Louisa Journeaux (8 February 1864 – August 30, 1939) born Elder Cottage, St. Clement's Road, in the parish of St. Clement on the island of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

, was lost at sea and presumed dead until she turned up at

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada. The crew of the ship ''Curlew'' had spotted her and took her on board to continue their cross-Atlantic voyage to Newfoundland. On April 18, 1886, Journeaux and her cousin Julia Wiltshire had attended an

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

at the Church of England chapel at

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

when leaving met two Frenchmen, a Jules Farné and M.G. Radiguet. The four had rented two boats to enjoy a pleasant row in the moonlit night when Farné had lost the

oar An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...

and jumped in to retrieve it and eventually lost sight of Journeaux, who was left on the row-boat. Amidst the shouts of anguish, the owner of the boats had found Farné clinging to a pier with no sign of the boat in sight. A search party was formed to find Journeaux to no avail. On April 19 when a tugboat sent out to find Journeaux returned without her, Farné was arrested by

Centenier There is an Honorary Police ( French: Police Honorifique) force in each of the twelve parishes of Jersey. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid. Honorary Police officers have, ...

Le Gros and tried on the charge of neglect and imprudence which caused the death or disappearance of Louisa Journeaux. The trial could not convict Farne of anything and the charges were dropped. Sensing the hostility of the islanders, he had left for Paris. The community feared the worst that Journeaux was dead when a telegram reached her father from the Colonial Secretary for the government of Newfoundland. It read:''

Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador ''Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador'' is an Encyclopedia commissioned by Joey Smallwood to capture the people, places, events and history of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Smallwood's view on the purpose of the encyclopedia was ...

'', . Journeaux was transported from St. George's Bay back to St. John's on Bowring's vessel ''Curlew'', upon which she was given freedom of their dry goods and clothing store. She was left in the care of

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Botwood and was also received at Government House by His Excellency Sir

William Des Vœux Sir George William Des Vœux (22 September 1834 – 15 December 1909) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of Fiji (1880–1885), Newfoundland (1886–1887), and Hong Kong (1887–1891). Early life Des Vœux was born as ...

and his lady. Paul O'Neill, ''The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland'', 2003, . On June 2, 1886, she left aboard the ship ''Siberian'' for Liverpool and to greet her parents. From there she left on the ''Brittany'' to Saint Helier harbour, where she was greeted by a waiting crowd of well-wishers. Journeaux's journey lasted fifty-five days to arrive at the same pier she had left for a leisure row with her cousin and two Frenchmen. Farné was never heard from again but was eventually exonerated by Journeaux's letter she wrote back to home while she was in Newfoundland awaiting transportation back home. Journeaux married a Londoner by the name of Wyse. She died on August 30, 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Journeaux, Louisa 1939 deaths People from Saint Clement, Jersey Newfoundland Colony people 1864 births