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Read Emma's Journal
Life after the Journal
Emma, Octavius and their four children, Fanny, Isaac, Ethel and William Peacey (Pax) continued to farm in the Clanwilliam area for another 20 years. However, hardship and tragedy continued to plague the family. The Averills' second home also burned to the ground, this time, in the night. The family was forced to flee in their night clothes and Emma's suffered serious frostbite burns to her feet. Once again, the Averill's relied on the kindness and support of neighbours for their third house-raising. Paddy McDermott, a Minnedosa storekeeper, offered clothing and household goods and waited until the family was firmly established before sending a bill.
Throughout her journal, Emma lamented the lack of religious services in the North West. To remedy the situation, Octavius donated an acre of land for All Saints Church and cemetery in Clanwilliam. He then approached family and friends in England for funds to build a church. His fundraising efforts were so successful that the church was fully paid for when it opened on August 15, 1884. Both Emma and Octavius were active members of the congregation; Octavius served as a lay reader and occasionally conducted the church service and officiated at baptisms and funerals when a minister could not attend, Emma played the organ. Octavius also served as a Justice of the Peace for the area.
In 1883, Emma's sister, Mary Peacey, married Charles Bennett and left the family to set up a home of her own near Gladstone. In 1885, Ethel Averill, went to live with her aunt and uncle so she could attend Palestine School which was located a short distance from the Bennett home. The other three Averill children were not so fortunate; they had to endure a three mile walk to attend Lakelet School, the closest to their home.
In the 1890s, life improved for the Averill family and the oxen were replaced by a large number of horses. This greatly reduced the time spent traveling the twelve miles to and from Minnedosa.
In 1896, the Averills' oldest daughter, Fanny, married Laurence Constable and for a short time farmed east of Clanwilliam then moved to town to operate a small general store. The following year, Ethel Averill married John Crawley. John and Ethel purchased the Proven homestead, site of the shanty the Averill family had previously occupied in 1880.
In 1900, fate was to strike a further blow to the family. Their youngest son Pax, at 25 years of age, was thrown from a horse at the Minnedosa fair and was killed. This was more than the Averill couple could bear and in 1903, they sold their farm and headed for British Columbia on the first passenger train out of Clanwilliam. They re-located in the Cowichan region where their son Isaac operated a dairy farm. In 1906, Octavius Averill died at age 60, the result of being thrown from a buggy when his horse was spooked by a passing car. Emma survived a further nine years and in 1915 she finally succumbed to complications due to the frostbite she suffered when the Averills' second house burned to the ground.
Find out more… search Emma Averill in the Keystone Archives Descriptive Database.
