Gil Jennex's Home Page

My parents were Jeddore born, as were my grandparents on my father's side. My father, Roy Marshall Jennex,was born in 1911,and grew up on the property next door, my grandparents' place. My mother, Arabella Jane Mills (known as Belle), was born 1910,and grew up at Oyster Pond, a few miles up the road toward the head of the harbour. My father went to the East Jeddore School, about five miles seaward; while my mother walked about a mile from her home in the opposite direction, to the Oyster Pond School. We always referred to our parents as 'Dad' and 'Mum".

My grandfather was Thomas Provost Jennex; he was born 1867. He was always referred to by us kids as "Tom". My grandmother was Ada Lindsey Jennex; she born 1876.We called her "Gram". She was a Mitchell, and had been born and raised near the ocean end of the Jeddore Road, only about three houses from land's end. My grandfather inherited his land from his father, so he lived where he had spent a large part of his life.

My grandparents had eight children, but for what ever reason, they were either born dead or only lived a few hours. And they loved children. When in their 40's, they had the chance of raising a child whose mother had died giving birth, he was welcomed and loved. So my father, who was born George Marlow Day, was brought up as Roy Marshall Jennex, an only child. No paper work was ever completed for either my father's birth, adoption or name change. My father's real mother, Edith Day, is buried in the Lower West Jeddore Cemetery. His father, Cornelius Day, died when he was five years old. My father had a full brother, Mylem, and a half sister, Martha, but neither played a part in my childhood.

My father and mother married in their early twenties, and we kids came along every 18 months to two years.I, Gilbert Francis, born in 1931,and am the oldest; next came Garfield Hazen, born in 1933, and known as 'Garth'; then came Maureen Jean Catherine, born in 1935; and last, Leroy David MacPherson, born in 1939,and known as 'Mac'; he was named after a popular doctor, Dr MacPherson, or Dr Mac who delivered him. Dr Mac died young.

Most male names in Jeddore were Roy, Tom, Jim, Ken, Alan, Earl, etc, but here were we eldest with the names 'Gilbert' and 'Garfield'. It had been said that my mother got our names from true romance novels. Certainly no relatives or acquaintences were so named.

Most of the references to "us kids", means Garth and I, as we were near enough in age to share adventures and be taken about by my father and grandfather.

My father was a hard working, easy going man. He was short and stocky, with a clear countenance and blue-grey eyes, which we four children inherited. He was semi-illiterate; his marriage certificate has the declaration that he could read and write, but this was not true; he could write his name. Instead of going to school, he played hooky. My grandparents both read and wrote. My grandfather was a regular reader. So it must have disappointed them when their son could not read. My father had to get someone to write and read his letters includng his love letters, which must have been an embarrassment. When my father got angry, it took him a long time to settle down; he seemed to mumble on for ages and could not be shut up. In his youth he probably got into a lot of fist fights, because I can remember him once getting into a fight with his first cousin, Marshal Baker. It was at our garage; all I can remember is the stress of my mother and grandparents and the running about. Before he was married, my father had gone to Ontario, because he used to tell us about picking grapes there. How long he was away I do not know.

My mother was tall and big boned with reddish hair and freckles. She was a hard worker,and always seemed busy keeping the house and us kids clean, cooking, gardening, and other chores. She read the paper and pulp fiction. She ran the household and controlled us kids with a no-nonsence approach. She always had a strap or switch to see she was obeyed, but she did not have to use it often, because she was fair and her demands were not excessive.

The needs of her husband and children always came first. The money was given to her and she paid the bills and saved. My mother and father's marriage seemed to be a happy union, each had complementary traits.

My grandfather, Tom Jennex, was a very kind, considerate person. I only knew him as an old man as he was in his 60's when I was born. In his younger days, he had gone to sea, and used to tell us stories of where he had been, but their content has left my memory. The deeds to his property list him as a mariner, as do the deeds of his father. In his house was a very large sea shell and fungus he had brought from the tropics. He had pure white hair, but with very black eyebrows and mustache. We kids had to be still when he was shaving with his straight razor. I can remember the sound of his sharpening the razor on the razor strap. He was hale and hearty. He used to carry firewood on his shoulders from far in the woods when he was well into his 70's. He would walk the 5 or 6 miles one way to the store and back with a load of groceries in a bag slung over his shoulder. He and my grandmother had a cow up to the 1940's and continued to put in a garden each year.

My grandfather had ingrown toe nails, chiefly on his big toes, and as kids we were fascinated by his cutting them with a hacksaw. The nails grew thicker, thus higher, so he had to cut the tops off when his shoes became uncomforable. He played the violin, but not for long; he should have practiced more, but rhumatism in his fingers was his old age problem. He smoked a pipe and always carried a pocket watch. He read the paper daily and magazines, using a pair of over-the-counter glasses. Luckily his sight did not deteriorate noticeably in his old old age. He had good distance vision. Except for his time at sea, he lived most of his life in Jeddore: fishing, farming, road work and cutting wood.

My grandmother, Ada Jennex, was short and plump, always cheerful and full of love and concern for us kids. She seemed to be always busy: cooking,looking after the cow, the garden, picking berries, etc. Early in the winter mornings with the fires out and the temperatures below freezing, it was she who got out of the warm bed to light the fires, while my grandfather stayed in bed. She had a heart condition, but never let it keep her from working, except that she avoided heavy lifting. We kids were warned never to jump out and scare her, as children often tend to do in fun. My grandmother was forgetful. Once she hid a favourite broach, because she did not want it lying around. She never did find it. She had difficulty threading needles, so as soon as we were old enough, we did it for her; she could read with her over-the-counter glasses. She had corns on her feet, so she would go down to the shore, sit on a rock and soak her feet in the salt water.

My grandmother was superstitious. If her ears were ringing, she would bite the hem of her petticoat so that whoever was talking about her would bite their tongue. If she dropped a dish cloth, it meant company was coming. There was also the habit of throwing salt over her shoulder, but I can't remember why. These were probably habits of most of the older people of Jeddore, but I remember them with regards to my grandmother, rather than my mother. My grandmother was liked by all, and adored by us kids.

My mother and father's life together began by living with my grandparents, who had a two bedroom house with a large open loft upstairs, which was used for storage and a third bedroom. My great grandparents had died in the 1920's, so there was plenty of room. I was brought into this household in 1931; my mother had gone to her eldest sister, Alice Beach, near Kentville for her confinement. My grandparents could not wait to start to spoil me. Maybe because I was the oldest grandchild, or because my first two or three years were spent under their roof, I was and remained their favourite. Of these early years, when I look back it is hard for me to separate the love for my parents from the love for my grandparents. Both were always there from time beginning. First in the same house, then just next door, a few minutes run for us kids.

We lived with my grandparents until I was at least two or three, because I have some vague memories, especially memories of moving to our new house on the property next door. The land had belonged to my grandmother's brother, Peter Mitchell, which my grandfather had inherited and in turn gave to my father. Most of the moving was done by wheelbarrow, and I remember quite clearly getting rides back in the empty barrow.

I can remember a Christmas tree at my grandparents'. I can remember sliding down the ice with my mother on the slope above the house, my father seemed to be there, and my grandparents were watching. Here memory is illusive and vague.

Two other persons who were always there in my early years, were Jim and Nan Jennex, my grandfather's older brother, born 1861, and his wife. They lived just up the hill above my grandparents, on the other side of the road. Their houses were very much in sight of each other, which was unusual in that part of Jeddore.

Originally the land had belonged to my great grandfather, John Jennex, and had been divided between his two sons. Tom got the land on the harbour side of the road, and Jim got part of the land on the other side. It had been one large field with the road running through; each brother had gotten large tracts of woodland as well. Jim only had a narrow right-of-way to the harbour. As my grandfather had looked after the parents till they died, he had inherited the family house. As Jim and Nan had seven or eight children, there would have been no room for elderly parents.

Jim and Nan's children were long gone as they were in their late 60's or early 70's by the time I arrived on the scene. Nan Jennex always wore full dresses to the ground, usually dark or black in colour, and a bonnet. She was plump and cheerful, aloof, but kind to us kids. She probably had enought grandchildren of her own to lavish attention on. Nan used to get Jim to read the paper and letters to her, because her eyesight was bad. When daylight saving came, their household was probably the only one in Jeddore which refused to change: they were going to keep to God's time. Their house and presence is a feature in my early memories: of visits, of visitors, of cooperation in daily life, etc.

The two brothers got on quite well. I only remember them as old men, living on the old aged pension, and what they could produce for themselves. Looking back, I now realize that my grandmother and Jim's wife, Nan, never got on; I can't remember them ever visiting each other's houses. Nan used to get Jim to read to her, because she said that her eyesight was bad. I can remember my grandmother saying, nonsense, it was because she did not know how to read. This might have been so. My grandmother was a kind, generous person and such a remark was unusual for her. She and Nan must have had their day and now in old age more or less ignored each other.

They and my grandparents had visitors coming and going, some staying for the night, others just for the day; we kids looked on in wonder. They came in new cars and new clothes, suggesting a life and world different from ours. There was always special food for the guests, which made its way down to us kids.

Another person who played an ever present role in my early life was my grandfather's sister, Jemima Cauldwell, who was born 1863, or Aunt Mime to us kids. She had married and raised a family in England, but left her grown family to come back to Canada to live in the mid 1930's. She and her husband had been long separated. She occupied the second bedroom in my grandparents' home. So she is very much a part of my early life. She was a gracious, tall old lady, who liked reading. She was always kind, but at the same time remote to us kids. She was very popular with visitors, because she read tea leaves, that is, told fortunes by reading the tea leaves left in a person's cup. Most people drank tea, so there was plenty of leaves. Aunt Mime also read palms. She was probably a very interesting person, with her travels and reading, but I was too young to appreciate this. She is remembered with fondness.

Into this close community of three houses came Doug and Eva Jennex. Doug was Jim Jennex's youngest son. In the mid-1930's, he brought his bride, Eva, a town girl, to live in the country where all was new. I remember her rushing down to our house one day all afraid, because, as she had come down our enclosed wooded lane, a partridge, with its rush of wings in hurried flight, had scared her. She was welcome company for my mother. Also my mother being country bred, and knowing no way of life other than ours, must have been able to help Eva adjust.

There was a custom in Jeddore to refer to the married women, not just by their first name, but as a hyphenated attachment to their husband's first name. My mother was Belle-Roy; my grandmother,Ada-Tom. The other women in our immediate circle were Nanny-Jim and Eva-Doug. It was not just used to distinguish women of the same first name, although when this occured the habit was useful. So I grew up accustomed to hearing my mother referred to by others as Belle-Roy.

So my early life, up to age seven when I went to school, revolved around these three housholds, rarely with any other kids to play with. Sometimes cousins would visit for a half day, and we would, in turn, visit them. Mostly it was my brother, Garth and I, roaming the woods, fields and shore. Luckily he was very active, so the nearly two year age difference did not seem to matter. I was not sent to school till my brother had also reached school age, so that we could cover the five miles each way together. I suppose our parents realized his company would compensate for my shyness.