My Grandmother, Eileen Mary Hayes, was born on 4 Jul 1926 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She was the second oldest daughter of Mary and John Hayes who had 5 other children: Kay, John, Michael, Dick and Dot Hayes. She is a descendant of Michael Hayes who was a famous sea captain in Newfoundland. Her father, John Hayes, was a shoemaker and her mother, Mary (Hayes) Hayes, was a first generation Irish Canadian.
Eileen spent all of her childhood in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The family lived on Blackmarsh Road next to the Mullins family, another Irish Canadian family. Eileen’s best friend was Mary Mullins who was the same age as Eileen. The two spent a lot of time together up to and during the Second World War until Mary died of Tuberculosis. In 1941, at the age of 15, Eileen met and fell in love with a 20-year old soldier from Nova Scotia: Maxwell Parker McKinnon. Max was very handsome with curly dark hair and a mischievous nature.
Max was a recruit trainer from Mill Village, Nova Scotia sent to Cape Spear, Newfoundland to do active duty with the Royal Canadian Artillery. One day in 1941 Max saw Eileen and her friend Mary Mullins in a corner store. He and his military friends followed the girls and teased them until Eileen finally agreed to a date. Max bought a camera at the Canex and took photos of their courtship.
These photos were lost for years until the photo negatives were found in an old couch. The couple who found the photos were able to track down Eileen and give the negatives of Max and Eileen’s courting back to the family. This whole incident earned Eileen the nickname “The Woman of Mystery” in Newfoundland. My grandmother was very beautiful and these photos held people in two provinces entranced for years.
The couple married on 28 Jun 1942 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
