Complied by her great-grand-daughter, Wanda Jennings Garrett
Charlotte Fanny (King) Vey, known as Aunt Fanny, was a midwife/district nurse for about twenty years in Random.
Fanny came to Long Beach as a young teacher in 1901. She left in 1903 to teach in Point-au-Gaul but return in 1904 as the wife of George Shirley Vey. Fanny raised eight children, was the postmistress of Long Beach for over forty years, the organist at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, and a midwife/district nurse. Like other women of that time period, she was a very busy lady.
With six months of training from the Grace Hospital, Fanny became a midwife/district nurse in Random in the early 1930s. Her bag was always packed and she was ready to go on a minutes notice, day or night, when she was needed.
Part of her routine, when getting ready to deliver a baby, was to first wash her hands and the hands of the mother-to-be. Once the mother’s hands were washed she would tell the mother-to-be to place her hands under the blanket to keep warm. A young mother, who had her first baby at a hospital, asked Fanny why she did this as they didn’t do it in the hospital. Fanny reply, “I don’t have anything to give you if you get sick like they do at the hospital.”
After the birth of the baby and everything was done, Fanny would kneel at the bed of the new mother and say a prayer. The next thing she would do, if she was outside Long Beach, was to send a telegram or phone her husband to let him know everything was alright.
Her grand-daughter can remember staying at her grandparent’s home and waking up in the morning to find her grandmother gone. Her grandfather would say, “Your grandmother is gone again. I don’t know when she will be back.”
We don’t know how many babies Fanny delivered but feel certain it was a large number*. Fanny delivered her first baby on April 7, 1932 – Eva Avery, daughter of Alfred John and Sarah Jane (Langor) Avery of Long Beach. She delivered her last baby on December 27, 1953 – Kate Stringer, daughter of Clifford and Edith (Avery) Stringer.
Fanny was born on August 19, 1882 in Cat Cove, daughter of William Alfred and Susan (Wooldridge) King. She married George Shirley Vey on December 12, 1904. Fanny passed away on January 19, 1959.
*We are trying to put together a list of babies born by Fanny. If you can help please email Wanda at info@swahsociety.com
Thanks
Special thanks to Fanny’s grand-daughters, Shirley (Smith) Jennings and Gwen (Vey) Peddle for helping to put together this information.