Stories from the Station: Gwendolyn Currie (Parsons) Scott

 Gwendolyn Currie (Parsons) Scott

(1904-1983)

Gwendolyn Currie (Parsons) Scott

Date of Birth: 1904

Place of Birth: Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and Labrador

Marriage: 11 October 1923

Date of Death: 1983

Place of Burial: Forest Road Anglican Cemetery, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Early Life 

Gwendolyn Currie Parsons was born in 1903 to Heber and Lillian Parsons1 outside of St. John’s, in the area which would become modern-day Mount Pearl. 

Image courtesy of Alf Sullivan.

Gwendolyn grew up on Bellvue (or “Bellview”) farm, a 115-acre property near Old Placentia Road. The land had been owned by Gwendolyn’s great-uncle Lionel Thomas Chancey. When he passed away in 1904, his land was left to his three nieces, Lillian (Christian) Parsons, Laura (Christian) Currie and Marie Christian. Laura and Marie had little interest in the land, so Lillian and her husband Heber Parsons were permitted to farm 50% of the property. 

Heber and Lillian had five children including Gwendolyn. She grew up with two older sisters, Marie (b. 1898) and Margaret (b. 1899), an older brother, Hector (b. 1901), and a younger sister, Olive (b. 1904)1. 

Image courtesy of Alf Sullivan.

Growing up on the farm Gwendolyn, her siblings and her parents would have been kept busy. Heber, and Hector as he got older, would have risen at the crack of dawn to milk the cows. Milk had to be brought to the dairy by 8:00AM2. Lillian, assisted by young Gwendolyn and Olive, would have been responsible for the traditional household duties such as cooking, laundry, cleaning and helping with farm work2. The children would have also helped weed, pull vegetables, cutting wood, milking cows, collecting eggs, and feeding animals2. All these responsibilities would have had to have been balanced with school and homework. 

Heber and Hector were willing to adapt to new technologies and implemented modern tools and techniques on the farm and at their home2. 

HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl

When Gwendolyn was 11 years old, her world began to change. In 1914, construction began on a top-secret wireless station close to the Parsons’ farm.

Construction of HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum,
Wireless Station collection, 001-001-002.

Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum.

HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl was built as part of the British Admiralty’s global communications network during the First World War. Eleven identical stations were built across the globe at Bathurst, New Brunswick; Ceylon (now Sri Lanka); Durban, South Africa; Demerara (now Guyana); Singapore; Hong Kong; Aden, Yemen; Seychelles; Mauritius and Port Nolloth, South Africa. The station in Mount Pearl monitored German naval transmissions, weather conditions and communicated with British ships at sea.

HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Wireless Station collection, 001-001-003.

Staff at HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Wireless Station collection, 001-001-005.

The station housed 22 service members including guards, telegraphists, engineers. Over the years of its operation staff included members of the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Navy, Royal Naval Reserve, and the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. 

While HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl was operational, the Parsons family entertained the men who worked there and provided welcome company in their rural setting. In 1918, Vice-Admiral William Grant, Commander in Chief of North America and the West Indies, wrote to the Governor of Newfoundland to commend the Parsons family for their hospitality. 

“In this report it is stated that a Mr. and Mrs. Parsons living near the W/T Station have been most kind in providing suitable amusement and society for the men belonging to the W/T Station. The Imperial Service ratings of W/T Station are very young and the isolated position of the Station renders it difficult for them to obtain any suitable society: the action of Mr. and Mrs. Parsons has undoubtedly contributed towards their happiness and has probably had a steadying effect upon them”

Letter from V.Adm. W.L. Grant to Governor of Newfoundland
commending the Parsons family.
Courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Wireless Station collection, 001-002-002.

Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-001.

Heber Parsons (2nd from Left) with HM Wireless Station Staff
and Hector Parsons (far right) in February 1919. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-040.

Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum,
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-033.

Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-017.

Gwendolyn and her sister Margaret found love amongst the service members at the station. Margaret married 1/L George Durban and Gwendolyn found partnership with Chief Petty Officer Charles Benjamin Scott.

George Durban married Margaret Parsons and was part owner of
the former wireless station property with C. Scott, Heber and Hector Parsons. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-011.

Image courtesy of Clem Scott.

Marriage

Charles Benjamin (“Ben”) Scott was a long-serving member of the British Royal Navy. In 1923, he was appointed the officer in charge of HM Wireless Station in Mount Pearl. He arrived in Newfoundland in April 19234.

Gwendolyn Parsons and Charles Benjamin Scott outside the Wireless Station. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Wireless Station collection, 001-001-010. 

Only 6 months later, 19-year-old Gwendolyn and 38-year-old Ben were married. Their nuptials took place on October 11, 19235 at Bellevue Farm. Their marriage was covered in the next day’s edition of the Evening Advocate.

Image courtesy of the Memorial University Digital Archive Initiative. 
Evening Advocate (St. John's NL) 1923-10-11. 

In early 1925, Gwendolyn and Ben’s first child, Clement Parsons Scott was born. The couple welcomed their second child, Elizabeth in 1926. Ben left the Royal Navy in 1925, after 25 years of service, and began working as a Wireless Press agent for the Evening Telegram and Daily News in 19263. 

Charles "Ben" Scott. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-007.

Just as the family was raising two infant children, they engaged in a real estate deal alongside Heber Parsons, Hector Parsons, and George Durban (and Margaret). Following the decommissioning and disposal of HM Wireless Station in 1925, the land was put up for auction. The 40-acre property was purchased by Heber, Hector, George and Ben and it became part of the larger Bellvue farm. 

Following the purchase of the property, the barracks building (which now houses Admiralty House Communications Museum, was converted into the new farmhouse, with four apartments for the families7. The farmhouse had electricity, a coal furnace and running water – uncommon luxuries at the time. 

The families continued to farm the land, dividing the transmitter building into two sections – half as a transmission station and the other half as a barn for the cattle and hay storage. 

Gwendolyn and Ben’s third child, Charles John Scott was born in 1929.

The farmhouse covered in snow in 1932,
with accompanying note on the back of the photograph.
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Wireless Station collection, 001-003-001.

During the 1930s, Ben and Richard “Dick” Bunt (married to Olive Parsons, the youngest of Heber and Lillian’s children) helped operate VONF (Voice of Newfoundland) radio alongside J.J. Collins. The Dominion Broadcasting Company had purchased the towers on the wireless station property. The towers subsequently became the property of the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland and the CBC following Confederation.

Charles "Ben" Scott checking VONF radio station at the farmhouse, c. 1942. 
Image courtesy of Admiralty House Communications Museum, 
Clem Scott collection, 006-001-010.

Later Life

Life on the farm changed in the 1940s. In 1945, Lillian Parsons died of a brain hemorrhage8,9 on December 7th. Her passing would have left a void on the farm and in the family. 

In 1949, Gwendolyn’s father passed away. Heber was 78 years old, when he died on May 21, 1949, of stomach cancer10. With Heber’s passing, Hector became the dominant owner of the Bellvue farm property.

Gwendolyn’s life was turned upside down in 1955 when Ben passed away at the age of 70 years old. Widowed at 51, Gwen moved in with her son Charles, who was an engineer. They lived at 13 Winter Avenue in St. John’s11. 

In 1963, Gwendolyn relinquished the portion of the wireless station that had been purchased by her and Ben to her brother Hector. 

Through the rest of the 1960s, Gwendolyn resided with her son Charles at 1 Taylor Place in St. John’s12.

Image courtesy of Google Maps.

In the early 1970s, Gwendolyn moved in with her daughter Elizabeth where they resided at 25 Laughlin Crescent13.

By 1973, Madeline Parsons was in the process of selling the remaining Bellvue Farm and wireless station lands to the Newfoundland Housing Corporation following the death of Hector that year. In 1974, a legal challenge was launched in response to this sale, arguing that Hector (and by extension Madeline) did not have adequate title to the land in order to sell it. This stemmed from the agreement that allowed Heber and Lillian use of the majority of the land that had been left to Lillian and her sisters. Gwendolyn, along with her sister Margaret and several other family members were involved in the challenge. 

The resolution of this challenge is unclear, however, the sale to the NLHC was concluded and they held the wireless station property and developed the surrounding land. 

Gwen’s youngest son, Charles John Scott passed away in 1975. 

Gwendolyn passed away in 1983 and was buried in the Anglican Cemetery in St. John’s alongside her husband Ben. Her daughter and son Charles are also buried there in the family plot. Her son Clement, became a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and passed away in 2017. He donated a large collection of images to Admiralty House Communications Museum, some of which are featured in this article. Although the identity of the photographer(s) is unknown, it is possible that Gwendolyn took some of the photographs.

Image courtesy of FindAGrave.com

Family Tree

Husband

1. Charles Benjamin SCOTT (b. 12 October 1885, d. 1955) 

1. Born in Hardwick, Aylesbury, England

Children

1. Clement Parsons SCOTT (b. 16 January 1925, d. 27 March 2017)

1.  Became a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador

2. Elizabeth (“Betty”) SCOTT (b. 1926, d. 15 April 2000)

1. 15 years in the Royal Canadian Navy15

2. Worked for the Newfoundland Liqour Corporation

3. Charles John SCOTT (b. 1929, d. 1975)

1. Wife: Valerie

Parents (Married 16 November 1896)

1. Heber PARSONS (b. March 1871, d. 21 May 1949)

1. Farmer from the Burin District

2. Lilian (Christian) PARSONS (b. 11 March 1871, d. 11 December 1945) 

1. From Grand Bank/Fortune

2. Parents: George & Mary CHRISTIAN

Siblings

1. Marie PARSONS (b. 1898)

1. 1921 was working as a bookkeeper

2. Margaret Chancey (Parsons) DURBAN (b. 22 August 899)

1. Husband: George DURBAN (b. 6 February 1885, d. 25 January 1947)

3. Hector Christian PARSONS (b. 1901, d. 1973), Farmer

1. Wife: Madeline (Chancey or Simms) PARSONS

2. Children:

1. Peggy PARSONS (b. 1943)

2. George PARSONS (b. 1944)

4. Olive (Parsons) BUNT (b. 1904)

1. Husband: Richard (“Dickie”) BUNT

2. Children: Douglas BUNT

Sources

1. 1921 Census, District of St. John’s West, Section Kilbride to Mount Pearl, Page 629. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

2. Murray, Hilda Chaulk. Cows Don’t Know It’s Sunday: Agricultural Life in St. John’s. St. John’s: ISER Books, 2002. 

3. 1930. Who’s Who in and From Newfoundland. Pub. Richard Hibbs, St. John’s NL. Digital copy available courtesy of the Memorial University Digital Archive Initiative. http://lib-lespaul.library.mun.ca/PDFs/cns_tools/WhosWho1930.pdf

4. Service Record of Charles Benjamin Scott, 212613. Available online at https://royalnavyrecordsww1.rmg.co.uk/view/212613?name%5Bforename%5D=charles+benjamin&name%5Bsurname%5D=scott&name%5Bsubmit%5D=

5. Newspaper Clipping from the Evening Advocate, (St. John’s, N.L.), 1923-10-11, “Wedding Bells.” The newspaper scan is courtesy of the Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Digital Archive Initiative.

6. 1935 Census, District of St. John’s West, Section The Boggy Hall, Page 147. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

7. 1945 Census, District of St. John’s West, Section Boggy Hall, Page 130. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

8. 1945 Death Registration, Lillian Parsons. Newfoundland death records, 1891-1949, Newfoundland. Vital Statistics Division; Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Provincial Archives (Newfoundland & Labrador), Newfoundland, Canada. Online copy available at ancestry.ca

9. Lillian Parsons and Heber Parsons, FindAGrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/204367971/lillian-parsons

10. 1949 Death Registration, Heber Parsons. Newfoundland death records, 1891-1949, Newfoundland. Vital Statistics Division; Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Provincial Archives (Newfoundland & Labrador), Newfoundland, Canada. Online copy available at ancestry.ca

11. 1957 Voter List, St. John’s East, page 2. Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980. R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

12. 1968 Voter List, St. John’s East, page 2. Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980. R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

13. 1974 Voter List, St. John’s East, Polling District 46A, page 2. Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935–1980. R1003-6-3-E (RG113-B). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, online record available on Ancestry.ca.

14. Gwendolyn Currie Scott, FindAGrave.com

15. 2000 Obituary of Elizabeth Scott. http://ngb.chebucto.org/Newspaper-Obits/tele-obits-apr00.shtml