Gwendolyn Newling was born on 1st August 1892 to parents Revd. William Edgar Newling and his wife Alice Milsom. The fourth of five children born to Revd. and Mrs Newling Gwendolyn at The Vicarage in Clandown, Somerset, she was very much an intrepid adventurer during her lifetime. From information in the 1901 Census it appears that Gwendolyn and her siblings may have been schooled at home as they had a 19-year old French Governess named Helene Gledhill (b. 28 May 1881) from Reims in the Champagne-Ardenne region of northeastern France. (Research shows that ten years later in 1911 Helene Gledhill was a hospital nurse at Leeds City Hospital in Seacroft, Leeds). On 4th February 1913 Gwendolyn married her first cousin, my grandfather, Stroud Eric Milsom at St Mary's Parish Church, Watford, Herts. Interestingly, Gwendolyn was 'given away' by her cousin Elizabeth Molyneux-Seel and the groomsman was Stroud's beloved brother Sidney Milsom. Following the wedding reception, which was well attended, bride and groom set sail on their honeymoon and stayed at The Ritz in Paris (verified in correspondence written by Gwendolyn)  In 1913, Gwendoline (20) travelled to Canada with her husband Stroud (30) and two of his brothers, Sidney (27) and Harry (24) as evidenced by the Aliens Arrival manifest for St Albans, Vermont.  By the time of travel, Gwendoline was pregnant with her first child (Colleen Elizabeth Alice Milsom) who was born later that year on 3rd November 1913 (a honeymoon baby ?) in Kamloops, British Columbia. |
