French War Bride Marie-Jeanne Mazeau

Canadian Expeditionary Force service file for Frederick John Everett Ball, Regimental no 33249

French War Bride Marie-Jeanne Mazeau married British-born Canadian Expeditionary Force soldier Frederick J E Ball in Rouen, France in 1917. Marie-Jeanne was born in September 1895 to Louis Mazeau and his wife Appoline Augustine Lebreton in Rouen, France.

Frederick was born in London, England in 1891 to Frederick Ball and his wife Henrietta Louis Claydon. He came to Canada with his family as a young man in April 1911, on the ship Victorian, headed to Winnipeg. He enlisted in September 1914, at Valcartier, Quebec and went overseas with the No. 3 Field Ambulance as part of the First Contingent in October 1914.

He served with the No 3 Field Ambulance from February 1915 to June 1916 and was later attached to the Canadian Section, 3rd Echelon, General Headquarters, in Rouen, France from June 1916 to February 1919, where he met his future wife. 

Frederick returned to Canada on the Adriatic in September 1919, with his French bride and the couple lived in Victoria for a few years. However, by 1925 Marie-Jeanne had remarried to John Diggle in Bellingham, Washington and the couple resided in North Vancouver where Marie-Jeanne had an avid interest in growing African Violets.

Her husband John Diggle died in 1978 and Marie-Jeanne died in 1987 at the age of 91.

(c) Annette Fulford, January 2025

First Marriage of a Canadian Soldier in England

The first marriage of a Canadian soldier in England during the First World War occurred in 1914, shortly after the First Contingent arrived at Plymouth in mid-October. The marriage took place nine days later.  

Lieutenant John Lee "Jack" Williamson of Toronto joined the 12th York Rangers in August and left with the First Contingent on October 3, as an unattached officer with the 4th Battalion. He travelled on the ship Arcadian, which landed on October 15. He married Charlotte Suzanne Josse on October 24, 1914, at St. Andrew's Church in Plymouth. Josse was a 21-year-old French woman living in Plymouth, whom he met briefly while on his way to the camp at Salisbury Plain. 

Soon after the marriage, Jack joined the Imperial Army with the 10th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment in January 1915. He later transferred to the 1st Garrison Battalion Kings Liverpool in September 1915. By October 1916, he was appointed to the RFC and served with the Royal Air Force until July 1919.

His Royal Air Force records indicate his wife was back living in Paris. Jack returned to Canada in 1919 and by 1921 he was a salesman at an Auto & Supply company in Toronto. He filed for divorce in 1923 and remarried in 1924.

A French death index shows that Charlotte Suzanne Josse died in 1977 at age 82. I'd love to learn what happened to Charlotte. Did she ever remarry? 

(c) Annette Fulford, December 2024