Ann
Dale, widow of the late Charles Bannister, of Townsend, passed away at
her residence on Monday, May 23rd, in her 82nd year. Born in Bramham,
Yorkshire, England, 28 Sep 1828, her early years were spent
amid the beautiful scenery of that island of parks and gardens. She received a
good education for that time and for some years assisted her
grandmother, Eleanor Heaton, in the care of the village post
office.
At the age of 18, with her father, mother and two brothers, she came to Canada
on the sailing vessel Imogen, the voyage occupying six weeks and
ending in a wreck on the shores of Cape Breton, her father dying from
the subsequent exposure. Soon after
reaching their destination in the new and what must have seemed to
them rugged country, she met and married Charles Bannister
of Winona, with who she spent nearly 61 years of happy wedded life.
Twelve children
were born to them, five sons and seven daughters, of whom three sons
and five daughters survive, namely,
Mrs. E. B. Freeman of Freeman;
Miss Georgina Bannister;
Mrs. W. A. Smith of Burlington Plains; Mrs.
E. Elliott of Bay City;
Mrs. Wm. McKerlie of Vanessa;
Albert W., of Pasadena, Cal., and George D. and Charles O., of
Townsend.
In 1851 Mr. and
Mrs. Bannister settled upon the farm where they resided until their
earthy union was severed by the death of Mr. Bannister in Aug 1908,
in his 88th year.
In middle life,
in the midst of her greatest activity, Mrs. Bannister met with an
accident which resulted in the loss of her eyesight, a great
affliction to herself and family. But being endowed with a keen
intellect, a forceful personality and a sociable nature, she became
more than ever the centre of the home circle and of the family
friends.
Confirmed in
youth according to the rites of the English Church, she became a
member of the Methodist Church in Canada, and has now joined her
husband and children in the church triumphant where she will see with
more than mortal vision.
