Laura Gertrude Lemon
ID # 3254, (1866-1924)
| Father | Andrew Lemon (1830-1891) |
| Mother | Charlotte Laura Armstrong (1838-1882) |
| Birth | Laura Gertrude Lemon was born on 15 October 1866 at Guelph, Wellington Co., Canada West. |
| Marriage | She married William Heath on 15 June 1897 at Holy Trinity, Finchley, Hampstead, England. Ancestry has two documents relating to the marriage of Laura Gertrude Lemon and William Heath. These, in turn, are from the London Metropolitan Archives. The first is a document relating to the reading of the banns of marriage at Holy Trinity Church, Finchley, Hampstead. It reads: No. 161 Banns of Marriage Between William Heath, B, of this parish and Laura Gertrude Lemon, S, of the parish of St. Peters, Belsize Park Was Published As Follows 1st on Sunday May 30th by J.A. Bevan 2d on Sunday Jun 6 by J.A. Bevan 3d on Sunday Jun 13 by J.A. Bevan Then we find the marriage record from the same source. There are four records on two pages of a record book. Three of the marriages are for Holy Trinity, Finchley, Hampstead, in the County of London. For William and Gertrude, however, it reads: Holy Trinity, Finchley, Hampstead, in the County of Berks. On June 15th, 1897 William Heath, 32, bachelor, solicitor, residence illeg., but might be Hilbourne. Father William Henry Heath, surveyor. Laura Gertrude Lemon, 30, spinster, residence Hampstead. Father Andrew Lemon, barrister. Married in the Parish Church of Trinity after banns, by me Reginald C. illeg, but might be Edwards, Vicar of St. Peter, Berks. Witnesses Henry Heath and Kate Potter. |
| Death | She died on 18 August 1924 at Redhill, Surrey, England, at age 57. |
| Burial | She was buried on 21 August 1924 at Parish of Reigate, Redhill Surrey, England. |
| Note | Our first two sources for information of Laura Gertrude Lemon's life are taken from a biography published by the Guelph Public Library in its website and also the Canadian Encyclopedia's web page. The latter provides us with the date and place of her death, and the former tells us something of her marriage and of her children. She is said to have traveled to England when she was 24 years of age and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. She married there to William Heath and had two daughters. Her greatest claim to fame was as a song writer, some of her works being performed before Queen Victoria. It was Laura who wrote the music to the very popular song My Ain Folk which was published in 1905. In the 1871 census at Guelph, Ontario, Laura G., age 4, is with her parents. In 1881, Laura is still at Guelph. She is shown as age 13 and with her parents. Although the census information doesn't indicate it directly, Laura will have spent a few years in Winnipeg from summer of 1882 until she went to England. In 1891, Laura G. Lemon, age 24, born Canada, is shown in Bristol, Gloucestershire, at 6 Berkley Square, in the house of Laure G. Edwards. Laura is shown as a visitor and 'living on her own means'. In 1901, by this time married, Laura and her husband William are in Watford, Hertfordshire. William's place of birth is shown as Croydon, Surrey, and Laura's as Guelph, Ontario, Canada. With them are two daughters, one age 2, and the other age one month. By 1911, they are at St. Peter Intra, Kent. The 1921 English census is not yet available to us. The London Gazette of 31 October, 1924, has an advertisement for the estate of Laura Gertrude Heath nee Lemon. It states that she died on August 18, 1924. A 1924 burial record for the Parish of Reigate in Surrey has the following: Laura Gertrude Heath, abode The Hospital, Redhill, buried Aug. 21, age 57 years. G.N. Daniell, Off. Mins. Actual cemetery not stated, but may have been in the parish churchyard. |
| Last Edited | 5 Jan 2019 |