Fanny Elizabeth (Betty) Ayres [Boxall, Huntley] (1910-1960)

Dates

Birth: 8 November 1910 Manor, Saskatchewan, Canada
Father: Charles Reginald Ayres 1884-1947
Mother: Mabel Fanny Catchpole 1882-1956

Christening: Unknown

Marriage: January-March 1934 Malling, Kent, UK
Husband: Arthur Cecil (Bob) Huntley 1910-1978

Marriage: October-December 1944 Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, UK
Husband: William (Bill, Rocky) J Boxall 1913-2003

Death: 10 September 1960 Mission City, British Columbia, Canada
Burial: Plot: 51 17 Hatzic Cemetery, Hatzic, Fraser Valley Regional District, British Columbia, Canada

Children

Notes

Entry in the 1911 census as Fanny Elizabeth Ayres, aged 6 months, born in November 1910 and living with her parents (Charles Reginald and Mabel Fanny) and brother (Charles Edward) in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. A note added by Faye E. Grant states "Born in Sask.; resides in Carlyle, Sask".

In the 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta as Betty Ayres aged 5, born in Saskatchewan, and living with her parents (Charles and Mabel), two brothers (Douglas and Charles), and two sisters (Judith and Nona) at 527 Richmond, 09, Winnipeg South, Manitoba, both parents born in England and immigrated in 1902.

Her sister Margaret Daphne was born in Canada in 1919.

Marriage of Arthur C Huntley and Fanny E Ayres in FreeBMD in January-March 1934 in Malling (2a 625).

Her son was born in Wateringbury in 1936.

Her daughter Carol Wendy was born in Willesden in January-March 1944, but her birth was registered after the marriage in 1945 in Willesden.

Marriage of Fanny E Ayres and Fanny E Huntley to William J Boxall in FreeBMD in October-December 1944 in B.Stortford (3a 2326).

Her son Garry was born in SW Surrey in 1946, and another son was born in Canada.

Entry in Ancestry New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 for Fanny E Boxall aged 36, married, housewife, arrived New York on 12 December 1946 departing Southampton 7 December 1946 on the Queen Elizabeth together with Donald, Gary and Carol W Boxall (children) in transit to Ewan, Canada, visas London 22 November 1946.

Entry in Ancestry UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 for Elizabeth Fanny Boxall aged 42, a housewife, resident of Canada, arriving Liverpool on 18 March 1953 departing St John, New Brunswick, Canada on Empress of France, Canadian Pacific Line, address c/o Mrs Ayres, 10 The Lawn, St Leonards on Sea, Sussex.

Entry in Ancestry All British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990 for Fanny Elizabeth Boxall, born in 1911, on 10 September 1960 at Mission, British Columbia, Canada.

Entry in FindAGrave for Elizabeth Boxall died 12 September 1960 buried Plot: 51 17 Hatzic Cemetery, Hatzic, Fraser Valley Regional District, British Columbia, Canada

Matthew Savill has an entry in Ancestry Public Member Trees for Fanny Elizabeth Ayres born on 8 November 1910 in Manor, Saskatchewan, Canada, her residence in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan in the 1911 census, at 527 Richmond in the 1916 census, her marriage to William J Boxall in England in 1944, her arrival in New York on 12 December 1946, and her death in Mission City, Canada on 10 September 1960 from the British Columbia Death Index 1872-1979. E Boxall adds her departure from Saskatchewan, Canada in 1915 and arrival in England, her residence with two brothers and three sisters at a boarding school near Exeter, Devon between 1915 and 1918, her marriage to Arthur Bob Huntly in Wateringbury near Maidstone in 1934, and residence there, a son, her divorce in 1940, and two sons and a daughter from her marriage to William J Boxall. Another entry gives her birth on 8 November 1910 in Manor, Saskatchewan, Canada, her marriage to Arthur Cecil Huntley, a son and her death on 10 September 1960 in Mission, British Columbia, Canada.

Her son Donald submitted the following to the Pier21 Museum

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Boxall
English War Bride
Queen Elizabeth into New York
December 12, 1946
Elizabeth (Betty) Boxall : A War Bride with a Different Story
Elizabeth (Betty) Boxall came to Canada as a war bride in 1946, but her life up to that time was quite a bit different than most of the girls who met and married Canadians during World War II.

Betty was born Elizabeth Ayres, in 1910, in Manor, Saskatchewan. Her parents were British, and had come to Canada in about 1905. Betty’s Dad worked on a farm nearby, then the family moved to Melville, and later to Winnipeg.

When Betty was about five her Dad decided to enlist to fight in WWI, and with his family now consisting of his wife and four children, they returned to England in 1915. Betty grew up in Devon, near Exeter, attending boarding school there along with her two brothers and three sisters.

When Betty was aged 22 she met and was courted by Arthur (Bob) Huntley, who lived near Maidstone. They were married in 1934. They settled in Wateringbury, near Maidstone, and ran a little tea shop that also sold sweets and other goodies.

The marriage didn’t work out, so Bob and Betty separated shortly after war broke out. Bob enlisted, and was posted elsewhere, while Betty continued to run the tea shop and bring up her son, Don, who had been born in 1936.

The aerodrome at West Malling was nearby, and airmen from there often dropped into the shop for tea, cigarettes, etc. One of these fellows, Bill 'Rocky' Boxall, was from Vancouver, Canada. Bill had come to work in England before the war, then joined the RAF after war broke out. Betty of course was intrigued by Bill’s Canadian accent, and soon found out where he was from. She later told him that she was Canadian by birth and filled him in on the rest of her story. Bill told her his nickname 'Rocky' was given to him by his airforce buddies who knew that he came from somewhere close to the Rocky Mountains in Canada. Betty and Bill were married in 1944, and, when the war ended, decided to return to Canada as soon as possible, together with her son Don, plus Wendy and Gary, born in 1944 and 1946. They planned to go to Vancouver, where Bill’s mother, sister and many friends still lived.

Bill returned to Canada in December 1946 aboard a Canadian navy vessel, while Betty and the three children boarded the Queen Elizabeth in Southampton, bound for New York, arriving on Dec. 12th. This voyage of the Queen Elizabeth was one of the first after the ship had been converted back to its passenger status, from its wartime troopship duties. Betty and family traveled by train from New York to Toronto, where they met Bill, who had landed earlier in Halifax, and together they carried on to Vancouver by train. For a short time the family lived in Vancouver with relatives, then moved to Chilliwack briefly, before buying their own home in Burnaby, where they lived for about ten years. While in Burnaby Betty met several other war brides, and helped to form a local war-brides’ group. Betty was almost obsessed with the idea of returning to England to visit her friends and family there, and eventually saved enough money to do just that. In 1953 she left her family in the care of her mother-in-law and journeyed to England. But to her surprise England wasn’t what she had envisioned over the years, due to the many changes since she had left. Betty found that she was more than ready to return to Canada when her few weeks in England were ended.

Betty and her family eventually moved again, to Mission, British Columbia, where she lived the rest of her life.

And she really was a 'war bride with a difference': Born in Canada, moved to England, met a Canadian, married a Canadian, moved back to Canada. Betty never ever really broke her Canadian ties.

Relationship

Fanny Elizabeth Ayres was the wife of William J Boxall, my second cousin once removed.

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