Person:Esther Brown (1)

Esther was only ten when her mother died in Weston near Runcorn, England in 1871. Her father was an in-pensioner which meant that he suffered some disabilty in the military but he also worked as a labourer in a quarry. It is hard to say whether Hannah and her three younger siblings were sent to stay with various relatives at the time of Hannah's death, but by 1881 the father was an in-pensioner at the Chelsea Hospital in London, her brother, William, was staying with Esther, Alfred was staying with his uncle, James Brown, and her sister, who was less than two years old when the mother died, was staying with her aunt, Elizabeth Duckworth in 1881.

Esther married John Davies, a widower aged forty-three, when she was just seventeen years old on 16 Feb 1879 in Everton, Lancaster, England. John had fourteen children by his first wife, Margaret, and at the time of the 1881 Census in Runcorn five of John's children from his previous marriage were still at home. She went on to have eleven children of her own although five did not survive past early childhood. She lost her two youngest children in October 1899 within 9 days of each other.

Esther and her children emigrated to Canada in 1905 after she was widowed in 1903. The family first settled in Toronto, then the family came west to Edmonton in 1911. She moved to Victoria about 1934 with Bill and Lucy Davies. She resided with them at 1737 Oak Bay Avenue until she was admitted to St. Mary's Priory in Colwood shortly before her death. Esther was 91 years, 1 month and 29 days old when she passed away on the second of November, 1952. She was buried 5 Nov 1952 in Royal Oak Burial Park, Victoria, BC, Canada.

The registration of death for Esther Davies (Nana) was filled out by her son, W. Davies. The names of her parents were listed as unknown. How strange that W. Davies didn't know the names of his grandparents, especially since his mother was over 91 years old when she died.

The death registration has her name as Sarah Esther Letitia Davies and her birth is registered as Sarah also. The marriage has Esther Letitia Brown and as far as I know, she was always known as Esther.