I inherited from Gertie a pile of amazing vintage books that she collected at various stages in her life. In this post I will use her books to tell her story.
Gertie was born in Kingston Ontario on August 22nd 1899. I've written about her family before click here to read their story. This is the earliest picture of my grandmother.
Her mom looks not bad for a woman who just gave birth to her 9th child.
The Kingswells initially lived in an area of Kingston known as Portsmouth. The Kingston Penitentiary is located in the same part of town.
The Kingswells were staunch Anglicans and Gertie attended Sunday School at St. John's Church in Portsmouth. This is the earliest book in her collection, a hymn book.
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I don't know which primary school she attended but I found this picture in her collection. It was captioned Portsmouth 1910 on the back. Gertie is standing second from the left.
The next book in Gertie's collection was a gift from her mother to Gertie and her sister Chrissie. They were the youngest of the Kingswell brood and clearly in need of some guidance to become proper young ladies! (Chrissie on the left, Gertie on the right, age about 9 and 14)
The Kingswell family lived near Queens University and Gertie would have loved to have attended Queens. Her collection included this book which spoke to her love of music and desire to have a University education.
Unfortunately the cost of university tuition was above the means of a lower income family and it still wasn't the norm for women to seek higher education. Instead Gertie attended Kingston Business College and developed skills that led her to work as a stenographer.
Before meeting and marrying my grandfather Gertie had several beaux. She would often remark to the family that she could have married a doctor, no doubt after an argument with her husband! Some of her book collections had intriguing inscriptions.
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These mystery men can probably be seen in the many photos from Gertie's collection that remain unidentified.
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After marriage Gertie still took time out to read. This popular novel was in her collection.
| Gertie was a doting mother to her two boys. Both my dad and my uncle served overseas during World War Two. My dad sent this Bible home in 1944 and it had a special place in her collection. |
I don't remember seeing my grandmother with a book in her hand and there were no later books in her collection. However, I love this photo of Gertie and me taken on my 2nd birthday. I'm not sure what book she is reading to me, but I still have the second book in my own collection!
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My grandmother passed away in 1985. I have a special memory of calling her from England when I made my first trip there in 1982. I had visited the Isle of Wight and saw the church where her parents were married in 1883. It was exciting sharing some of my early genealogical discoveries with the person who started me off. She'd be impressed with what I've found since and I wish she was here to share my finds with.
