to hear that diphtheria has kept you at Hazel Brae and that you have not gone into your new home yet. However,by now I expect you have gone out. I wonder where you are, and hope very much that you are happy in your new home. Of course, Mrs. Hobday will always do anything she can for you. I am so glad that you like her so much. I shall be very glad to hear how you get on in your new place. You seem to have had a very gay time on the voyage, in spite of the fact that it was rough and many of you were sea-sick.

I am sure you will do your best to get on well in the new country, and not forget all that you have been taught in the Village here. I shall watch with great interest to see how you all do in your different homes. With every good wish.

Yours sincerely,
Governor

Miss Annie Gevaux
Margaret Cox Home
Peterborough
Ontario, Canada
Annie's first Barnardo's Visitor's Report

In November 1921, Annie was placed with the Morton family in Dundas. Her responsibilities were mother's helper and companion to a 3 year old little girl. In Annie's record package retrieved by her great niece Stephanie Grant Duke, were 10 Visitor's Reports and copies of a dozen letters. Annie had wrote to various friends in England. They are happy letters, written 82+ years ago telling of of her delight in being in Canada, of being treated equally and with respect, of motoring trips to Niagara Falls and the Mountains, of the Mortons teaching her to skate and ski, and other good times. It was Annie's good luck to go to the Mortons. Six months earlier, she was a household drudge in a cottage at Barnardo's Girls' Village, Barkingside, cooking for 18 children and the housemother, and scrubbing stone and wooden floors on her hands and knees every day to keep them "snow white" as she once told her niece.

Her first visitor's report from the Dr. Barnardo Homes

NAME: Annie E. Gevaux
PRESENT AGE: 16
PARTY September 1921.
NAME OF EMPLOYER: Mrs. Clifford Morton, Jr.
POSTAL ADDRESS: Uplands, Governor's Road, Dundas
GENERAL HEALTH, APPEARANCE, AND CLOTHING:
Neatly dressed, clothes good. Tall, dark girl, well developed.
Attractive appearance.
WORK, PROGRESS AND BEHAVIOR:
Very satisfactory-nice mannered-refined girl
TREATMENT BY EMPLOYER AND MEMBERS OF FAMILY;
As a maid - kindly
ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL;
Attends church and Sunday School regularly
ATTENDANCE AND PROGRESS AT DAY SCHOOL
Blank [Annie at 16 was not required to attend school]
CHARACTER OF THE HOME AS INDICATED BY
GENERAL APPEARANCE OF HOUSE AND SURROUNDINGS:
Mrs. Morton helps with all work. Very nice home-large house-Two
adults-one child.
SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS:
Own room - very nice- lock but no key.
NAMES AND ADDRESS OF CORRESPONDENTS WHEN LAST WRITTEN TO:
Mother: Mrs. Gevaux, 17 Hill Place, Guildford, Surrey, England.
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT EXISTING OR CONCLUDED BY VISITOR:
$15.00
GENERAL REMARKS:
Annie is very happy here and is doing well. Mrs. Morton speaks very
highly of her efforts, and hopes to keep her for some time. Annie wishes to
give $5 to Memorial Fund from her Trust Fund.


On Annie's first visitor's Report, F.L.M. Sharp wrote in the box marked Sleeping Arrangements, "Own room-very nice--lock but no key." The date was March 27, 1922. On the second report dated August 31, 1922, F.L.M.Sharp wrote, ""Very nice room. Tidily kept. Lock and key." The Mortons had complied with Barnardo's lock and key requirement. There were concerns even in those days about abuse of these children. In March 1998 Barnardo's presented a memorandum to a British House of Commons Committee hearing presentations on the history of child emigration.

Section 2.2.6 states: Barnardo's established a small team of workers and an Advisory Committee in Canada. Children were visited and foster homes inspected on an annual basis. There clearly was some abuse of children and efforts were made to counter such concerns as early as 1889 when Miss Stent, Honorary Secretary of the Girls Village Home, was sent to the Girls Home in Canada to try to devise safeguards for Barnardo's wards, requiring employers to provide chaperons and locks to be fitted to bedroom doors and windows.

"A splendid and capable girl"
description of Annie on a Visitor's Report in 1923.

In 1940 Annie married Richard Henry Lear Dinsmore. Annie and Richard would have no children. Annie had lived a fulfilling and happy life. She had become a nurse. In 1937 she had sailed home in style aboard the Queen Mary for the Coronation of Geo VI and Elizabeth. By all accounts she was happy. Richard passed away in 1962, Annie in 1978. 
ContributorsCreated : 2011-12-22 21:01:38 / From original database

Last Updated : 2012-05-22 08:39:30 /

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IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
15733 GEVAUX, Annie Emily1906ENG,     Sep 1921 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos