Dell Cross would later say John Henry Smith’s wife was a gypsy. She is said to have had Spanish blood, and be the ancestor from which the more intuitive of our family inherit their gift. In reality Ellen Garrett was a butcher’s daughter from the village of Farthinghoe in Northampshire -but her maternal grandfather (John Hawkes) travelled between the villages of Oxfordshire selling horses.
FARTHINGHOE, NORTHANTS
Ellen d/o William Garrad & Elizabeth Hawkes was born in Farthinghoe in Northampshire Feb 24, 1842 and her mother registered the birth on March 11. She was the fifth of eight children.
She was 23 and still living at home, when she married John Henry Smith in Farthinghoe's parish church on Aug 1, 1863. The ceremony was witnessed by her father, William Garrad, and sister Sarah (Milligan?)
The couple resided in Birmingham until about 1882, when they emigrated to Canada. They lived first in Winnipeg and then Morden, Manitoba.
VANCOUVER
According to Ellen's death certificate, the couple moved to Vancouver in 1909. They were living at 1049 Georgia street, Vancouver, when Ellen died of heart disease on July 8, 1918.
John Henry Smith then went to live with his son Ben and his wife.