Naomi and Manuella Briggs: A Bond Like No Other

On March 22, 2025March 21, 2025 By Vicky BriggsIn 2025, Briggs, Irving House, Manuella Octavia Briggs, Mar 2025, Naomi Spencer BriggsLeave a comment

Whenever I think of sisters, I am reminded of the song, Sisters, from one of my favourite Christmas movies, White Christmas. The first couple of lines of the song reminds me of sisters, Naomi and Manuella Briggs.

“Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.”

Naomi Spencer Briggs, born July 25, 1886, and Manuella Octavia Briggs, born April 6, 1891. They were two of nine children (six boys and three girls) born to Thomas Lasher Briggs and Mary Irving.

Naomi Spencer Briggs, 1886¹ and Manuella Octavia Briggs, 1893²

You ask, what is so interesting about these two sisters? Well, you can say they’re interesting in one aspect (they led a very quiet traditional life of the times), but in other aspects, they were almost like twins!

Here are many similarities:

both born and raised in the family home, Irving House, 302 Royal Avenue, New Westminster
both lived in the family home until it was sold to the City of New Westminster in 1950
both moved and lived together in their next home at 702 – 6^th Avenue, New Westminster
both moved and lived together in their next home at 206 St. Patrick Street, New Westminster
both never married or had children
It is not really known what Naomi did with her time, but I have heard from some sources that she was a music teacher; Manuella was a piano teacher until she passed away – both had the musical gene!
both passed away at the age of 86 – Naomi February 12, 1973, Manuella December 19, 1977
both are buried at Fraser Cemetery

Here are a couple of the differences:

Naomi passed away at St. Mary’s Hospital; Manuella at Royal Columbia Hospital
Manuella was the second May Queen of New Westminster in 1904

Newspaper Article³ Manuella, 1904 May Queen⁴

As you can see, the similarities overwhelm the differences. One more similarity – they were both beautiful women and loved to pose for the camera!

Naomi, 1914⁵ Manuella, abt 1914⁶

Looking back through records, it seems they were pretty much together from the day they were born until Naomi passed, and Manuella was on her own until she passed. Talking with other family members that were more in touch with Naomi and Manuella in their later years, one of their nephews, Kingston Jr, had lived with them off and on throughout the years.

I don’t know about you, but if you’ve ever seen the movie, White Christmas, and are familiar with the song, Sister, I can just see them performing that song together – it really speaks to me for some unknown reason – it would’ve been a sight to see!⁷ ⁸

Both Naomi and Manuella were very involved in the community, donating a lot of their time, and hosting many events at their homes as indicated in several newspaper articles. This was carried on after their mother, Mary Briggs moved back down to Portland, Oregon.

I would have given anything to having gotten the chance to get to know Naomi and Manuella. They seem like great aunties that would have doted on their nieces and nephews. Plus, I have a little bit of the music bug having taken piano lessons when I was younger.

If you’ve never seen White Christmas, here’s a link to my inspiration for this blog post:

I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into my thoughts about Naomi and Manuella Briggs – they seem to be two of a kind – sisters!

Naomi and Manuella Briggs, 1967⁹

New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0050, ID #31107; Mrs. R. Maynard, photographer. ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0057, ID #31114; Mrs. R. Maynard, photographer ↩︎
Newspapers.com/image/500448705; The Province, Sat. Apr. 23, 1904, Page 13 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IHP1422-030, ID #19123 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0054, ID #31111 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0061, ID #31118 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0125, ID #31179 cropped, 1967 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, File #132, Item #IHP10000-0309, ID #54543 cropped, Abt 1960 ↩︎
New Westminster Archives, Item #IFP0125, ID #31179 ↩︎

Who Shares Your Birthday?

On October 10, 2022October 13, 2022 By Vicky BriggsIn 2022, Briggs, Irving House, October 2022, Stanley Kingston Briggs2 Comments

October is upon us, Fall is in the air and Summer is behind us, although the weather does not indicate it as it is still unseasonably warm. Well, we’ll just have to make do – who could say no to a little bit more sun in our lives, of course!

In the meantime, let’s begin by congratulating those family members with birthdays this month. We’ll start with my mother, Jeannette and my son, Jeremy. Also celebrating are Amanda, Lauren, Shia, Elodie and Moiya. Special birthday wishes to my dearly departed cousin, Donna.

Let’s see who shares your birthday! Last October, we featured my great grandfather, Thomas Albert Briggs. There is so much more to his story than what we have seen so far and I’m still working on it. In the meantime, let’s highlight another family member – Stanley Kingston Briggs.

Stanley Kingston Briggs, born October 25, 1888, in New Westminster, BC, to Thomas Lasher Briggs & Mary Irving. Stanley is a younger brother of my great grandfather, Thomas Albert Briggs, which makes him my great granduncle.

Stanley is listed in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 Canada Census as a son in the home of Thomas Lasher Briggs located at 302 Royal Avenue, New Westminster. In the 1911 Canada Census specifically, his occupation is listed as “salesman” at a “grocer” earning $900 per year (at the age of 23.

In a newspaper article (Oregon Daily Journal) dated June 11, 1908, it indicates Stanley Kingston Briggs graduated from Hill Military Academy (Newspapers.com). This was not a surprise to me as several of the children of Capt William and Elizabeth Irving (parents of Mary Irving, Stanley’s mother) did go to Washington, Oregon and California schools for their education. It seems the Briggs family carried on that tradition.

Stanley enlisted in WWI – another interesting item as noted in his Attestation papers, is that he had been in the military for the prior three years in the 6^th D. C.O.R. I have yet to figure out what it means – another mystery to delve into! He enlisted November 13, 1914, and discharged January 23, 1919. I do have copies of his military records which I’m still transcribing – another story for another time.

This following picture is of Stanley Kingston Briggs (lower left), along with his brothers, Errol, Thomas (standing), and John. Not sure when the picture was taken but can be assumed it was late 1918 or early 1919 as that is when they had all returned from overseas and it was in a newspaper article in The Province, April 30, 1919 (Newspapers.com):

Upon returning to Canada, it is unsure as to where he lived. I’m sure he stayed with his parents for a period of time.

On June 1, 1920, Stanley married Laura Victoria Towns in Vernon, British Columbia. There is a lot of information in the Marriage Certificate the most interesting that the marriage took place in Vernon, and his occupation is listed as “Engineer”:

Laura was from Edmonton, Alberta and it seems they may have returned there as their first son, Stanley Kingston Jr. was born May 1921 in Edmonton. They had a daughter, Mary Louise, born in 1924 in New Westminster, BC – It seems they had returned to his Stanley’s hometown. Their next and last child, Thomas Irving was born in 1926 in Woodfibre, BC (located northwest of Squamish).

Noting the birth places of Stanley and Laura’s three children, it seems they did move around to different areas between Alberta and BC – could be because of work – not sure. I have been unable to locate any of Stanley, Laura or Stanley Jr in the 1921 Canada Census so not sure if they were still in Alberta or not. I would assume that they were as the Census was taken as of June 1, 1921, which would have been shortly after Stanley Jr. was born.

The is another document I have found dated 1949 which shows Stanley’s occupation as “Storekeeper” and still living in Woodfibre (#49 & 50). It also shows a Thomas (#72) living and working in Woodfibre (millhand), which could be his son but unable to verify:

Another document I found shows Stanley and Laura living in North Vancouver. The document is rather large so I will not show it here. It is from the 1954 BC City Directories for Vancouver, BC.

Sadly, just a little over a year after retiring as a grocery store manager, Stanley passed away November 10, 1954:

I’m not sure who the brother, Earl (Portland) is but I’m going to hazard a guess that it may be “Beryl”, who is a sister of Stanley’s, living in Portland, Oregon at that time with her husband, Walter Edmonds. It is common to see these kinds of errors in newspaper reporting so we can’t always assume that the information is correct. The information is the same in the funeral home record. I have been told by other genealogists that some of the information in the funeral home record is taken from the newspaper obituary.

Another interesting item to note, my grandfather, S.L. Briggs (Stanley Leonard) is shown as one of the pallbearers. S. Briggs could be Stanley Kingston Jr.

This is just a little peak into Stanley Kingston Briggs’ life as there is a lot of information still to be found, including what is contained in the military records. In the meantime, it seems he was quite the photogenic young man as evidenced in these pictures – enjoy!

(All pictures are between 1891 & 1894 – the young girl is his sister, Manuella)

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!

Halloween & Ghosts

On October 31, 2021October 31, 2021 By Vicky BriggsIn Briggs, Irving, Irving House, Oct 2021Leave a comment

It’s Halloween and you know what that means – spooky ghosts! Some believe and some don’t. Regardless of what you believe, there are ghost stories out there and I have found some.

Irving House was built in 1865 by Captain William James Irving, and possibly the oldest home in the Lower Mainland. William and his wife, Elizabeth lived in the home with their young family. He died in 1872. The house stayed in the family, housing two generations. Thomas Lasher Briggs and Mary Irving (William and Elizabeth’s daughter) raised their family in the home calling it Hollymount. Later, Naomi and Manuella Briggs, daughters of Thomas and Mary, stayed in the family home until 1950. At that time, they sold the home to the City of New Westminster. I have shared this picture before but will do so again so you can get a “picture” in your mind.

Here’s where the stories begin. I found a book, “At Home with History, The Untold Secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes” by Eve Lazarus. Interesting read – if anyone would like to read it, you’re more than welcome to borrow for a small fee of a visit and a cup of tea!

One particular story caught my eye, and I would love to share it with you. In 1980, Jim Wolf started researching the history of Irving House and spent a lot of time in the home. An excerpt from the book tells the story:

‘Wolf says that another time when he was in the house, a patient came over from nearby St. Mary’s hospital and asked him if children lived there. “I asked her why, and she said she was looking out of her window at the hospital the night before, and there were three little girls dancing on the lawn in their white nightgowns.”’

Well, I’d like to think those three little girls were Naomi, Manuella and Beryl Briggs, the only daughters of Thomas and Mary. They were the last females that lived in the home as little girls. Beryl was the first to pass in 1917, while Naomi and Manuella lived the longest of all the children of Thomas and Mary.

Naomi, Manuella & Beryl Briggs: