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Quite an undertaking: The story of Violet Guymer, Canada's first female licensed funeral director
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Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 16, 2015
This was sooooooooooooo interesting !!! It's subtitled "The Haunting True Story of a Unique Lady Mortician". Violet grew up here and also married an Englishman and then he and his brother decided to emigrate to Canada-the middle of nowhere in Manitoba. Violet ended up there widowed and alone with 5 kids and another on the way, sadly, so she decided to take over her husband's business herself.
How she managed in those awful winters out there with no heat or running water and trying to run a funeral directors I'll never know. This was in the early 1900's !!
Violet was a fascinating lady and had a terrific sense of humour and had a lot of tales to tell, both funny and sad. One of her daughters helped compile this book and she sadly died in April aged 95 !! Her grandaughter wrote it.
I'd really recommend it as a really interesting read. I did it in a day easily.....couldn't put it down !!
How she managed in those awful winters out there with no heat or running water and trying to run a funeral directors I'll never know. This was in the early 1900's !!
Violet was a fascinating lady and had a terrific sense of humour and had a lot of tales to tell, both funny and sad. One of her daughters helped compile this book and she sadly died in April aged 95 !! Her grandaughter wrote it.
I'd really recommend it as a really interesting read. I did it in a day easily.....couldn't put it down !!
March 3, 2013
The title of this short biography is a little misleading; while Violet Guymer was indeed an undertaker and mortuary owner, it’s only a small part of the story.
In 1905, Violet, with two small children, followed her husband, Daniel, and his brother, Lawrence, from England to the wilds of western Canada. At the time, the Canadian government was giving settlers 160 acres of land for the $10 cost of recording the deed. Prior to this, Violet was a professional dancer and lived a contented life of teas, community affairs, rose gardening and bridge games. Life on the frontier in Manitoba was a far different thing. Suddenly, with the men working long days, Violet had to learn to live a primitive life. More children soon followed the two she had arrived with.
Thankfully, they soon moved into town, which, while still a place without water or sewer, at least had some amenities, and Daniel and Lawrence had some financial success with a draying company and a mortuary. Things fell apart when Daniel died suddenly, leaving the widow with a lot of small children to take care of. She did it by stepping into Daniel’s shoes, taking over running the draying company and learning mortuary science. For a long time, she did it successfully, too. Of course she had to deal with people who thought that a woman shouldn’t be doing that kind of work- not that they had an answer to how else she was supposed to provide for her family! Violet led an eventful life that was filled with long hours and back breakingly hard work. She was a terrifically strong woman who refused to give up.
The book is told mainly in Violet’s voice, with parts told by her daughter and granddaughter, and one long letter from Daniel to her. It’s not a smooth narrative but jerks about a bit. While it was interesting, I was really hoping for more about the mortuary business and there was really not much on that.
In 1905, Violet, with two small children, followed her husband, Daniel, and his brother, Lawrence, from England to the wilds of western Canada. At the time, the Canadian government was giving settlers 160 acres of land for the $10 cost of recording the deed. Prior to this, Violet was a professional dancer and lived a contented life of teas, community affairs, rose gardening and bridge games. Life on the frontier in Manitoba was a far different thing. Suddenly, with the men working long days, Violet had to learn to live a primitive life. More children soon followed the two she had arrived with.
Thankfully, they soon moved into town, which, while still a place without water or sewer, at least had some amenities, and Daniel and Lawrence had some financial success with a draying company and a mortuary. Things fell apart when Daniel died suddenly, leaving the widow with a lot of small children to take care of. She did it by stepping into Daniel’s shoes, taking over running the draying company and learning mortuary science. For a long time, she did it successfully, too. Of course she had to deal with people who thought that a woman shouldn’t be doing that kind of work- not that they had an answer to how else she was supposed to provide for her family! Violet led an eventful life that was filled with long hours and back breakingly hard work. She was a terrifically strong woman who refused to give up.
The book is told mainly in Violet’s voice, with parts told by her daughter and granddaughter, and one long letter from Daniel to her. It’s not a smooth narrative but jerks about a bit. While it was interesting, I was really hoping for more about the mortuary business and there was really not much on that.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews