Harriett Freeman
The older of Charles Freeman’s two daughters, Harriett Rowell Freeman was born on November 8, 1884, in Lancaster, New Hampshire. At the age of fourteen, she moved with her family to St. Pierre and Miquelon, where she attended a convent school with her sister, Mary. In 1907, she moved with her family to Durango, Mexico and was there to experience the early days of the country’s revolution.
Harriet and her sister Mary visited with the American Consulate General, Phillip Hanna in Monterrey, Mexico while their father was posted these. The girls had very active social lives with other Americans living in Mexico.
In the fall of 1911, she traveled with her family to Sydney, Nova Scotia where her father took up his post at the US Consulate. Unable to find appropriate accommodations when they arrived, the family lived in a hotel until May 1, 1912, when they moved to 93 Cromarty Street in Sydney. Prior to her marriage, Harriet worked with the United States Consulate office in Sydney.
While living in Sydney, Harriett, Mary and their mother, Susan had very busy social lives, especially during the summer months. They attended picnics, tennis matches and yacht races and socialized with friends in a variety of settings. During the First World War, Harriett assisted her mother, who ran the Sydney branch of the American Red Cross.
Through friends, Harriett met Irishman Charles Stuart Jamieson. Jamieson was born in June 1887 and moved to Canada in 1910. Settling first in Ontario, he eventually made his way to Sydney in 1914 where he worked at Dominion Tar Company. Jamieson worked his way up from an entry level employee in 1914 to a manager’s position in 1928. He and Harriet were married sometime in 1915. After they married, Harriett moved in with Charles at 536 Charlotte Street.
As the woman of a household, Harriett was responsible for hosting various functions and luncheons for the ladies of the town. On one such occasion, she hosted a wedding shower for a Miss Mary Mackie. At this occasion, presents were opened and witty verses that accompanied them read aloud.
After Harriet’s father retired in 1924, and her parents relocated to the U.S., the Jamiesons stayed in Sydney. The couple didn’t have children, but remained very socially active. Susan and Charles Freeman visited them often. When her mother was in town, Harriett and her sister hosted luncheons and bridge tournaments in her honor. Harriett was not always the hostess, on one occasion she was the guest of honor at a tea given by Mrs. Rupert Parker. To it she wore a blue silk frock with frills of shadow lace at the neck and wrists.
What Charles Jamieson’s job entailed is unknown, but in 1923 he journeyed to London, England on business. Within the collection, we have his passport which permitted him to travel throughout the United Kingdom.
Within a few years of her father’s death, Charles and Harriett permanently relocated to Portland, Maine where they lived at 35 Read Street with Susan and Mary. Whether they stayed there after Susan died in 1943 is unknown. Charles Jamieson passed away on April 9th, 1968 and Harriett on December 13, 1968.