Laura was just six years old when her father relocated the family from San Francisco to Brownsville, B.C. [across the Fraser River from New Westminster]. They then relocated to the family farm near Steveston. Soon after the family moved to B.C., her two older sisters were sent to a boarding school in Victoria (St. Ann's Academy). Laura missed her sisters terribly, and convinced her mother to send her too. Her mother convinced the nuns to board Laura, who became the pet of the nuns and the older girls. It wasn't realized at the time but Laura was left hearing-impaired by a severe case of Scarlet Fever when she was just seven years old. Her deafness gradually progressed and by middle age she needed to use an ear phone. She was a great reader and interested in everything. She inherited many of her characteristics from her father: her blue eyes, her outgoing personality, her ability to make friends anywhere, and her spirit of adventure.
When Laura was about 13 years old, her family moved to a home on Merrivale in New Westminster. When she was 18, the family moved into their newly built 3-storey Victorian home at 119 Royal Avenue. This spacious home had seven bedrooms, so each child still at home (the elder two sisters were married and living in their own homes) had their own room.
Laura grew to be a beautiful woman and a lovely person. At age 22, she married her first husband Jack Fiennes-Clinton, a prominant lawyer. They spent their honeymoon in San Francisco where Jack became ill with tuberculosis. After the diagnosis, they moved to Tranquille, near Kamloops, where the climate was considered therapeutic. By the winter of 1897-98 he was told he only had a short time to live. He did not want Laura to be among strangers when he died, so although the roads were closed and they were snowed in, he insisted on returning to New Westminster. Jack and Laura hired Indian guides, and notified the mission stations en route that they were coming. The group spent the nights at mission stations en route and people were wonderful to them. Returning to New Westminster meant shooting the rapids down the Fraser River by canoe. Laura told her daughters years later that it had been the most wonderful trip and that Jack had enjoyed every minute of it! He improved so much that they both had fresh hope, but the improvement did not last. Jack died 2 May 1898 leaving Laura a widow at age 25.
Five years later, at age 30, she remarried. Chisholm Fraser had proposed to her when they were out riding horses together one day. Laura believed the horses knew what was happening as they nosed close together. At the time of their marriage, he was manager of the Bank of Montreal in Rossland.
As Laura had very complicated deliveries & the doctor thought it would be better for her to be at sea level, she returned from Rossland to New Westminster for the birth of her 3rd & 4th children. In August 1912, Chisholm accepted an appointment as head manager of the Bank of Montreal in Victoria. In 1914, Chisholm's mother was taken quite ill so he went to Toronto to visit with her. He found her much improved so sent for Laura and the two older children to come to Toronto as well (leaving the two youngest with the Nanny & the housekeeper in Victoria) - they travelled with troops as it was wartime. Another tragedy for Laura is that her husband died in Toronto (either of meningitis or ptomaine poisoning) . Their thirteen years of happy marriage had gone too quickly. The Bank of Montreal arranged for Laura's brother, John I.M. English, to travel east to escort Chisholm's body & accompany Laura and her two children back to Victoria.
Though the family received an adequate pension from the Bank of Montreal, Laura found she had to make a drastic change in her family's lifestyle. She and the children moved from Hochelaga (residence provided by the Bank of Montreal), and could afford to keep on only one servant. She was giving up the car anyway, so parting with the chauffer/gardener was no problem. Nor was giving up the older children's governess and nursemaid. She was torn between her youngest daughter's Nanny who had come to her from Scotland to assist even before the baby was born, and Lee, their Chinese cook who had been with them for years. She needn't have worried - they knew what was adrift, and Nanny and Lee came to her and said neither would leave - they would stay as long as she needed them and would cut their pay as much as was necessary. Nanny stayed until the youngest daughter was seven, and Lee was with the family for 25 years. They were wonderful people and Laura believed they saved her sanity as she had been understandably devastated by Chisholm's death.
When Laura was about 13 years old, her family moved to a home on Merrivale in New Westminster. When she was 18, the family moved into their newly built 3-storey Victorian home at 119 Royal Avenue. This spacious home had seven bedrooms, so each child still at home (the elder two sisters were married and living in their own homes) had their own room.
Laura grew to be a beautiful woman and a lovely person. At age 22, she married her first husband Jack Fiennes-Clinton, a prominant lawyer. They spent their honeymoon in San Francisco where Jack became ill with tuberculosis. After the diagnosis, they moved to Tranquille, near Kamloops, where the climate was considered therapeutic. By the winter of 1897-98 he was told he only had a short time to live. He did not want Laura to be among strangers when he died, so although the roads were closed and they were snowed in, he insisted on returning to New Westminster. Jack and Laura hired Indian guides, and notified the mission stations en route that they were coming. The group spent the nights at mission stations en route and people were wonderful to them. Returning to New Westminster meant shooting the rapids down the Fraser River by canoe. Laura told her daughters years later that it had been the most wonderful trip and that Jack had enjoyed every minute of it! He improved so much that they both had fresh hope, but the improvement did not last. Jack died 2 May 1898 leaving Laura a widow at age 25.
Five years later, at age 30, she remarried. Chisholm Fraser had proposed to her when they were out riding horses together one day. Laura believed the horses knew what was happening as they nosed close together. At the time of their marriage, he was manager of the Bank of Montreal in Rossland.
As Laura had very complicated deliveries & the doctor thought it would be better for her to be at sea level, she returned from Rossland to New Westminster for the birth of her 3rd & 4th children. In August 1912, Chisholm accepted an appointment as head manager of the Bank of Montreal in Victoria. In 1914, Chisholm's mother was taken quite ill so he went to Toronto to visit with her. He found her much improved so sent for Laura and the two older children to come to Toronto as well (leaving the two youngest with the Nanny & the housekeeper in Victoria) - they travelled with troops as it was wartime. Another tragedy for Laura is that her husband died in Toronto (either of meningitis or ptomaine poisoning) . Their thirteen years of happy marriage had gone too quickly. The Bank of Montreal arranged for Laura's brother, John I.M. English, to travel east to escort Chisholm's body & accompany Laura and her two children back to Victoria.
Though the family received an adequate pension from the Bank of Montreal, Laura found she had to make a drastic change in her family's lifestyle. She and the children moved from Hochelaga (residence provided by the Bank of Montreal), and could afford to keep on only one servant. She was giving up the car anyway, so parting with the chauffer/gardener was no problem. Nor was giving up the older children's governess and nursemaid. She was torn between her youngest daughter's Nanny who had come to her from Scotland to assist even before the baby was born, and Lee, their Chinese cook who had been with them for years. She needn't have worried - they knew what was adrift, and Nanny and Lee came to her and said neither would leave - they would stay as long as she needed them and would cut their pay as much as was necessary. Nanny stayed until the youngest daughter was seven, and Lee was with the family for 25 years. They were wonderful people and Laura believed they saved her sanity as she had been understandably devastated by Chisholm's death.
Laura was just six years old when her father relocated the family from San Francisco to Brownsville, B.C. [across the Fraser River from New Westminster]. They then relocated to the family farm near Steveston. Soon after the family moved to B.C., her two older sisters were sent to a boarding school in Victoria (St. Ann's Academy). Laura missed her sisters terribly, and convinced her mother to send her too. Her mother convinced the nuns to board Laura, who became the pet of the nuns and the older girls. It wasn't realized at the time but Laura was left hearing-impaired by a severe case of Scarlet Fever when she was just seven years old. Her deafness gradually progressed and by middle age she needed to use an ear phone. She was a great reader and interested in everything. She inherited many of her characteristics from her father: her blue eyes, her outgoing personality, her ability to make friends anywhere, and her spirit of adventure.
When Laura was about 13 years old, her family moved to a home on Merrivale in New Westminster. When she was 18, the family moved into their newly built 3-storey Victorian home at 119 Royal Avenue. This spacious home had seven bedrooms, so each child still at home (the elder two sisters were married and living in their own homes) had their own room.
Laura grew to be a beautiful woman and a lovely person. At age 22, she married her first husband Jack Fiennes-Clinton, a prominant lawyer. They spent their honeymoon in San Francisco where Jack became ill with tuberculosis. After the diagnosis, they moved to Tranquille, near Kamloops, where the climate was considered therapeutic. By the winter of 1897-98 he was told he only had a short time to live. He did not want Laura to be among strangers when he died, so although the roads were closed and they were snowed in, he insisted on returning to New Westminster. Jack and Laura hired Indian guides, and notified the mission stations en route that they were coming. The group spent the nights at mission stations en route and people were wonderful to them. Returning to New Westminster meant shooting the rapids down the Fraser River by canoe. Laura told her daughters years later that it had been the most wonderful trip and that Jack had enjoyed every minute of it! He improved so much that they both had fresh hope, but the improvement did not last. Jack died 2 May 1898 leaving Laura a widow at age 25.
Five years later, at age 30, she remarried. Chisholm Fraser had proposed to her when they were out riding horses together one day. Laura believed the horses knew what was happening as they nosed close together. At the time of their marriage, he was manager of the Bank of Montreal in Rossland.
As Laura had very complicated deliveries & the doctor thought it would be better for her to be at sea level, she returned from Rossland to New Westminster for the birth of her 3rd & 4th children. In August 1912, Chisholm accepted an appointment as head manager of the Bank of Montreal in Victoria. In 1914, Chisholm's mother was taken quite ill so he went to Toronto to visit with her. He found her much improved so sent for Laura and the two older children to come to Toronto as well (leaving the two youngest with the Nanny & the housekeeper in Victoria) - they travelled with troops as it was wartime. Another tragedy for Laura is that her husband died in Toronto (either of meningitis or ptomaine poisoning) . Their thirteen years of happy marriage had gone too quickly. The Bank of Montreal arranged for Laura's brother, John I.M. English, to travel east to escort Chisholm's body & accompany Laura and her two children back to Victoria.
Though the family received an adequate pension from the Bank of Montreal, Laura found she had to make a drastic change in her family's lifestyle. She and the children moved from Hochelaga (residence provided by the Bank of Montreal), and could afford to keep on only one servant. She was giving up the car anyway, so parting with the chauffer/gardener was no problem. Nor was giving up the older children's governess and nursemaid. She was torn between her youngest daughter's Nanny who had come to her from Scotland to assist even before the baby was born, and Lee, their Chinese cook who had been with them for years. She needn't have worried - they knew what was adrift, and Nanny and Lee came to her and said neither would leave - they would stay as long as she needed them and would cut their pay as much as was necessary. Nanny stayed until the youngest daughter was seven, and Lee was with the family for 25 years. They were wonderful people and Laura believed they saved her sanity as she had been understandably devastated by Chisholm's death.
When Laura was about 13 years old, her family moved to a home on Merrivale in New Westminster. When she was 18, the family moved into their newly built 3-storey Victorian home at 119 Royal Avenue. This spacious home had seven bedrooms, so each child still at home (the elder two sisters were married and living in their own homes) had their own room.
Laura grew to be a beautiful woman and a lovely person. At age 22, she married her first husband Jack Fiennes-Clinton, a prominant lawyer. They spent their honeymoon in San Francisco where Jack became ill with tuberculosis. After the diagnosis, they moved to Tranquille, near Kamloops, where the climate was considered therapeutic. By the winter of 1897-98 he was told he only had a short time to live. He did not want Laura to be among strangers when he died, so although the roads were closed and they were snowed in, he insisted on returning to New Westminster. Jack and Laura hired Indian guides, and notified the mission stations en route that they were coming. The group spent the nights at mission stations en route and people were wonderful to them. Returning to New Westminster meant shooting the rapids down the Fraser River by canoe. Laura told her daughters years later that it had been the most wonderful trip and that Jack had enjoyed every minute of it! He improved so much that they both had fresh hope, but the improvement did not last. Jack died 2 May 1898 leaving Laura a widow at age 25.
Five years later, at age 30, she remarried. Chisholm Fraser had proposed to her when they were out riding horses together one day. Laura believed the horses knew what was happening as they nosed close together. At the time of their marriage, he was manager of the Bank of Montreal in Rossland.
As Laura had very complicated deliveries & the doctor thought it would be better for her to be at sea level, she returned from Rossland to New Westminster for the birth of her 3rd & 4th children. In August 1912, Chisholm accepted an appointment as head manager of the Bank of Montreal in Victoria. In 1914, Chisholm's mother was taken quite ill so he went to Toronto to visit with her. He found her much improved so sent for Laura and the two older children to come to Toronto as well (leaving the two youngest with the Nanny & the housekeeper in Victoria) - they travelled with troops as it was wartime. Another tragedy for Laura is that her husband died in Toronto (either of meningitis or ptomaine poisoning) . Their thirteen years of happy marriage had gone too quickly. The Bank of Montreal arranged for Laura's brother, John I.M. English, to travel east to escort Chisholm's body & accompany Laura and her two children back to Victoria.
Though the family received an adequate pension from the Bank of Montreal, Laura found she had to make a drastic change in her family's lifestyle. She and the children moved from Hochelaga (residence provided by the Bank of Montreal), and could afford to keep on only one servant. She was giving up the car anyway, so parting with the chauffer/gardener was no problem. Nor was giving up the older children's governess and nursemaid. She was torn between her youngest daughter's Nanny who had come to her from Scotland to assist even before the baby was born, and Lee, their Chinese cook who had been with them for years. She needn't have worried - they knew what was adrift, and Nanny and Lee came to her and said neither would leave - they would stay as long as she needed them and would cut their pay as much as was necessary. Nanny stayed until the youngest daughter was seven, and Lee was with the family for 25 years. They were wonderful people and Laura believed they saved her sanity as she had been understandably devastated by Chisholm's death.
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