MacKay Champion Genealogy - Person Sheet
MacKay Champion Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameEdith Edna MacKay 
Birth Dateabt 1883
Birth PlaceSpring Brook, PEI
Death Date1961
FatherDaniel "Red Dan" McKay (1849-1933)
MotherMatilda "Tillie" Agnus MacNeil (1845-1933)
Spouses
Marr Date1907
Marr PlaceVancouver, BC
Marr MemoDiana Cooper gave date
Notes for Edith Edna MacKay
From MKM:
Went to visit in Mass. USA Aunt Deanne at the age of 19 went to Toronto where she met and married Chessman, a lawyer. Never returned to PEI. Wrote some books and her religion was Christian Science.
She travelled and did lectures in the USA. Her son-in-law Cooper played piano for the events.
From Diana Cooper: gives bd at 1883 or 1884
Edith Edna was very feisty and capable. Felt herself to be "tribe of Joseph" and extremely proud of her P.E.I. heritage. Designed and made hooked rugs. Designed and made everything. Very literary. Would
tack up poetry above the sink to read while washing the dishes. Fabulous gardener. Wrote a column for the Daily Colonist in Victoria during the1940s, mostly on nature subjects. Some titles of these columns
are:
-The miracle of growth
-The meadow
-A night in June
-The golden hour
-On Copernicus
-The turquoise sea
-The Olympic range
-At harvest time
-Victoria's centenary
-Indian summer
She was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society and gave lectures there. She was a member of the Theosophical Society and founded 2 groups - one in Victoria and one in Peachland,B.C. She travelled and lectured on eastern philosophy in the Pacific Northwest. Some essays won prizes. She compiled the Girl Guides cookbook (I believe published in about 1929).
Edith Edna Mackay left P.E.I. and went to Boston to take a secreterial course. She then took the train to Vancouver and stayed with an Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary had married a man who worked for the CPR, building the railway. She worked for Wilson Stationery Store. While there she met Les Chessman, a lively bachelor who sold real estate and loved to go to the theatre. L.D. had a marvelous sense of humour and loved to play practical jokes. He was fond of poetry and he had been trained as a musician. He played classical piano to professional standards. He proposed to Edith in the hollow of the famous "Hollow Tree" in Stanley Park on a horseback ride through the park.
They were married in Christ Church Cathedral (downtown Vancouver). By now L.D. was a real estate developer buying up blocks and building houses (mostly in the Kitsilano area). Many of these houses are still there. The couple moved into a house at 1st and Stephens. It is still there.
After Jack was born, the family moved to a country farm on Lulu Island, just south of Vancouver. The area is now known as Richmond. Edith ran a creamery on the farm. L.D. continued to work in real estate.
Needing to be near high schools, the family moved to 49th avenue. During these years, Edith was Secretary/Treasurer of the Womans' Canadian Club, head of the B.C. Girl Guides, instrumental in building Ryerson Church and Magee High School.
The family moved several times more, mostly due to worsening finances during the depression.
Edith and Les visited a summer camp on Orcas Island and there met Fritz Kunz, a philosopher and founder of the MainCurrents philosophy journal. Through Mr. Kunz, they joined the Theosophical Society. Gladys took a secretarial course offered by Magee High School and was hired after graduation by the School Board. Jack did not finish high school. During the depression both Jack and Glad (her nickname) contributed towards keeping the family going financially.
LD.'s parents move to Vancouver to live with the family. They had had the only general store in Chatham, N.B.and were the first to have electricity installed in the store. A brother of L.D.'s (Fred Chessman) stayed in New Brunswick and later moved to Newfoundland. He made a lot of money trading lumber. Later, L.D. died while on the way to Fred's funeral.
In 1938, Glad met Arthur at a party at his mother's house (6010 Granville St., where I now live). Love at first sight. They were engaged in 1939 at a hunt ball in Vernon,B.C. L.D. was able to help the couple purchase a property and build a house at 3057 West 44th avenue in Vancouver. After their marriage in
Sept. 1940 and a brief honeymoon at Lake Louise, the couple moved into their new home.
Diana was born in 1943. Arthur completed a course in accountancy and became a Chartered Accountant.
Edith and LD. move to Victoria (financial reasons) to a small cottage. Had a prize-winning garden. L.D. worked in the ship yards.
Went to visit in Mass. USA Aunt Deanne at the age of 19 went to Toronto where she met and married Chessman, a lawyer. Never returned to PEI. Wrote some books and her religion was Christian Science.
She travelled and did lectures in the USA. Her son-in-law Cooper played piano for the events.
From Diana Cooper: gives bd at 1883 or 1884
Edith Edna was very feisty and capable. Felt herself to be "tribe of Joseph" and extremely proud of her P.E.I. heritage. Designed and made hooked rugs. Designed and made everything. Very literary. Would
tack up poetry above the sink to read while washing the dishes. Fabulous gardener. Wrote a column for the Daily Colonist in Victoria during the1940s, mostly on nature subjects. Some titles of these columns
are:
-The miracle of growth
-The meadow
-A night in June
-The golden hour
-On Copernicus
-The turquoise sea
-The Olympic range
-At harvest time
-Victoria's centenary
-Indian summer
She was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society and gave lectures there. She was a member of the Theosophical Society and founded 2 groups - one in Victoria and one in Peachland,B.C. She travelled and lectured on eastern philosophy in the Pacific Northwest. Some essays won prizes. She compiled the Girl Guides cookbook (I believe published in about 1929).
Edith Edna Mackay left P.E.I. and went to Boston to take a secreterial course. She then took the train to Vancouver and stayed with an Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary had married a man who worked for the CPR, building the railway. She worked for Wilson Stationery Store. While there she met Les Chessman, a lively bachelor who sold real estate and loved to go to the theatre. L.D. had a marvelous sense of humour and loved to play practical jokes. He was fond of poetry and he had been trained as a musician. He played classical piano to professional standards. He proposed to Edith in the hollow of the famous "Hollow Tree" in Stanley Park on a horseback ride through the park.
They were married in Christ Church Cathedral (downtown Vancouver). By now L.D. was a real estate developer buying up blocks and building houses (mostly in the Kitsilano area). Many of these houses are still there. The couple moved into a house at 1st and Stephens. It is still there.
After Jack was born, the family moved to a country farm on Lulu Island, just south of Vancouver. The area is now known as Richmond. Edith ran a creamery on the farm. L.D. continued to work in real estate.
Needing to be near high schools, the family moved to 49th avenue. During these years, Edith was Secretary/Treasurer of the Womans' Canadian Club, head of the B.C. Girl Guides, instrumental in building Ryerson Church and Magee High School.
The family moved several times more, mostly due to worsening finances during the depression.
Edith and Les visited a summer camp on Orcas Island and there met Fritz Kunz, a philosopher and founder of the MainCurrents philosophy journal. Through Mr. Kunz, they joined the Theosophical Society. Gladys took a secretarial course offered by Magee High School and was hired after graduation by the School Board. Jack did not finish high school. During the depression both Jack and Glad (her nickname) contributed towards keeping the family going financially.
LD.'s parents move to Vancouver to live with the family. They had had the only general store in Chatham, N.B.and were the first to have electricity installed in the store. A brother of L.D.'s (Fred Chessman) stayed in New Brunswick and later moved to Newfoundland. He made a lot of money trading lumber. Later, L.D. died while on the way to Fred's funeral.
In 1938, Glad met Arthur at a party at his mother's house (6010 Granville St., where I now live). Love at first sight. They were engaged in 1939 at a hunt ball in Vernon,B.C. L.D. was able to help the couple purchase a property and build a house at 3057 West 44th avenue in Vancouver. After their marriage in
Sept. 1940 and a brief honeymoon at Lake Louise, the couple moved into their new home.
Diana was born in 1943. Arthur completed a course in accountancy and became a Chartered Accountant.
Edith and LD. move to Victoria (financial reasons) to a small cottage. Had a prize-winning garden. L.D. worked in the ship yards.