.: My Grandmother Laura Seymour
(Petre) Life Story
b.1901 d.1983
John Berney Petre eloped to Gretna Green with Susannah
Childs (aka Julia Doughty) b 1824 d
21 Jan 1906 and they were married on the anvil. The Petre family annulled the
marriage because Susannah Childs was a commoner. He married a lady named
Caroline Susan Stewart-Mackenzie later. However he still visited Susannah Childs
and they had four children. One of them was my great grandfather Berney Seymour
Petre, b. 15 January 1852, d. 4 June 1904.
He married Eliza Jane Kett b. 24
July 1866, d. 29 September 1955, and they had nine children one of which was my
grandmother, Laura Seymour b 16 Feb 1901 d 14 Aug 1983.
A tenth child was born but was not
the daughter of Berney Seymour Petre.
The other children of John Berney Petre were
Fred, Arthur, and Julia. The Petre family supported the children of John
Bernie's illicit relationship with Susannah Childs (aka Julia Doughty). John
Berney Petre did settle as annual income with Julia Doughty and her children as
stated in the Norfolk Record Office Catalog Ref. MC 324/55 708X7.
Berney Seymour Petre, my great-grandfather
was a sailor at first. He missed his train due to a train disaster and so also
missed his ship. The ship was lost at sea and all hands were lost. The train
disaster was known as the Thorpe Rail Disaster in 1874. It was said Berney
Seymour Petre dropped the Petre part of his name and went on stage as Berney Seymour but I have
not found and documentation he went on stage but he did drop the Petre last
name. He later had a photography business where the family lived on Commercial
Street, Aylsham, Norfolk, England. One day the sign over the shop fell striking
him on the head and caused some brain damage. The accident happened in 1902 and
did spend time in a hospital that was not the Norwich Asylum and he was later
confined to Norwich Asylum on Thorpe Road in the sub-district of Blofield in the
County of Norfolk. He died there of
pneumonia and is buried in the cemetery with his 9-year-old son, Herbert.
Visitors books SAH 162 visitors book - date: Jul 1853 - Dec 1905
The Petre family had a large estate in Norwich,
England called Westwick House with an inheritable baronetry. This residence,
three miles from North Walshani, is deservedly esteemed one of the most
delightful spills in this county. There is a handsome lodge at the entrance of
the park, and the turnpike-road from Norwich to North Walsham, runs through it
for upwards of two miles, at the termination of which are two lodges, one of
them serving for a toll-house. They
Petre family continued to support Eliza Kett Seymour and her nine children of
which my grandmother was the second youngest. The hackney carriage, with driver,
used to come every month with their allowance.
Lady Mary Petre grew tired of the expense and
began to get rid of the children. The boys were the first to come to Canada
through the program known as Dr. Bernardo Boy's Home. They left for Canada in June
1912 .The boys were placed on farms in hopes that they would not find each
other, however they were re-united by Gertrude, their eldest sister, and John
Seymour, their eldest brother.
My grandmother, Laura, was the next to go but
refused and
it’s said my great grandmother Eliza
signed away all of her own and her children's rights to the Petre estate in
exchange for passage for herself, Alex, and my grandmother
Laura along with an illegitimate
daughter named Florence who migrated to live in Del Rio, Texas. They came to
Canada June of 1912
My grandmother's oldest sister Gertrude was trained as a
cook in London England, and had arranged with the Anglican Church in Norwich to
immigrate to Canada using the Servitude Plan and also came in the same year of
1912. The whole family travelled by ship to Canada within 6 months of the boys
first leaving.
My grandmother was lucky to have left in June
of 1912 as this was the same summer on August 26th 1912 more than
seven inches of rain fell in a day to bring terror, chaos and death to the
streets of Norfolk.
The oldest son, John Berney, later returned to
Bristol, England, after serving in WWI, in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces.
He married in Bristol--had one child named Anne. My grandmother's other
sisters all made their homes in London, Ontario, Canada where they married and
lived 'til their deaths.
Conclusion
My Thoughts,
When I started my
quest I wanted to know if the story had some fact to it, which I now believe the
whole story is fact and is not stretched by any means. I have not yet found a
marriage certificate for John Berney Petre & Susannah Childs (aka Julia Doughty)
and doubt I will. The facts are there, a trust was setup for Julia and her
children. Julia’s tombstone reads (Julia Doughty Petre) John Seymour Petre did
attend private school while growing up. Eliza had an operation for TB of the
glands and the Petre family did pay for her stay in the hospital overlooking the
ocean--one of the few acts of kindness she was ever given during her young life.
Eliza believes she was about 14 at the time when she told the story many years
ago. The Petre’s were not very nice to our family. The 1800s and early 1900s
were a cruel time for people to live and there were no social programs! My
great-grandmother was desperate and that's why she allowed her
boys to be put in homes as she
didn't have the money to feed them and the Petre's tried to ensure they wouldn't
be an embarrassment to them anymore and
shipped them to Canada
individually so they wouldn't have any knowledge of their roots.. In ending my
story it’s hard to for me to understand how you can be so nasty to your own
family because of money/gentry. I can still remember the smile on my grandmother
face (she always had a smile to give)
and the two dollars I received ever y Christmas in the envelope under the tree.
I’m sure there was much pain under the smile but she had the strength to go on
and find the best in her life.
Stewart Addley
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.: My Grandmother's Family
Union of John Berney
Petre and Julia Doughty (Petre)
Most of the Petre's union of John Berney Petre and Susannah (sometimes also
referred to as Julia) Child's (step-father's name was Doughty) used the name
Seymour--several went to private school in England including John Berney Petre
who used the name Seymour who later married Eliza. It's very difficult to trace
Julia--but the agreement that John Berney Petre drew up that provided for her
after his death used the name Julia Doughty rather than Susannah). His
penmanship is excellent. She's buried under the name Julia Doughty Petre. One of
her sons is buried beside her who never married--His name is William
Could be that her records are deliberately obscured by what would have been the
powerful Petre family during her time on this planet. There is a copy of that
agreement from the Norwich Genealogy office in Norwich and a copy of his
father's will--the Baron Petre, but very difficult to read his handwriting. He
seemed very autocratic and insistent that his son conform to what were the
standards of the time. Believe it's his father, commonly known as Jack, that
most likely insisted on the marriage between his son and Carolyn MacKenzie. Sons
could not legally be stopped from inheriting titles, but their parents could
make life very difficult for them. Names change when people come into the
baronage title.
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