Elizabeth Helen Moore FitzGerald (Zeenie) Townsend (556)
| Date of Birth: | 13 Apr 1876 |
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| Date of Death: | 20 Sep 1947 |
| Generation: | 8th |
| Residence: | Victoria, BC, Canada |
| Father: | Robert Uniacke FitzGerald Townsend [531] |
| Mother: | Gertrude Townsend [5A04] |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: |
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| See Also: | Table V ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Elizabeth Helen Moore FitzGerald Townsend
Elizabeth Helen was born in Queenstown, Cork and was only ever called 'Zeenie' throughout her life. From the age of 8 she was educated at a school in Kreuznach near Bingen in Germany. Totally fluent in German, she went to finishing school in Brussels and later studied under a singing teacher called “Garcia II”.
Married first on 27 June 1900 in Galway (1). Thomas George Kingscote (b. 21 August 1875 d. 20 October 1936), was the son of Major Fitzhardinge Kingscote, (2) late of The Rifle Brigade and of Furbogh House, Co Galway.
The April 1901 Irish Census records Zeenie and Thomas Kingscote living at house 6 in Rockview Terrace, North East Ward, Cork with her mother-in-law, their new born son and three domestic staff. The house consisted of nine rooms. Thomas is shown as a Land Agent and it is known that he worked for his father-in-law, Robert Uniacke FitzGerald Townsend [531], who was a most successful land agent with the firm of Hussey & Townsend at 69, South Mall, Cork.
Zeenie and Thomas moved to British Columbia, Canada in 1907 and there bought a farm they called 'Erinville' in Chilliwack, using some of the £10,00 given to her by her father. According to her grandsons, Zeenie went to BC with over a hundred blouses, a lady’s maid and a footman (Mike and Mary O’Neil). Sadly, Zeenie and Thomas were divorced in 1911 as the farm was not well managed with much spent on luxuries, improvident farm management and deals.
Married secondly Major Donald Valpy Porteous (3) MC, MID, of Saanich, British Columbia on 26 August 1914 in Everett, Washington, USA.
Donald was awarded his MC for gallantry in establishing communications whilst under heavy fire during an attack. The citation can be seen on page 309 of the Supplement to the Edinburgh Gazette dated 13 January 1919.
Zeenie died in Victoria, BC.
Of the children from the first marriage:
John Patrick Fitzhardinge Kingscote was born in 1901 in Cork and is shown on the April Census of that year. He had a son and three daughters.
Jack Kingscote, was a High School teacher and lived in Whitehorse, Yukon and had three sons (Andrew Patrick, Sean Kevin and Warren Cameron) all of whom are married. For over a quarter of a century, Jack coordinated the Yukon Sourdough Air Display; in addition he, and his wife Myrna, were much involved in various community projects for the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Society. Of the daughters Jessie Zeenie is deceased, Kathleen is married and living in Pensacola, Florida and Phyllis Vye is married and living in Port Hardy, BC. John Patrick worked on the paddle steamers in the Yukon 1920-21 and spent the rest of his life in British Columbia until his death on 27 January 1979 in Parksville, BC.
Violet Agnes Kingscote was born in 1905 in Ireland. She married Mr Cummings, lived in Winnipeg and had a son and a daughter. (According to thepeerage.com she married Mr Nyberg in 1938 in Hampstead, London, England.)
Maureen Helen Kingscote was born in 1907 in Ireland. She was married more than once but had no children.
Rosalind Estelle Kingscote was born on 29 September 1911 in Chilliwack, British Columbia and was educated at Queen Margaret's School, Duncan BC. She married John Arthur Knox (b. 9 October 1909 d. 14 July 1998) in 1935 and had two sons, John Robert Knox (b. 4 June 1946 in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada) and David Anthony Knox (b.23 April 1948 in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada). Rosalind died on 24 June 1998 in Victoria, British Columbia.
Of the children from the second marriage. Cecilia Porteous was born on 6 November 1916 and adopted out of the family in 1916/7. Patricia Porteous was born in 1921, married Wesley Boyd and had seven children.
Of Zeenie's grandchildren:
John Robert Knox (Robert) returned to the UK in 1969 and was Keeper of the Department of Asia, British Museum until his retirement in 2006. He married Helen Zarb (b.16 February 1953) daughter of Arnold Zarb and Princess Salome Dadiani (5) at Edrom, Berwickshire, Scotland, on 1st August 1981. (The Dadiani dynasty is very ancient). They have three daughters - Alexandra Elizabeth Salomé b. 1984. Catherine Helen Victoria b. 1986 and Antonia Charlotte Rosalind b. 1990. Robert lives in north London with his wife and family and provided much of the detail in these notes.
David Anthony Knox (Tony) married Margaret Anne Wright, daughter of Robert Phillips Wright and Mary Grace Rolph in 1981. They have two sons and a daughter (John Patrick Robert FitzAnthony b. 1983. Margaret Elizabeth Rosalind b. 1985 and Charles Edward Arthur FitzAnthony b. 1988.) David is a partner in a law firm and lives in Vancouver, BC with his wife and family.
(1) Entry in the diary of Agnes Townsend [334] - 'June 1900 two daughters of R U F T's were married, one to a Mr Kingslate (sic), forget the other'.
(2) The Kingscote family originates from Kingscote in Gloucestershire, however this branch of the family lived at Furbogh House, Co. Galway, now a dismal ruin.
(3) Donald was born in Rajamundry in the old Madras Presidency on 8 June 1873. He was commissioned into the 1st Royals (Dragoon Guards) and then fought in the Boer War. He later joined the South African Police under Robert Baden-Powell who was a close friend, and was subsequently a 'senior magistrate in the Orange River Colony' before South African independence. Donald emigrated to Canada in 1911. During WWI he joined the 48th Battalion of The Canadian Light Infantry and finished the war as a Major in the East Lancashire Regiment. He died on 28 September 1959 in Saanich, BC.
(5) Princess Salomé Iossifovna Dadiani was born on 22 December 1912 at Baku, Georgia, Russia. She was the daughter of Prince Iossif Yulioni Dadiani and Princess Thamar Dadiani. She married Arnold Zarb, son of Arnold Zarb and Emilia Derenzinovitch, on 16 January 1949 at Cairo, Egypt. She died on 9 January 1957 aged 44 at Casablanca, Morocco.