Aunt Maysie

Having very recently seen our niece, Gemma, though for too short, I realised that our decision to record family bits and pieces is really a good one, no matter how insignificant the information may seem to us!

Unfortunately, I didn’t meet Gem’s three year old daughter, Paige as I met up with Mark and Gem at Malcolm’s  the day before their return to England.  Unfortunately,  I also missed seeing her older sister, Claire, and her husband, Ron.

At one point, mummy’s sister, Louie Blencowe, was mentioned, and immediately Gem’s interest perked as she tried to figure out where Louie fit into the family.  This was the confirming moment that even tiny bits of information would one day be enjoyed!

I then also realised how little I know of our great aunts, so today I choose to write about Maysie Barbara Punnett, born in St Vincent in 1882, where she spent most of her very long life except for a few years living in the west of Canada, housekeeping for her eldest brother, Lewis Leslie Punnett (1874-1958).  Aunt Maysie was an unassuming woman of few words and probably very shy.   She never married but I remember hearing that she had been in love with someone who died before the romance blossomed into marriage!?  I am not sure if she lived with her brother, John and his wife, Lilias Fraser (1883-1970) before Lily's blindness from glaucoma, but after John’s death in 1950, she lived at Hope House with her and became her lifeline and housekeeper.  After Granny’s death, Maysie moved to Cane Grove House with Jack and Eithne Punnett until she died in 1979.  For several years before Lily’s death, their sister in law, Florence (also known as Pop), widow of Christopher Young Punnett, moved into Hope House until she emigrated to Toronto with her only son, Desmond, his wife Helen, and their two children, Mary and Winston. Christopher, popularly known as Kit died in 1942 at Pyreau House, a part of Cane Grove Estate.

Maysie was always at Granny Lil's side and she bravely put up with the visiting family members on a twice daily basis!  Lily' four sons, all living in "The Valley" usually gathered there for drinks before lunch, and again in the evenings for drinks before dinner!  Wives and children also!  I don’t know if she yearned for a life of her own?

Whist writing these lines, I am thinking of looking for more information on this lady.  If I find anything, I will add to this.  One story that was always told in our family was that she had declared that she was very glad she was a Punnett so that she would never find herself marrying one! 

That’s all for today, January 8, 2016.

brenda