Miriam Jane (Billard) Pyke (1884-abt.1928)

Miriam Jane "Marion" Pyke formerly Billard

Born 28 Jun 1884 in Margaree, Newfoundland, Canada

Ancestors

Daughter of Peter Billard and Priscilla (Harvey) Billard

[sibling(s) unknown]

Wife of Albert Edwin (Pike) Pyke — married 12 Dec 1903 in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Descendants

Mother of Franklyn C Pyke, Alvin Pyke, Cecil Elial (Pyke) McDonald, Edwin Wallace Pyke, Arthur Pyke and Eva (Pyke) Karrel

Died about 2 Sep 1928 at about age 44 in Glace Bay, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Profile last modified 26 Dec 2023 | Created 6 May 2014

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Biography

Named listed as "Marion Billard" on marriage registry; husband's last name listed as "Pyke".

From Marilynn Clermont via October 5, 2014 email:

Miriam was born and raised in Marystown, Newfoundland, Canada. Her mother died shortly after birth and her father, who was a fisherman, died at sea within two years. Miriam was left with his parents to be raised.

She and her husband arrived in North Sydney on the same boat and on the same day, unbeknownst to each other. They each rented a room and began looking for work. She was about 18, and he was a college graduate. They noticed each other passing on the street in North Sydney: she was beautiful with her long black hair, and he was smitten. They were married within the week of their arrival, although they had never met before.

On Christmas morning, 1926, Miriam was lighting the candles on the Christmas tree while all of the family was still in bed. The sleeve of her new bathrobe caught fire, and then her long hair. She shouted for help, then ran screaming out the back door and blindly fell over the rail of the back step, at 44 York St., Glace Bay. She lay in the Glace Bay General Hospital for three months before passing away in March 1927.

Miriam was the gifted baker in the family and produced bread, pies and cakes in her kitchen. Her first three sons, Cecil, Edwin and Arthur, made deliveries for her every day after school. The orders became so plentiful, her husband had a bakery built for her in the backyard. By and by, that bakery grew too small and he commissioned a second one to be built. The bakery grew to the point of having seven bakers on every shift, three shifts a day. Her husband was not a baker per se, but rather the business man who managed the bakery. The sons all became bakers until World War II; after the war, her son Edwin and his wife took over the bakery.

Some conflicting information from Rod McDonald's Nov.21/15 email:

Miriam Jane Billard was born in Margaree, Newfoundland on June 28th, 1884. Her father was Peter Billard, baptized August 27th, 1860, son of Martin Billard, who was the son Gabriel Billard, the patriarch of the Newfoundland Billard family. The only other record of Peter Billard is his attendance at a wedding of Susanna Pike, sister of Albert Pike, Miriam’s future husband, January 7th of 1890. After that date, no other records can be found but the search does continue for Peter. There was no record found of his having drowned at sea and no death record of any sorts has been located.

Her mother was Priscilla Harvey, born around 1864. Priscilla was the daughter of George Harvey. Priscilla passed away in Margaree, Newfoundland in 1886. Her church record of death did not indicate the cause of Priscilla’s death. She was only twenty-two at the date of her death.

Miriam Jane Billard married Albert Pike on December 12th, 1903, at Epworth Church (now a United Church) in North Sydney, Cape Breton. Miriam and Albert had eloped from Channel, the birth place and home town of Albert, crossing on the ferry to Sydney. Miriam and Albert had been involved with each other for approximately six months to a year. On the marriage document, Miriam is listed as Marion. She was nineteen at the time and Albert was twenty-one having been born in 1882. It was around this time that Albert changed the spelling of Pike to Pyke.

In 1904, Miriam and Albert settled in Reserve, Cape Breton, a short distance from Glace Bay. They had their first son, Cecil Elial Pyke, May 2nd, 1904. They built the family home at 44 York Street, Glace Bay, in 1908 [edit: the number was changed to 315 York Street to accommodate Postal Codes]. In the 1911 Census of Canada, Miriam self identified as being of French origins although she was only one/eighth. She was noted as being able to read and write. In the 1911 Census, she was listed as having three sons. Cecil, Edwin and Arthur. She would give birth to two more sons and one daughter after 1911. They were Alvin, Frank and Eva. A note of caution for those viewing the 1911 Census. The person who transcribed The Census made several errors. It is best if the original document is examined. Miriam is listed as ‘Hannah’ but if one looks closely at the original, Miriam is the name in handwriting. Also, the transcriber lists Cecil as ‘Jos.’, another mistake.

Miriam was a successful business woman, years ahead of her time, running a family bakery, Pyke’s Bakery, in the back yard of their house. On June 1st of 1928, Miriam was complaining of stomach pains and her doctor diagnosed her with stomach cancer. It was not operable. She suffered greatly with the cancer, according to her son Arthur, who claims that the morphine was not effective in controlling her pain. She died from stomach cancer, in hospital, on September 2nd, 1928 and there was a funeral and burial for Miriam on September 5th, 1928, (verified by death certificate). She was survived by her husband, five sons and one daughter. She was forty-four years of age when she died. Her husband, Albert, was buried alongside of her more than thirty years later in 1960.

If any researcher, family member or otherwise, has questions, I can direct them to the supporting documents which verify this information. I also have DNA evidence. I have a photograph of Miriam, when she was twenty years of age, in 1904, that I will share and two of Albert. One photograph is when he is around sixteen years and the other when he was close to seventy.

From Rod McDonald's Dec.19/23 email:

Miriam eloped to Sydney, Nova Scotia and was married in Epworth United Church which at the time, was a Methodist Church.

They eventually settled in Glace Bay, had six children, and lived at a house they had built in 1908.

Miriam died, at the age of 44, from stomach cancer, in 1928. She was diagnosed on June 2nd and died, three months later, on September 2nd. She was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Glace Bay, September 5th of ’28. According to her son, our Uncle Arthur, she suffered a very painful death. Miriam, according to Arthur Pyke, was the go getter in the family, and was the one who founded the family business, Pyke’s Bakery.