Aunt Lillian's Narrative - Part 1

My brother George Hobson, Great-Grandson of Robert Hobson, handed our Aunt Lillian an exercise book one day and asked her to record what she knew of the family history. What follows is a word-for-word transcription of her narrative. Had she known that it would one day find a home on the 'web' I'm sure she would have worried herself sick with editing. We're indebted to her for all the time and effort she expended to help preserve our family's history.

Grandfather Robert Hobson was born in Ireland in 1815. He came to Canada with his family in 1818 at the age of three. They settled near where the city of London now stands. At that time there were only two citizens there. After ten years they returned to Ireland, but stayed there only one year. They realized that Canada was where they wanted to make their home. This time they decided to journey to Goderich. In 1828 a trail had been made through dense animal inhabited forest. On the seventy miles to Lake Huron there was not a settler. They slept on the ground on a bed of branches. They settled in Goderich, where Robert, now fourteen was the first white boy there.

In a few years they came back to where the city of Haysville now stands. In 1883 they sold the land they had cleared and built a hotel as the beginning of Haysville. They also cleared more land, 600 acres, and sold the farms, becoming he wealthiest men in the district. In 1849 they moved on to Hamboro, near Dundas. Here in 1852 Robert married at age thirty-seven a Miss Daily of Hamilton, who was eighteen. Their next move was to Brantford and after a while here, they settled near Woodstock. Later they moved on to Perth County. Here they prepared and completed a house and farm that were models for the country around. In 1887 they settled in Ellice Township. Here they resided until March 1909, when Stratford became their home. Robert died in his ninety-sixth year after a long illness. His father and grandfather had lived to practically the same age. Robert had been the first citizen in five or six different places. His death was the first break in the family.

Grandmother Hobson was born in Hamilton Ontario in 1835. According to what I have heard from different members of the family, both Grandma and Grandpa were very kind loving people. They worked in the communities in which they lived and were well liked. They were always willing to help anyone in need. They had thirteen children. When she died in 1926 she was ninety-one years old. Ten of her children survived her. Her children were as follows:

Ann Jane - she married and left home before some of the others were born. She lived in Philadelphia and had several children, but I know nothing more of her.

Emma - She married Mr. Tait and lived in Rochester, New York. She was very pretty and socially minded. She had no children.

Jessie - She married Mr. Mooney and also lived in Rochester, New York. She had no children. Both she and Emma were well off financially.

Minnie - She married Will Reid, was a nurse and lived in several different places, among them Glencoe, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta. She had no children.

Will - He married Kate Coston and lived in Woodstock, Ontario. They had no children.

Jack - He was unmarried, and a prospector and travelled all over. He went to Alaska, in the '98 Gold Rush.

George - He married Agnes Bell of Uxbridge, Ontario. He came to Vancouver around 1888. Mother came out in 1890 and they were married in Banff. They had five children.

Bob - He was unmarried and lived at home. He worked in a furniture factory.

Nettie - She was unmarried, lived at home and kept house for the rest of them.

Beckie - She was unmarried and lived at home. She worked in a lawyer's office.

Lizzie - She married Lee Diggon and lived in Glencoe. Her husband was a wireless operator for the railway. They had two children, Lee and Minnie. He shot himself. Nobody knew why.

Louise - She was not married. She lived at home and was not very bright.

Lee - He married Lulu Lee of Edmonton. They lived in Edmonton, Winnipeg and later Stratford. He had two daughters. He was a barber and drank a lot.

Part Two

Jud, Gilbert and myself never saw our grandparents on either our father's or our mother's side. We never met the few cousins we had. We saw Uncle Deed, Emma's husband when I was four years old. I remember when he visited, it was my birthday. I stood on a chair and recited:

I'm very little to be sure
But then I'm only four.
Some day I will be older,
And know a great deal more.

Uncle Deed had a cousin living in Vancouver who built one of the first apartments in the city, "The Manhattan", at the corner of Robson and Burrard. I believe that they now are thinking of keeping it as an historic site. Uncle Deed and Aunt Emma used to send us cards and presents.

Uncle Will, we never met, but knew a great deal about him. He was a very interesting and a smart man. He lived a couple of years with Mother and Dad, when they were first married. He came west before the C.P.R. was through to Vancouver. He came by train through the States and spent some time wandering through New Mexico, Arizona and California, part of the time mining for gold. He also travelled through the northern wilds of British Columbia. He lived several years in Vancouver, did considerable work as a contractor, including the building of the first road around Stanley Park, which followed an old Indian Trail. He also worked on one of the main streets of Vancouver. He and our father later were also in the Boot & Shoe business for a while. But the urge came over him to go back to Woodstock. There he started a shoe business which he carried on until he retired. He married Kate Caston who was a neighbour that he had known for a long while. He took an active part in community affairs and served as alderman and mayor for several years. He was the first to have an automobile in Woodstock.

He knew the birds and the secrets of their lives. He had a great love of nature and was at home in the woods. He had by heart the bird songs and calls and could imitate them all. He knew all wild flowers and loved all wild nature. He was in constant demand for bird lectures. His poems appeared in "Rod & Gun" and other magazines, under the name of Bill Riverside. He was a valued counselor who gave liberally of his advice to Wild Life of Canada. He was a well known authority on bird and plant life.

I'm not quite sure when he died. It was not long after our father did. Shortly after his death his wife, Aunt Kate, came out to visit us. She had a sister living here. That was the only time we saw her. When Stuart and I were East, we looked up their old home, which was very nice.

Jack Hobson was also worthy of mention. Gilbert, Jud and I knew him well. He spent a lot of time at our home. He was a prospector and travelled from one gold field to another. I believe the first time was to Alaska in the '98 Gold Rush. Some of the others I remember were California, Cobalt, and The Pas. He used to tell us fantastic stories. He was really smart in his own way, made toys for us, took us to circuses and other places. The first time I was ever to the Orpheum was with him. I still remember some of the Acts. He read to us, especially poetry. His favorite poets were Robert Service and Robert Burns. He had met Robert Service in Alaska. He brought us souvenirs of Alaska, such as gold nuggets, fox furs for Mother and marten furs for me. He also gave me a gold ring with "Yukon" inscribed on it in raised gold. Mother received a beautiful bracelet, made of nuggets with a little washing pan in it. Isobel has it now. I still have the ring.

He ended up in Princeton, where he and his partner had really seemed to have struck something good. They were negotiating with some New York people when he died. I never did hear what came of it. Jud always said he had been embezzled out of his share, which I think perhaps is true.

Aunt Beckie also stands out in my mind. I wrote to her from the time I was a little girl. My father said I looked like her. She always wanted him to bring me back for a visit. I still have a copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses" which she sent me when I was seven years old. Once she was about to be married, when she found that the man was already married. The rest of her life she worked. I believe she did have a job for a short time in Rochester, where Emma and Jessie lived, but not for long. Most of her life was spent working in a lawyer's office in Stratford. She was the last of the family to survive. Emma, Jessie, Nettie, Louise and Lee all died at home, also Bob.

On our first trip East, Stuart and I visited her and I saw her for the first time. She was alone then. Shortly after that she took a stroke and entered a nursing home. The morning before we left for our second trip East, we received a telegram saying she had died. We visited the Nursing Home, shortly after her funeral, and learned that she was a rich woman, whose eyes sparkled right up to the last at the mention of stocks and bonds. I had never known she had anything other than her house. When we visited her in Stratford it looked as though she didn't even have enough to eat in the house. Poor Beckie! It was in 1963 that she died.

Part 3 - George and Agnes Hobson

George Hobson, our father, was born in County Downey, near Stratford in 1861. He was a kind, gentle man, who would have liked to have been able to study medicine, but couldn't. He belonged to the Masons where he held one of the high positions. He worked in the Church, where he had a club, consisting of a group of young men.

Before coming west, he spent some time in Uxbridge, a Contractor, building houses. While there he met Agnes Bell whom he married when she was twenty. He came to Vancouver in 1888. In 1890 Agnes came out. The Railway had just reached Vancouver three years before. She met George at Banff, where they were married. The service was conducted in the Church there by Charles Gordon, a cousin of father's, who was a popular author at that time, writing under the name of Ralph Connor.

In Vancouver they lived first on Princess Street and later on Barnard Street, now Union Street, both two or three blocks east of Westminster Avenue, which is now Main Street. Will was then in Vancouver and he and father were first in Contracting and later in the Boot and Shoe business. After a while Will longed for the East again and finally went back and settled in Woodstock, where he spent the rest of his life.

Our father was interested in the community and civic affairs and was an alderman for a while. He was in the Retail Grocery business for fifteen years, being the Director of their Association for some time. He was first located on Westminster Avenue, between Hastings and Powell, and later on Hastings Street about a block and a half west of Westminster Avenue. He was close to Woodward's store and two of the early movie houses, "The Star" and "The Majestic", were nearby. After fifteen years he sold out and went into the Wholesale Fruit business at one forty-eight Water Street. After eight years here he was forced to retire due to ill health. He went into St. Paul's Hospital in 1920, was there well over a year, then came home and spent the rest of his life in bed. He died July 23, 1923.

George and Agnes had five children: Willie, born 1891 and died when five years old. Gordon, died when he was fourteen months old. John Gilbert, born 1897 April 1st and died January 31, 1962, Lillian Belle born 1899, December 6th, George Wilson born 1903 (sic, actually 1902) September 14th, died April 27, (probably 26th) 1981.

Father was well liked by all and had scores of friends. During our youth we always had many visitors, many of them from the East, at our home. All of our friends were always welcome too. During his long illness, most of it spent in bed, men from all walks of life visited him frequently. He loved his family, was very generous and helpful always. Both he and mother always wanted us to have good educations.

Our Mother, Agnes Sophia Hobson, was born Agnes Sophia Hall in 1870 (February 5). Her mother, Martha Brown, was married to Joseph Hall in England. They had four children, Horace, Herbert, Arthur and Agnes, all born in Whitwell County, Norfolk. They came to Canada when Agnes was two. Martha died soon after and Agnes was adopted by Euphemia and Samuel Bell of Uxbridge, Ontario. Joseph Hall kept the boys. He was married twice later and had two daughters, but Mother didn't remember much about them. He was still living near Uxbridge when she left to come west. Horace always kept in touch with Mother, and fequently sent her presents. She never saw him after she left. All of her brothers married and lived into their nineties. Arthur's son married Daisy, the sister of Pearl Blackhall who lives in North Vancouver. Daisy lives in New Market, Ontario. She sent Mother several pictures of the three old gentlemen, taken at her place. Daisy has thireen children all living around there. I have met Daisy and several of her children. Stuart and I visited her while in the East. George (Josh) (i.e. George Shannon Hobson) has met two of her family, at Pearl's - Arthur and Elde. They are a wonderful family. Daisy's husband Fred died two or three years ago. He had been very crippled with arthritis for many years.

Mother had many girl friends in Uxbridge. Through the years several of them kept up a correspondence with her until their deaths. One especially visited us in Vancouver many times. She was a very snappy rich widow. Mother seemed to be very popular with the men also, but when she met our father, there never was any doubt of what she wanted. He was nine years older than she was. A while after my father died, one of her old boyfriends wrote to her from Florida, where he lived, wanting her to come down, but there still would never be any one but our father.

I think that it must have taken a great deal of courage to start out all alone on that long trip west. The railway had only arrived at Vancouver three years before. She really missed the East and her family so much that after two or three years Dad suggested she go back for a visit and if she really wanted to return East they would. However the trip satisfied her and she came back satisfied to live here. She never visited the East again. Her Mother died in 1904 and her father in 1908. Dad went back several times to see his family.

The first time Stuart and I went East in 1959, we visited Uxbridge, found her old home still there, took pictures of many things of which she had spoken. We found one old timer she and Dad had known. We didn't have enough time, so we went back again in 1963 and spent more time exploring Uxbridge and the places around. We found only two men were left who had known Mother and Father. They were in their nineties, quite active and when we met them they had just finished playing a game of golf. We visited one of their homes. He spoke lovingly of Agnes. His sister had been one of her good friends. He had a beautiful old piano, made especially for him in the Piano Factory in Uxbridge. It was similar to the one Mother had brought west with her. Hanging on the wall above it was a lovely big picture of the old Church Choir, with Mother in the front row. We certainly had a lot to tell her when we returned. One of the old gentlemen wrote to her a couple of times, but they both died not long afterwards.

All my girlfriends liked Mother and spent lots of time around our place. They would often visit her when I was away. Stuart was always exceedingly good to her. I hadn't known him too long when I went to spend the Summer at Great Central Lake on Vancouver Island. He tried to be there when she needed him. Sometimes he went to Church with her, took her to Band Concerts and did quite a lot around the place like painting etc. I don't know how he found the time. Steppy and I had a really good time at the Lake. We had a canoe and her boyfriend had given her a car. The year before we married I spent the summer at Oyama in the Okanagan. Stuart also did all he could for Mother then.