The late Victoria Delfina Hannays was a 'lady' long before her husband, one of this country's brilliant lawyers, the late Lennard Courtenay Hannays, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956 giving her the right to be addressed as Lady Hannays.
It was therefore only fitting that Father Joyeau should ask the congregation at the Funeral Mass in thanksgiving for her life, last Monday at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, to stand and sing the National Anthem, not only because of her title but moreso she had lived to a grand total of 106 years, the vast majority of which was lived in her own home. It was not until age ninety-eight that this very independent woman who until very late in life walked the route from her St Clair home at the corner of Hayes Street and Serpentine Place to daily Mass at the Archbishop's Chapel, went to live in her son David's Fitt Street home, and was taken care off by a devoted daughter-in-law, Irma.
Although her eldest child, Gabrielle, chose a "Remembrance" to her mother rather than a eulogy, I have chosen excerpts from a story written six years ago by great granddaughter, Christine Hannays, as part of a Social Studies Family Tree Project, when as a student at Bishop Anstey Junior School she was asked to interview an elderly relative and find out from him/her what their life was like growing up. Today, at age 14, Christine is a third form student of Bishop Anstey High School.
At the time of writing, in 1995, the eight year old was in the fortunate position of having three great grandmothers to choose from for the interview. Her mother's grandmother, now deceased; her father's maternal grandmother who is still alive at 98; and Lady Hannays, her father's paternal grandmother who had just celebrated her hundredth birthday "at a big party at the Hilton Hotel' wrote Christine. "All of the Hannays family was there and close friends of hers, also, Archbishop Anthony Pantin, Bishop Rawle Douglin and Bishop Clive Abdulah. There were many speeches and Professor Courtenay Bartholomew (named after Sir Courtney Hannays) presented her with a bouquet of one hundred red roses."
The school project "showed the way people lived almost 100 years ago" says this teen-ager, daughter of attorneys Guy and Joanne Hannays, and granddaughter of the late Justice Jessel Hannays. "My great grandmother, Victoria Delfina Hannays (nee Gonzalez) was born on the 24th December, 1894, in a house on Frederick Street, Port of Spain, opposite to St Mary's College. At that time some of her older brothers were attending St Mary's College and her mother stayed in town to look after them as their home on the estate was so far away.
"Her father, Eduardo Nicola Gonzalez, owned two cocoa estates. The first one was called El Paraiso and it was in Tabaquite, in the Ward of Montserrat. This was where the family lived. The other estate was called La Concordia and it was in Siparia. Her mother's name was Isabel Regina Villafana.
"Granny Hannays' parents were born in Trinidad but their parents came here from Venezuela. Some of her ancestors were Amerindian and some were from Spain. Her mother could hardly speak English and her parents spoke only Spanish to each other so she and her brothers and sisters grew up speaking Spanish and English. There were ten children altogether, three girls and seven boys. She was the eighth child.
"When she was about four years old they moved back to the estate El Paraiso to live full time. On the estate they had horses, mules and a donkey. They had one big buggy and one small one called a gig. They also had cows and chickens and grew vegetables and fruits for home use.
"There was a big cistern underground and there was a pump to pump water. There were also water tanks on a tall stand. In those days there was no electricity and so Granny and her family used lamps for lights. There were no radios, no televisions and no cinemas. The children spent time riding horses. Granny Hannays liked to ride and she rode side saddle as young ladies were supposed to.
"On the estate they had similar foods to ours but they also ate wild meat e.g. agouti, lappe and manicou. There was a governess to teach the young children and she taught Granny until she was eight years old. She lived on the estate with them. There was a piano in the house as learning music was part of your education.
"In those days there were no cars and buses. People travelled on carriages drawn by horses, on horses, mules and donkeys and also by train. To get from Port of Spain to the estate they would take a train going to San Fernando and at the Jerningham Junction change to a train on the Caparo Line which was a smaller train. It took them through the tunnel and to the Tabaquite station. A horse drawn buggy took them from the station to the estate.
"When Granny was eight years old she and her sisters went to live on Abercromby Street (near Lord Harris Square) so that they could go to school. Her mother went to live with them and take care of them.
Granny went to Miss Wharton's Private School on Edward Street and then to St Roses Girls' School on Pembroke Street. Her happiest memories of growing up were spending holidays on the estate riding horses.
"Granny Hannays, on the 4th September 1920, married Lennard Courtenay Hannays and had nine children - Gabrielle, Jessel (my grandfather) Lynette, Dillys, Lennard, David, Kathleen, Gervase and Valerie."
Jessel, Lennard and Kathleen, have all predeceased their mother.