Who Shares Your Birthday – August

Yes, I know it’s September – I did put together this post to be published in August but actually forgot to hit the “Publish” button so you may be in for two posts in September for “Who Shares Your Birthday”. In the meantime, let’s look back at August.

Back to our monthly “Who Shares Your Birthday” installment. I really do enjoy doing these however it’s sometimes hard to find someone in our family that’s not too far down the line that we might be interested in getting to know. Thankfully, I was able to not go too far, and this fellow is very interesting, at least in my eyes!

So, to begin with, “Happy belated Birthday” to Maielle (Aug. 21) and Elijah (Aug. 23)!

Now, let’s see who shares your birthday. Henry Clarendon Briggs, also known as “Harry”, born August 27, 1877, in Victoria, BC. Harry is the second child and second son of Thomas Lasher Briggs and Mary Irving, and older brother of Thomas Albert Briggs (my great grandfather) which makes him my great granduncle.

^{ca 1884 (7 yo) With brother William, ca 1880}

Harry lived with his family at Irving House, 302 Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BC until approximately 1904, as noted in Canada Census records for 1881, 1891 & 1901.

According to this newspaper article, on September 7, 1904, he married Jean (“Jeannie”) Craig McAlpine.

^{Newspapers.com; Victorian Times, September 8, 1904, pg 5}

I have found another article dated September 11, 1904, noting they had married the day before. So far, I have not found marriage registrations to confirm the actual date of marriage.

In a newspaper article from Newspapers.com, The Province dated May 23, 1905, it looks like Harry and his wife were living in Revelstoke. I have been unable to locate any records confirming this information other than this article.

Interesting to note, Harry’s cousin Albert T. Briggs (son of Albert James Briggs) is listed in the 1908 Victoria City Directory as a clerk at R.P. Rithet & Company (his uncle Albert is listed as well as working at Lands & Works Dept.). Could be a good assumption that Harry moved to Victoria for a job sometime between 1905 and 1909, where he is listed in the 1909 Victoria City Directory as a manager at R.P. Rithet & Company.

Harry and Jeannie lived in Victoria up until October 1925. This information was found in another newspaper article. During this time, Harry’s main occupation was in sales. From 1911 to 1915, his occupation is listed as “Harvey & Briggs”. Harvey & Briggs were listed as liquor distributors for Vancouver Island. After that, Harry was a life insurance agent for a couple of different companies.

Through Newspapers.com, I was able to obtain several newspaper articles which showed how involved both Harry and his wife, Jeannie, with music with both noted as singers in the church choir. More notably, Jeannie, was a well-known soprano singer often attending garden parties, lunches and most interestingly enough, the Lieutenant Governor’s residence as a guest and performing for the guests on several occasions.

Below is an article from December 31, 1920, having a picture of Mrs. Harry Briggs, one of two pictures I’ve been able to locate, which shows her popularity as a singer:

^{The Victoria Daily Times · Fri, Dec 31, 1920 · Page 6}

So far, I have found nothing to indicate that Harry had any children with Jeannie or anyone else. The couple seemed to love entertaining, especially so for Jeannie, as there were several articles which show they were hosting guests at their home for lunches, teas and dinners.

^{The Province · Mon, Jul 11, 1927 · Page 8}

Some of Harry’s residences gleaned from Victoria City Directories 1909 to 1925 are listed as:

625 Niagara Street, Victoria (1909 – 1912)
1509 Gladstone Avenue, Victoria (Oak Bay) (1913 – 1914)
1513 North Hampshire, Victoria (1915 – 1925)

In 1926, Harry (and Jeannie) is listed in the Vancouver City Directory living at #202 – 1531 Davie Street. This building was once known as Gabriola Mansion, which holds a very interesting history. Originally built in 1900 – 1901 for industrialist Benjamin T. Rogers (founder of B.C. Sugar and its refinery). After his death in 1918, his widow sold the property. In 1925, Gabriola House became a 20-unit apartment building known as the Angus Apartments. Over the years, the building has housed many people and restaurants, and has been empty since the mid-2000s. It is known one of the most haunted places in Vancouver. The building is a Vancouver Heritage site which is currently being restored into apartments once again, and townhomes built adjacent to the original building. It is known one of the most haunted places in Vancouver.

Sometime between 1932 & 1933, Harry and Jeannie moved to 1386 Nicola Street, Vancouver, up until 1941, when they moved back to the Victoria area (#6 – 1370 Beach Dr., Victoria – Dorchester Apartments).

For much of his life, Harry was a salesman with some directories noting his occupation as a stockbroker later in his life, and up until his death in 1946. Interesting to note, his death is recorded as June 1, 1946, however, he was listed in the 1947 Victoria City Directory. I guess they put it all together before his death or it’s an oops!

Harry passed away June 1, 1946, from carcinoma of the bladder (bladder cancer), as indicated on the Registration of Death.

It seems Harry and his wife, Jeannie, were the “talk of the town” in society circles and society newspaper articles in Victoria, Vancouver and New Westminster noting over 200+ articles I have found showing their travel plans, tea parties, dinners, concerts, etc. – too many to show here!

Very handsome man indeed! I hope you have gotten a little glimpse into the life of Henry “Harry” Clarendon Briggs. There is much more to his story than shown here – maybe something for future posts.

60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

On July 31, 2022July 30, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Briggs, Grant Briggs, Irving House, July 2022Leave a comment

I’m back and hopefully will be for a long time to come. Yes, I have been away for awhile taking care of some medical issues and all is good now! This seemed like a good time to make my return to the We Are Family Briggs blog.

This time last week Sunday, the Briggs family reunited on the lawns of Irving House in New Westminster, BC, to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of my parents, Grant & Jeannette Briggs. Some family members were not able to make it which we certainly missed (my youngest brother and his family, some cousins and a couple of my mother’s brothers).

Grant & Jeannette married on June 30, 1962, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Maillardville. They started their life together in New Westminster moving to Port Coquitlam in 1971. They lived there until the early 80’s moving to Langley. In 2004, they made the big move to the little town of 100 Mile House and live there today.

They have three children, Veronica (me, born in 1962), Ronald (1964; wife Kim) and Shawn (1969; wife Michelle). As well, my father has a daughter, Cris (1959; husband Gary).

They have also been blessed with 9 grandchildren (Justin, Nichelle (Braydon), Amanda (Jack), Taylor, Jeremy, Cole, Dale, Maielle & Shia) and 4 great-grandchildren (Elijah, Levi, Elodie & Blake). Sadly, two great-grandchildren, Elliott & Ezra have passed.

In New Westminster, the Briggs family has a family home, Irving House. This home is now a heritage site, and is part of New Westminster’s and our history. We decided to have a picnic on the lawns of the home as our ancestors may have done in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. I won’t go on about the history of Irving House – that’s for another post!

The New West Record (local newspaper) was invited to join us and put together a wonderful article and video which I invite you all to view – they did a wonderful job and we are very thankful.

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-news/new-wests-irving-house-is-this-familys-ancestral-home-5630866?fbclid=IwAR2JCZGZCr3F9WN7JsJH0kEPCCP0-dYlA1M5KyztFmSdBm-kuK7end2QxkM

Also attending was New West City Councillor Jaimie McEvoy who made a presentation on behalf of the City to Mom & Dad for their 60th – a job well done!

A good time was had by all! I have to say a special thank you to the Heritage Program of New Westminster in helping me to set all this up, to the volunteers and staff at Irving House for their time and patience, and most of all to all the family who attended and made my parents’ celebration all that more special! They were very happy to see everyone.

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad with many more to come!

Who Shares Your Anniversary?

On March 19, 2022March 20, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Briggs, Irene Matthew, Mar 2022, Matthew, Stanley Briggs5 Comments

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted but I’m hoping to get back to trying to post at least twice a month.

This month, instead of the normal “Who Shares Your Birthday” post (and, yes, I know I missed last month!), I thought we’d try a little something different as there is an important anniversary to celebrate during the month of March – one that is important to our family.

Let’s start with acknowledging the birthdays we missed from February – happy birthdays to my Dad (Grant) who celebrated his 82^nd, and to Bradley. In March, we have several birthdays. Firstly, my son, Dale, then we have Blake, Amber, Lynda and last, but certainly not least, my Aunt Ev!

Now onto the celebration of the month – the anniversary of my grandparents’ wedding – Stanley and Irene Briggs, married March 19, 1938. Today would have been their 84^th wedding anniversary. I’d thought we could look at that little journey – it leads us to the base of our large family tree.

No one can know when or how they met those many years’ ago – one can only speculate. However, if someone in our family has a story to tell, we would certainly love to hear it!

The one thing that I have learned from the couple of courses I have taken in genealogy is that knowing a date or having a story does not clearly mark that day in history – having the documentation to prove it, can make a clearer picture, especially if you have pictures!

This leads me to my first piece of evidence – the engagement announcement. This announcement was in The Province newspaper dated 15 Mar 1938 (found on Newspapers.com):

Wow! I was so excited when I found this little gem as it had so much information in it – Stan & Irene’s story was starting to form. Even though we know their life together started well before that announcement, we at least have this to know their life story was beginning.

Well, little did I know that this story was going to become even better with the next item I found – the wedding announcement which was in The Vancouver Sun dated 31 Mar 1938 (found in Newspapers.com):

There is so much detail in this article that I was giddy and nearly fell off my chair! As I’m typing this, I’m a little teary thinking of how they must have felt on their wedding day. The reporter was very explicit in the details especially so with Irene’s wedding dress. Just trying to picture it was wonderful – what is even more wonderful is seeing the actual picture – sigh…..

The details are wonderful and I’m so happy to have found this! Let’s go over some of the information:

A.H.P. Matthew’s home is at 1313 Seventh Avenue, New Westminster.
Married in the evening
It shows Grandma’s full name of Irene Stella Hartford.
Grandpa’s father was T.A. Briggs (Thomas Albert)
Rev. Sharkey performed the ceremony
Miss Lillian Lueken – daughter of Charlotte (“Lottie”) Matthew (Grandma’s sister) and Henry Lueken, therefore Grandma’s niece.
W. H. Matthew is William Henry (“Harry”) Matthew – Grandma’s brother could sing!
A gorgeous description of Grandma’s wedding dress!
Best Man and Maid of Honour are husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Fletcher. Their full names we will learn of later.
Mrs. L.D. Craig is Francis (“Frankie”) Matthew (married to Lockart Dolson Craig), Grandma’s sister.
Miss Aileen Matthew is Beatrice or “Aunt Lena”, another sister of Grandma.
A description of the dress Mrs. Briggs wore – wife of T.A. Briggs – Effie.
Hostess aides were:
- Mrs. W.H. Matthew – Daisy (Grandma’s sister-in-law)
- Mrs. H.G. Champion – Laura (Grandma’s sister)
- Miss Beatrice Beagle – Grandma’s niece, daughter of Fred & Alberta (“May”) (Grandmas’ sister).
- Bernice Matthew – Grandma’s niece, daughter of William & Daisy Matthew.
Description of the wedding cake.
Description of what Grandma changed into when leaving for the honeymoon.
Their residence/home upon returning from the honeymoon – 1716 London Street, New Westminster.

Well, with this article, I feel like I was at the wedding! You can certainly see it was a family affair. Knowing Grandpa was an only child, I’m sure there was family there other than his parents – some aunts and uncles. It would sure be nice to know the guest list!

Well, the next best thing is a picture of the wedding couple! I thought I might try a little something that I have found through an ancestry program, My Heritage. They have tools where you can clean up the picture and even add some colour to see what it may have looked like on that day. They also have an animation feature which I found a little freaky. Anyways, here are the results side by side for you:

Whew, I tell you, what a beautiful couple. Grandpa looks so proud and Grandma – well, what can I say, she’s just so beautiful! The article certainly described her wedding dress to perfection. I am so grateful to have found it.

We’re not finished, I have one more piece to this story – the Certificate of Registration of Marriage:

There is so much information in this one document to the genealogist’s eye that I was…..well there are no words. Let’s go over some further items we have gleaned from this document:

Grandpa’s occupation – Tin Smith
Shows Grandma as divorced – something that I knew of but have now confirmed.
Both of their home addresses at the time of the marriage.
Full names and birth places of both of their parents.
Grandma and Grandpa’s signatures.
The full names of the best man and maid of honour – Robert Leonard and Florence Allen Fletcher of 4224 Bond St., Burnaby. Not sure who these people are but seem to be good friends of Grandma and Grandpa as I haven’t found evidence that they were family.
Name and address of the Reverend.

I think that about sums up the story of my grandparents wedding day. I certainly felt like I could have been there having the wonderful article of their wedding day.

To finish off our story, I have one final picture of the wedding party: Stanley & Irene Briggs, Robert & Florence Fletcher.

I hope I have given you a glimpse into the day my grandparents were married. If you have any other stories from this day, I would love for you to share them.

Happy anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!

Take care, everyone!

Sandy Mykyte

On February 13, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Feb 2022, Sandy MurrayLeave a comment

Whew – finally got the video done! It’s been a long process – life, in general, always seems to get in the way.

Sandra Jean Mykyte (nee Murray) is my cousin. Her mother, Evelyn, is my father’s sister. Sandy is the oldest child of Evelyn and Don. She is not the oldest of all the cousins, that would be my sister, Cris.

I’ve been unable to interview Cris in person but hoping to do that soon. Yes, we could do it with a video chat but it’s just not the same. Hoping by this summer, we should be able to get together.

Anyways, back to Sandy. There are a couple of items I wanted to mention about the interview. We did the interview at Sandy’s home. You notice in the background a couple of items. The first is the beautiful piano. This piano belonged to my grandmother, Irene Briggs. I inherited it from my father who inherited it when she passed in 1995. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the room to have it in my apartment, so Sandy has kindly taken possession until I’m able to. She’s put a lot of money into moving and tuning it and I’m very thankful for what she has done. I certainly do miss having it at my fingertips! Sandy has tried to get me to play but it’s been many years since I’ve tickled the ivories so want to get some practicing in first!

The second is located on the lid of the piano keys – the “Briggs Family” tree. This is a hand-made item made by my uncle, Dave Layton (Evelyn’s husband). He has a wonderful talent and I’m so blessed that he has gifted me with this. I’m hoping to have this made into the We Are Family Briggs logo for the blogsite, just need to find someone to do it.

On to the interview! Sandy is a kindred spirit. Her and I are very much alike in our lives, and we get along fabulously. We’ve even lived together for a short period of time – that can certainly test relationships! She is a very busy lady and I’m so gratefully she took the time to chat with me. Take note, the interview is just over 30 minutes, however, our visit was much longer! That always seems to happen when we get together. When we did the pre-interview which should last about an hour, I ended up staying for dinner and it became a 7-hour visit – love it!

Please enjoy the interview and getting to know Sandy just a little bit more – she has a beautiful loving and giving soul. I’m blessed to have her as my cousin and kindred spirit.

Take care everyone, Vicky

Video Interview Alert!

On February 5, 2022February 5, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Briggs, Feb 2022, Sandy Murray2 Comments

It’s been quiet on the blog this past month or so. There’s a reason for that – I’ve been taking the course I had mentioned in a previous post. It’s a beginners course for genealogy. Well, I’ve learned a lot!! I’ve met some interesting people and have been bitten by the genealogy bug! I’ve also figured out that even though I am a very organized person, there’s still some organizing to do.

Along with doing the course, I’ve also been accumulating some books on genealogy. One of the books I’m currently reading has a pretty simple title, “Genealogy” by George G. Morgan. I’ve only read a couple of chapters but have gleaned an interesting tidbit that made things clearer for me:

Family history is the study of a family’s history and traditions over an extended period of time and may involve documenting some or all of the facts. A family historian may seek to trace and document specific family members or a branch of the family, and to perhaps write a family history.
Genealogy is the scholarly study of a family’s line of descent from its ancestors, during which one develops an understanding of the family’s historical context and documents its history and traditions. A genealogist, on the other hand, typically has a much broader view of the family. He/she trances an entire or extended family structure and actively seeks documentary evidence of many types to prove & verify facts about the family.

I am really interested and eager to learn as much as possible about our families and our ancestors so I combine both genealogy and family history research. By using this approach, it will provide us with detailed biographical information to actually bring their lives into focus.

So, as you can see, I believe I’m on the right path for this blog, our family’s history and my continued learning and tracing of our family.

Now, we get to see another video interview of a family member – my cousin, Sandy! It’s been a long process to get this one going as we both have been busy in our lives. We had a little chat a couple of weeks’ ago which turned into a long visit and a wonderful dinner. We always have a great time when we get together and go on so many different paths in our discussions and memories.

We’ll be getting together tomorrow to do the interview so should be able to get it posted on the blog in about a week.

As the weather is getting better (hopefully) and the roads to the interior are getting repaired (thankful!), I should be able to get my Dad, Aunt Ev and Uncle Rich together to do their interview. I have some interesting questions and am looking forward to their reactions, interactions and just plain ole’ actions, which is always interesting.

In the meantime, look for Sandy’s interview coming up, and for me to get in touch with some more family members to get them ready for their interviews (Lynda!).

Here’s a picture of me (in the back) and my cousins, Lynda (left), Donna (front) and Sandy (right). We’re having dinner (possibly Christmas 1970) with the family at our home on Henley Street, New Westminster.

Next week, I’ll post the picture again – see if you notice the difference! Until then – stay safe and remember, we may not be close but will always be family.

Take care, Vicky

What’s In A Name?

On January 11, 2022January 11, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Briggs, Jan 20225 Comments

Happy January! In my part of the world, we have experienced a lot of snow, a lot of cold and now a lot of rain – it is regular January weather! I hope you’re staying warm and dry enjoying the real winter we seem to be experiencing.

If you’re looking for our regular “Who Shares Your Birthday” post, there will not be one this month – I’m sorry. I have not been able to find someone of interest in the family trees to do a story on that has a birthday in January. Hopefully, throughout 2022, we can find someone.

That does not mean we cannot wish those in our family that have birthdays this month. Happy birthday to my niece Nichelle (5th), my nephew Taylor (today!), my great-nephew Levi (13th), my cousin, Mike (27th) and my sister Cris (29th). Whew, there are a lot of birthdays in January! I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find a relative of interest to write about but keep your fingers crossed for next year!

So, instead of our regular monthly birthday instalment, I thought I would give a little insight into the Briggs family name; it’s origin and meaning.

Briggs – what does it mean? Where does it come from? Where do I come from? Well, those are real life questions; they are the life questions that are much easier to answer than, “What is the meaning of life?”.

I did a DNA test through Ancestry.ca. It revealed the following:

If you think the origin of the Briggs surname comes from England, you would be wrong! The earliest variant of the Briggs surname originates from Norway. As you can see from my DNA results, I do have 4% Norwegian DNA. Likely, if I was able to research that far back (still trying!!) we will find a Briggs line that would originate from Norway. History shows, there has been many instances of migrations from the Scandinavian sub-region of Northern Europe (includes Norway, Denmark and Sweden) into Great Britain as early as the 9^th century.

When it comes to my family tree, my father’s side of the family mostly came from England. This includes the Briggs, Matthew, Hartford and Press tree branches. My mother’s side comes mostly from France and some from England. This is the reason for the high percentage coming from England as there are more lines from there.

The Briggs surname originates from Norway with instances occurring in England and Scotland. It is one form of the surname Bridges. Other surname forms are Brydges, Brigge, Bryggja, Brycg along with several other different spellings of Briggs. The surname Briggs is classified as a Northern English surname found mainly in West Yorkshire.

Briggs can have one of two meanings:

“Dweller By the Bridge”, live by or near a bridge (topographical)
“Bridge Keeper”; building and maintaining bridges, protector (occupational)

A “topographical” surname is given to those who live on or near a certain man-made or natural phenomenon that was found in the land. In this case, the topographical location was that of a bridge.

This surname of Briggs in the topographical and occupational sense was used for someone who lived near a bridge, or someone who was a bridge keeper; building and maintaining bridges. In the Middle Ages, maintaining a bridge was one of the three main feudal obligations.

This history of the Briggs name can be found as far back as 1205. This person’s name was recorded as “William de Bruges”. The name was mentioned in a document referred to as the Curia Regis Rolls of Oxfordshire, a document which was ordered, decreed and written under the reign of King John of England who ruled from 1199 to 1216.

Another instance of a recording of a variant of the surname Briggs is that of Gilbert atte Brigge, recorded in the 1272 Pipe Rolls of Surrey.

A famous Briggs found in England was one Henry Briggs (1561-1630), who was a Professor of Astronomy, and published many of the early books of astral navigation. Not sure if he’s part of our family line but a important name in history books.

There are also instances of the Briggs name in Scotland that can be found in the county of Aberdeenshire and were referred to as the bricklayers. So far, there has been no connection of Briggs ancestors in Scotland, only that of the Irving line.

I hope this has given you an insight into the Briggs name. If you anything to add to this, please feel free to post a comment – I really enjoy reading them!!

Happy New Year!

On January 1, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn Uncategorized3 Comments

We enter the year 2022 and hope it will be a great year. The last couple of years have been difficult for everyone around the world with the emergence of COVID-19. Wherever you are in the world, let’s hope this year will be a year of understanding and healing.

With that in mind, the We Are Family Briggs blog has been quiet for the past month as I have been in a period of trying to find a purpose for this blog. I really enjoy doing the blog and researching family history, however, have hit a brick wall so to speak in trying to put all that information together and finding the best way to share it with everyone.

So, I’ve decided to do a beginner’s course in genealogy to find out if I’m on the right path and how the best way to continue with it! I’m starting that course on Jan. 4th and hope it’ll guide me on where to go next.

The video interviews have been at a standstill as it has been difficult to get together with family due to the holiday season, health issues, etc. I’m still working on them and will hopefully have a new one soon!

In the meantime, I will do some more research, do a little studying and see where that takes me. Look for a post coming soon for our next instalment of “Who Shares Your Birthday”.

All the best to everyone in the New Year of 2022 – I hope it will be a wonderful year for all my family.

Take care, Vicky

Who Shares Your Birthday?

On December 5, 2021October 10, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn 2021, Dec 2021, Irving, Mary IrvingLeave a comment

It’s December!! While it may be the month where Christmas is celebrated, it is also a month where we have some birthdays to celebrate.

So, to begin with, “Happy Birthday” to Tyler – the one and only birthday in December (that I can find so far)!

Now, let’s see who shares a December birthday. This is an extra special one as her birthday falls on Christmas day! Let me introduce you to Mary Irving Briggs.

Mary was born December 25, 1852, to Capt William James Irving and Elizabeth Jane Dixon. At the time of her birth, the Irving family was living on the east side of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

In 1859, the Irving family, consisting of William, Elizabeth and four children (Mary, John, Susan and Lizzie), moved to Victoria, BC. In the early 1860s, William began work on a home in New Westminster, BC, which is now known as Irving House. In early 1965, the family loaded all their possessions onto one of Capt Irving’s vessels, the Onward, and steamed from Victoria to New Westminster.

During Mary’s early years in New Westminster, she attended St. Ann’s Academy, a Catholic girls’ school, along with her sister, Susan. An interesting fact here is that even though the Irvings were staunch supporters of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, St. Ann’s was highly regarded and the only ‘private’ school in the area.

Mary & Susan, ca 1872; Mary Irving – 1865, 1867 & 1868

As soon as Mary was old enough, both her and her sister, Susan, were sent to St. Helen’s Hall in Portland for their schooling (now called the Oregon Episcopal School). Further education was done at the Home Institute in San Francisco, again with Susan and with her brother, John.

At 20 years of age, Mary’s father, William, passed away suddenly in August 1872. The Irvings continued to live in their New Westminster home while Elizabeth raised the children over the next 13 years.

And herein lies my connection to the Irving branch of the Briggs family. In 1874, Mary Irving married Thomas Lasher Briggs on December 30^th, just five days after her 22^nd birthday. They were married by Reverend Robert Jamieson at Old St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in New Westminster.

After their marriage, Mary and Thomas moved to Victoria, where Thomas operated a wholesale hardware store. During the next five years, the Briggs family grew with the births of their first three children: William Irving, Henry Clarendon and John Alfred.

In the early 1880s, the Briggs family of five, moved back to New Westminster, to Mary’s girlhood home (Irving House) which they had purchased at a public auction held by her brother, John, on October 3, 1884. During their residence, they called their home, “Hollymount”.

The Briggs family grew further with the births of six more children: Beryl Dixon, Thomas Albert (my great-grandfather), Naomi Spencer, Stanley Kingston, Manuella Octavia and Errol Chandler.

In the book, “Irving House: A Family History”, authored by Archie Miller (previous curator of Irving House), he writes:

“Mary and Thomas Briggs were prominent figures in New Westminster society, and after Thomas’ death on November 27, 1920, Mary remained active in the community. She was a member of the Governor Seymour Chapter Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), the Women’s Missionary Society of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, and the Red Cross Society. She was one of the first directors on the board of the Young Women’s Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.) and was also active in the Women’s Auxiliary of the Royal Columbian Hospital and the Victorian Order of Nurses. She remained a vital force in New Westminster until her death on November 25, 1931 at the age of 78.”

As you can see, Mary was and remained very active in New Westminster society and history much so after her husband’s death. She remained in their family home until her death.

I have to say, I had a difficult time trying to put together Mary’s story. I spent over three weeks thinking about her and wondering how to put her story into words for the Blog. I had a very strong urge to open my laptop on November 25^th, after a very long day at work, and the words just flowed. At that time, I did not know she had passed away on that day until I finished putting it all together in under an hour. I guess you can say, something was in the air which prompted her story.

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Mary, my paternal great-great-grandmother. She seemed like a strong woman with a very giving soul.

We Are Family Briggs – Update

On November 28, 2021December 1, 2021 By Vicky BriggsIn Nov 20215 Comments

Well, the month of November is almost over. To say the least, it has been a very eventful month in my hometown of Abbotsford, BC. While a large portion of our city is under water, I have been blessed with safety in my home. While other family members live in Abbotsford and surrounding communities, none have been flooded out of their homes, at least to my knowledge.

Taken from City of Abbotsford FB Page – November 16, 2021

Just an update when it comes to the blog and the family members’ video interviews I have been organizing. I had scheduled an interview with Dad, Aunt Ev and Uncle Rich together in 100 Mile House, BC. The day I was to travel to 100 Mile, the torrential rainfall across BC created floods and mudslides that caused major highway damage and closures. I had thought of leaving on the Sunday but decided not to as I had take my son to an appointment the following day. If I had, I would have been stranded in 100 Mile House and unable to get home to my sons and work.

Well, the interview was cancelled, and we will re-schedule sometime next Spring. It could have been done virtually but the dynamic would have been different than what I was looking for during the in-person interview. In the meantime, I have been working towards a couple of new interviews. One is with my half-sister, Cris and the other with my cousin, Sandy.

Just so everyone in the family is aware, interviews are being arranged based on the oldest working my way down to the youngest. By the time I get to the youngest, hopefully they will be able to chat with me. The youngest in our family is not even a year old yet!

I want to thank everyone for doing the interviews and contributing to the Blog and family history. If I haven’t interviewed you yet, I am really looking forward to doing so!

On another note, are there any takers out there to do my interview for the Blog?? I would welcome a family member to step up and take the ‘microphone’! Now, don’t all jump at once but will need to get something arranged as it’s fast coming up. You will be the interviewer (even come up with questions) and a guest on the We Are Family Briggs blog. I’m really excited to see who steps forward and am looking forward to being on the other side of the interview – well, maybe not so much….. let me know as soon as possible so we can start having some fun!

Next post will be another segment of Who Shares Your Birthday with a special ancestral family member – I can’t wait to share it!

Stay safe everyone – Vicky

Briggs Ancestry Family Trees

On November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 By Vicky BriggsIn Nov 2021Leave a comment

I have mentioned in several of the blog posts that a lot of the information I use is through my subscription with Ancestry.ca. In my account there are four family trees. I initially started with one tree, but it quickly grew and split it into different tree branches!

The four family trees are:

Briggs – Irving – Lasher
Briggs – Press
Briggs – Matthew
Briggs – Hartford

If you would like to be able to access the information in the trees, you are able to do so by creating a free Ancestry.ca guest account! You can do that through this link:

https://support.ancestry.ca/s/article/Creating-a-Free-Ancestry-Account?language=en_CA

After the free account has been created, send an email through the Contact page here on the Blog (last tab) and I will send an invite through Ancestry.ca to have access to the Briggs’ family trees. Only people I know (i.e. family members) will be granted access as there is personal information contained within the trees that will remain private within the family.

This is a great way to share the information that I have found with all my family! As well, any information and/or pictures you would like to share, you can add on yourself instead of sending it all to me to add in and upload. It is very easy to do! Although I am more than happy to have a visit with you to get some pictures and information.

Also, I’m looking for someone to help me with a couple of projects for the blog. One of those projects is to add a “Birthday Calendar” page which will note all the ancestors’ birthdays. I have already started the calendar but there are many birthdays that need to be entered before we add the calendar to the Blog.

So, it’s as easy as that for you to see what I see!

Any questions, please feel free to leave a comment.