This photo is of Gabriel and Selina Howells' 50th Anniversary, they were my great great grandparents. The event was held in Vancouver, BC. They're the lovely elder couple in the center of the shot, with their children behind them and their grandchildren around them. The little girl in the front left is my grandmother, Merle, who would have been about eight or so at the time. Her older sisters are the two in the front right, and her little brother is the one on Selina's lap, I believe. Her parents are in the back right. He's the last in the back, and she's the second woman from the right. Most of their family lived in the area, but one branch did drive all the way up from California to attend.
Gabriel and Selina were married in Northern Wales in 1874. He was the eldest of his family, and was meant to be the one to inherit his family farm, but he wanted to go into masonry, and so after a horrible influenza outbreak where they lost their first two children, they chose to leave the area and move south to a mining town where they had six more children. Two boys and four girls. He worked on the mines, creating the masonry that held up the entrances and probably buildings of the mines, until he realized that working on the mine in that way was no more healthy than actually working in the mine. So the family moved again--this time across the sea to Canada. They settled for a time with Gabriel's brother, Louis and his family in Saskatchewan. But Louis had a farm, and Gabriel wasn't interested in being a farmer, so the family soon moved to Winnapeg, where he could do his masonry again. When their children began to move out and marry, each couple traveled west, all but one generally settling in and around Vancouver BC. Gabriel and Selina followed them west to be near their children, and settled there, living there until their deaths. Hers in 1933, and his in 1934, almost ten years after their 50th anniversary.
This photo has given me a wealth of knowledge about this branch of the family. I used to go over it with my grandmother for hours, gaining so many stories about her cousins and aunts and uncles on this side of the family. If you have similar photos, and grandparents they're connected to still around, I highly recommend it. You never know what you might learn.
2 comments :
Mika, it is wonderful when generous people like you take on a huge project like this and maintain it too. Want you to know that lazy relatives like me appreciate it hugely. Was a glorious surprise today to see the link come up on Facebook. Thank you so much! I am Roselyn, Marjorie Jones' second daughter. Hope to visit Cousin David next month before his 80th birthday. XO
Roselyn, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm having great fun playing in our tree. So many stories to record. I'm not sure what I'll write next. The prompts are pretty general, but I hope to write up lots more about both sides of the Jones and Howells families. :)
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