Volume 24 www.legionnl.com 25 Newfoundland Labrador Command continued ... Under the patronage of Lady Margaret Davidson (wife of the Newfoundland Governor Sir Walter Davidson) in 1914, Rachel Parsons became a founding member of the Women’s Patriotic Association (WPA). One of the core goals of this Association was to “provide Newfoundland & Labrador servicemen with comforts from home” and, as president of her local branch – and alongside over 15,000 other volunteer women of Newfoundland – they wholeheartedly fulfilled this goal. For her outstanding service to Newfoundland (as a Commonwealth country then), above and beyond expectations, King George V awarded her “the dignity and rank of Officer of the British Empire (OBE) together with all and singular privileges thereunto belonging”. She was one of nine WPA members in our country who received such a distinction. The medal denoting her OBE was presented at Government House on December 8, 1919. Rachel Parsons, OBE was my great aunt. She was the eldest of a prominent family of 10 siblings that included lawyers, musicians, teachers, artists, and a Commissioner of the Hudson Bay Company. Her great great grandparents were among the earliest settlers in Bay Roberts, originating from the Dorset/Devon region of England. Often, we are left wondering about our ancestors, not just about their accomplishments but also who they were as human beings – their characteristics and mindset. There are not many left in our family now who knew my dear aunt well; let this be a glimpse into a small part of who she was, not just what she did. As the eldest of what she called her “tribe”, Rachel’s younger brothers and sisters had difficulty pronouncing her name so she became “Datie” [date - ee] to all family and friends. Aunt Datie was an intelligent, welleducated, strong-willed, independent Newfoundland woman. She often corrected others when she was introduced as “Miss Parsons, our teacher” by saying she was first a Newfoundlander, next a woman, and finally a teacher. As we Newfoundlanders say, there were “no flies on her”. She was also the most compassionate, creative, gentle, and brave woman I have ever known. Aunt Datie was a somewhat short, petite lady. This was a smokescreen. Her diminutive stature in no way reflected her persona. She was literally larger than life. As was the style during her younger years, she wore hard-soled, strapped shoes with thick heels. Such shoes, worn by a fiercely-determined woman, became the singular most common way we located her. My mother often responded to the question “Where is Aunt Datie?” with “Listen for the elephants!”. Aunt Datie was a teacher: a teacher who chose to teach in a struggling, lower socio-economic village about eight miles from her home. She bicycled there and back most days, except during winter when she boarded locally. Each day, she carried food in her bicycle basket to feed the children because, in her words, nobody can learn on an empty stomach. In the wintertime, she brought a barrel of food with her every Sunday when she returned by sleigh for the week. She also believed every woman, especially mothers, should know how to read and write in order to reinforce their children’s learning. To this end, she visited and tutored women in their homes after school hours during the winter (men RACHEL FANNIE PARSONS, OBE of Bay Roberts, Conception Bay (September 26, 1878 – December 9, 1966).
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