mary louisa corson
c. 1909
Mary was born at the Royal Navy base in Esquimalt, BC on 10 October 1889. When she was only three months old, her father’s naval unit was recalled to Portsmouth and Mary crossed the Atlantic for the first time. Following her father’s death in 1893, Mary returned to Victoria with her mother and nine month old brother, William.
She lived with her grandparents in the Mallandaine family home on Simcoe Street for several years. One of her early memories of life on Simcoe Street was a strict observance of the Sabbath — while only five years old, Mary was not allowed to play on Sundays and had to sit quietly on a stool in the corner. In 1899, her mother remarried and Mary joined her new family in the Strathcona area of Vancouver. The family later moved to Mt Pleasant before settling in Marpole.
Mary attended Strathcona School and later, Central Vancouver School. When she finished her schooling, she worked in a seed plant in Vancouver, sorting and packing seeds. One of her friends and co-workers at the plant, Mame McAldiff, later acted as her bridesmaid.
In 1909, Mary married Robert Clark at St James in Vancouver. Robert was born on 1 July 1886 in Tranmere, England. He was the son of John Duff Clark and Marion Bryant. Bert’s family emigrated to Chile in 1888 before moving to Vancouver in 1901.
Mary and Robert lived on Lulu Island before moving to a hobby farm in the Fraser Valley in 1933. Mary was kept busy raising her ten children and later over 20 grandchildren who enjoyed spending their summers at the farm on Mill Lake. She loved children and was known as ‘grandma’ to all the children in the neighbourhood. She was also very active in the community — she was a member of the Mill Lake Women’s Institute, the Garden Club and active in the Red Cross work rooms knitting and sewing clothing. She was also kept busy sending parcels to her three sons, two overseas, serving in the Canadian forces in the second world war.
In what little spare time she had, Mary enjoyed knitting, gardening and a good cup of tea. She was a kind, good-natured woman who enjoyed helping people. Mary and Robert celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 12 April 1959. Mary died on 2 March 1963, less than a year after the death of her husband, and was buried next to him at Hazelwood Cemetery in Abbotsford. Mary Louisa was a loving mother and grandmother and she is deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.