The Henry Harold Harrison Family

Biography

Agnes May Gilbert was born on May 18, 1902 to John Turner Gilbert, a carpenter, and Agnes Huston Dunseath. She was likely born at 49 Howie Avenue which was the address given for her father in the 1902 Toronto Directory. She was the couple’s third child, although her older sister Lillian had died in 1901. Agnes’ older brother Albert John was seven years old when Agnes was born. In 1904 the Gilbert family moved to 22 Blong Avenue (near Queen & Pape) where they lived for the next seven or eight years. In 1905 Agnes’ younger brother, James Elliot Dunseath Gilbert was born.

In the 1911 census 9-year-old Agnes, her parents and two brothers were enumerated at 22 Blong Avenue. By 1913 the family had moved to 25 Simpson Avenue in Riverdale, Toronto.  In the 1921 census Agnes and her family were enumerated at 89 Neville Park Boulevard in the beaches. Agnes, age 18, was working as a clerk in an “executive office”.

In the early 1930s Agnes married John Moor Brewis, a stockbroker. The couple had a son, John Gilbert Brewis, in 1932. Neither John nor Agnes are listed in the Toronto directories for the early 30s so they may have lived outside of Toronto. In 1935 John and Agnes divorced, and in 1938 she married Henry Harold (Hank) Harrison. By this time Agnes was known to her friends and family as Brownie.