Catherine Irene Denyse Morad ^{3,6,7,8,15,16,17}

  General Notes:

The normal residence for Catherine as a small child was at the Roseberry Manor in Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight but was actually born in London. Catherine's mother also had a son born previously that was stillborn. (prior to 1920)

Feb 4, 2003, interview with Catherine (Morad) Dyson.. In light of the apparent occupation of Fritz Morad as a baker as shown on his marriage registration it is a bit of a puzzle of how Catherine and her sister Greta found themselves to be in the rather prestigious manor known as "Roseberry" near Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

Also, in light of the recently revealed brothers and sisters of Alice (Allsop) Morad, why were the two girls not taken care of by the extended family of the Allsops after the mother Alice went to USA ?

A study of the land records for the "Roseberry" estate on the Isle of Wight would prove interesting.. jca Roseberry is presently occupied as a hotel and is located right in Shanklin..(as of 2003)
___________________________________________________
Certificate of Baptism.
I certify that Catherine Irene Denyse Morad daughter of Frederick Morad and Alice Morad (formerly) Allsop, was born on the 31st day of January, 1920 and was baptised on the 19th day of February, 1923rd, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, by the Rev. Patrick J. MacSwiney.
The sponsors were Denyse Thauvron and ------.
And I further Certify that the above is a true copy of the Register kept in the Catholic Church at THE SACRED HEART, SHANKLIN, ISLE OF WIGHT.
signed, Edward H Clark, date 3rd June 1934

(note: Denyse Thauvron was the nanny who took care of the Morad children.. jca) ⁶

  Research Notes:

August 21, 2010
Hi Jim:

Well, I spent today digging into our friend Alice again. Been trying to find a Harry Vigurs that would fit the dates we have managed to acquire.

I've been prompted by the recent visit with Ruth and Florence to see Catharine and Penny and have to tell you, I came away with my mind full of more questions! I have to say, there are some things that don't make sense, so it seems the best approach is to take very small steps in order to establish some reliable facts, and eliminate conjecture. This is all "off the cuff" for discussion purposes. It's just that two or more heads are sure better than one.

So now I'll proceed with conjecture.....

Catharine is such a neat lady and if you get a cup of tea, sit back with her and relax, she can take her time and think way back about what her life's experiences were. This is where we can pick up tidbits here, tidbits there and see what starts forming parts of her history.

I asked her about Roseberry House and if she recollected how she might have ended up there; moreover how long she might have lived there and with whom. e.g. did she have any recollection of Harry Vigurs? She speculated that perhaps he owned Roseberry and maybe even hired Denyse Thauvron. Also said her mother did stay there as well.

Then I asked if she could recall what age she might have been when she was sent to the orphanage in Swansea and did she know the name of it. I made notes for myself and later when we got back to Ruth's, we thought some clarification was needed as well as how Catharine got from an orphanage in Swansea and into nurse's training in London. Ruth talked to her mum the next day and got a bit more info:

Catharine was put with a family in Oxwich near Swansea. There was a father, mother and a little boy about the same age as Catharine. She thinks she was there before age 6 and probably stayed with them 1-2 years.
She then went into the orphanage in Swansea, might be St. Dunstan and we think would have been Catholic as Denyse had her baptized in an RC church on the Isle of Wight.

Catharine also mentioned that it was the people at the orphanage who told her they were really impressed her mum especially her ability with languages. So I'm asking where and why would they have been talking to her mum? Oh, they went to New York to look at her circumstances because she wanted to bring Catherine to New York. Ruth twigged immediately said whispered "I bet it was Denyse Thauvron", and we both think that's who they were talking to because it certainly sounds like Denyse was one of the women who put Catharine into "care".

My "evidence" is as follows: The earliest record of Denyse on the NY Passenger Lists is 1927 when she arrived in October from Cherbourg. Her occupation is teacher and could speak English, French, Spanish and Russian. Also the copy of Catharine's baptism showed it was verified in 1934. Catharine would have been 14 by then. Ruth found out from her mum that she went directly from Swansea to London into training at age 17.

Back to Alice: You were able to locate her working as a domestic in St Pancras on the 1911 Census with a family headed by Howard Angus Kennedy.
Did you notice that their daughter was born in Quebec? Also when Alice came to Canada, she was to work as a domestic for a family named Kennedy in Ottawa. Says I to myself, this looks a bit more than coincidental.
Turns out this Howard Kennedy made many trips between the UK and Canada, in fact, in November 1932 he noted he had lived in Ottawa between April 1881 and Oct 1932, and his address was 603 The Aylmer's, Ottawa, Ont.
Bingo! Now we know why Alice decided to come to Canada - she had a job with the same Kennedy family she worked for in 1911 before she married Morad. Actually in 1933 Mr Kennedy said he lived 1881-1933 in Montreal and the address was 5010 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal.

A little tidbit to add: their son roderick Kennedy, joined up in WW1 and gave his next of kin as H A Kennedy of Lacombe, Alberta.

I know this is a long and dragged out missive from me and I hope I have put it all in some sort of logical order. Not all of this is suitable for the web, but if you tell me what is appropriate, I can organize and send it back to you for ease of input.

By the way, Harry Vigurs? There is a wad of them in Fulham and there is a Harry born 4Q 1887 Vol 1a page 255, that might fit the bill, but I haven't managed anything more. Looking at the occupations of the various Vigur names, I don't see anyone who might have afforded Roseberry House.

Did find in the Wills website a Laura Vigurs (Vicurs) of 9 Goodhall-street, Willesden Junction Middlesex, Widow, died 7 Mar 1915 at Kingswood-road, Chiswick, Middlesex. administration London 31 Mar to Harry Vigurs, Constable. Effects 162 pounds 4s 10d. This is probably Harry Last Vigurs, the policeman who died before Spencer Dyson did, which just adds to the confusion as to whether it was Morad or Vigurs that Grethe told Catharine to go after for some money after Spencer died.

That's it -- thanks for being patient with me!
Maureen
______________
The birth registration for Catherine Morad was requested from the Achievements of Cantebury on Feb 4, 2003 jca The results of this search were received on March 4, 2003 and they found no trace of a birth registration of Catherine Morad. jca
(note. we later found the birth registration for Catherine under the name Katherine Irene Vigurs, born 31st January , 1920 at 302 Fulham Palace Road in London.)

  Noted events in her life were:

• Residence: Gully Road, 2001, Kelowna , B.C. ⁶

• Residence: 302 Fulham Palace Road, Jan 1920, Fulham, County of London. ¹⁶

• Residence: Isle of Wight, Abt 1921, Isle Of Wight, Great Britain. ⁶

• Residence: Field Place, Dec 1946, Huggetts Lane, Willingdon, Sussex. ³

• Travel: London to New York to Toronto, Canada, Dec 1946, London England to Toronto Canada. ¹⁸

Catherine married Spencer Dampier Dyson, son of Arthur Dyson and Florence Hudson, on 19 Dec 1946 in Trinity United Manse, Port Coquitlam, B.C. ⁶.^,7 (Spencer Dampier Dyson was born on 19 Oct 1905 in Zeerust, Transvaal, South Africa ^7,8,10,11, christened on 28 Jun 1906 in St. John the Baptist, Zeerust, Transvaal,¹¹ died on 23 Jan 1958 in Kelowna , B.C. ⁸ and was buried on 27 Jan 1958 in Kelowna City Cemetery, Kelowna , B.C. ⁸.)