She was born in Driffield, in Yorkshire, England, March 1, 1883. She was the 7th child Edward and Susanna Lightoller Field. "I used to go to the Baptist Chapel, just at the top of our street which was was named Chapel Lane. I was one of 11 children, 6 boys and 5 girls, 3 are in England yet; May, Lily and Kate. Well we had a happy childhood, although the older ones; Mary and Elizabeth, left home, got married and lived away while I was growing up. I was 14 when we left Driffield and came to live in Gainsboro in Lincolnshire, I finished my schooling there."  She learned the arts of Dress making and flower and necklace making. She was at the top of her class in the subject of Mathmatics.

"Gainsboro is where I met your Grandpa, he worked in Gainsboro, but his home was in Boston in Lincolnshire. Well he was visiting a friend in Gainsboro. My sister and I heard there was some skating over the Trent. So as we were going to have a party that night, we arranged to go skating next morning early. Well when we were coming home, Grandpa and his friend were going to skate, but we didn’t turn back with them as they wanted us to. Oh we knew his friend, so we asked them down to our party that night and that is how we got acquainted. We started to go together the first day in the New Year, and went together 2 years and 7 months."

"Dad was dead set against the Mormons as he called them. So when my sister Ellen joined the church and had to go and stay with her husbands parents in Grantham."

"Well during that time I went to stay with my oldest sister Ellen. You knew her as Aunty Nellie, well her husband, J. F. Atterton (he was born in the church) well they married and he took her to his people who lived near Sheffield, So when she took sick, I had to go to stay with her and I got to know the elders. Well the very first meeting I attended was Sheffield Conference. They all wore silk hats and Prince Albert Coats, about 20 Elders and Apostle Lyman (he went home soon after that)."

"I’ll never forget the thrilling time I had, I read all about the Gospel and would have joined but I had to have my parents consent. That I could not get as my father was so opposed, I came home and had to wait a long time."

James wasn't very impressed with the Gospel at first but there romance took off and they were married 21 July 1903, in the Gainsboro Holy Trinity Church of England by Cannon Dalby. "When We got married, since we were so popular, Grandpa thought he would get there early and avoid the crowd. He did he got there before the sexton and had to wait for him to open the church. James took a lot of kidding about this after.  We had to live at home as we were waiting for a house to be relined and made into Villas and to keep peace at home, Grandpa and I waited till our home was finished to join the Church. I was baptized in the Burgonis Street Baths in Grimsby, and Grandpa went to Hull to be baptized. I waited till Ivy was 3 months old."

They had 6 children, Ivy may, Louis Edward Ransom, Erma Fay, James Leslie, Ernest Milbourn, and Thelma.

"The first Elders we knew in Gainsboro were Cottom (so tall) and Griffiths (so small) .We used to have good times. We used to call up nights and have parties for them. We sure loved them all. Well Grandpa has always preached wherever he’s been. He worked as a Boiler Maker and a Ship Builder. They called him "Mormon Jim". The Elders wouldn’t think of having a street meeting without him. He could get a crowd in less than one minute. This used to be what he’s start with; "I’m a Mormon. I work down the Dock. I was born in Boston and I’m English. But I’ve got something you haven’t got. So just let us tell you how you can get it, too." And you bet they stood, his voice carried like a foghorn. I well remember those people used to stop and argue with Grandpa. One time they were going to throw him over a fence. There was such a crowd and a man shouted "How many wives you got?" and I jumped in front of him and shouted, "One and I’m here and if you throw him, you throw me, too."

"Well we enjoyed it too, then we saved and came to Canada. Grandpa came 11 months before we came, but I haven’t got used to the mud yet. I remember the first year here. Another family and us, we went to the mountains. We didn’t have a whole tent, but they fixed it fine. We camped up Pass Creek. We went in a wagon, too. Well the 2 men got their trees out and took a load home (40 miles) and left us there. Well I had never spent only one night in the country, that I could remember, and was I frightened! They made the tent long so the other family could have half. Well I had a pair of Grandpa’s breeches and top boots to the knees laced up so no insects could get at me, then a sweater tight to the neck and cuffs. That’s how I lay down. Now this is how I fixed things for the night; I had a black umbrella and we had a new boiler that we took full of bread, well I got a rope and tied it on one end of the boiler, across the top to the other handle, around my arm, I put the umbrella up, put it through the end of the tent, the handle around my wrist, so that if a bear came it would move the umbrella, pull me, the boiler would rattle and wake us up. What we could have done then, I don’t know. We laugh now, but we didn’t then. Anyway the men came the next afternoon and all was well. Oh it rained all night and ran down the tent and ran underneath some, but we dried the clothes, and burned my raincoat. Well time went on."

"Oh, one more funny one. We had our first calf, and of course never having been amongst cattle, I made a pet of it. The thing followed me all over. I let it suck my fingers. Well I brought 17 pairs of lace curtains from England and that calf would pull them through the window and chew them up and satin cushions, too. I left 8 on the line and what wasn’t chewed was torn and tramped. Well here’s the final act. I had the house all cleaned for Christmas, (the first in Canada). I had brought the carpet from England and had it on the floor. Ivy, our oldest girl had come from Utah and I was looking after Sister Clara Smith’s family, when Johnny was born. Well everybody was to Sunday School. The milk was set in the corner on a box and the bread in another. Well that calf got in the house and you can guess the mess. He was laying in front of the heater, the curtains down, the milk drank and spilled and the bread not fit to eat. Well that was past a joke. It (the calf) went to the bottom of the lot and stayed put. Every curtain was no less than 3 ¾ yards long. So we salvaged a lot for the small windows here."

James Leslie Died before the family left England and Thelma was born in Canada and died at the age of 18. All the others grew up married and had families of their own. James Ransom And Annie Maria were sealed in the Cardston Alberta LDS Temple the day that their Daughter Ivy was married in the same temple.

There is a special little cottage that is so dear to my heart. Fondly I walk in my memory the old familiar path to Nannie’s and Grandpa’s home. I walk over the small wooden bridge that crosses the irrigation ditch running in front of their property. I stop to pick a caragana pod from the hedge, then open the gate and walk up to front door. Nannie is always there to welcome me and we go straight to the kitchen, where it is warm and light.

The walls and table are covered with many things for a child to look at. Lovely lace curtains adorn the windows where a canary sings. There are throw pillows on the couch and an afgan to keep Nannie’s arthritis away. There is some wood and papers behind the stove. The cupboard is filled with pretty dishes. Grandpa’s chair is waiting for him to come home from his work at the school or his other many varied activities. I like to sit there when he is away.

Nannie’s pantry is inviting. I wonder what special treat she has been baking. Nannie could bake more delicious delicacies than any child could dream of. The kitchen is the center of her home. Four doors open into it; their bedroom, the pantry, the back porch and the front room, which was once the other bedroom. Even though it became the living room, the kitchen where Nannie reigned, remained the heart of the home to me.

Nannie is busy making flowers. Her fingers artistically form the rose petals, the calyx and she helps me as I try to learn to put each part in place to make a beautiful flower. The center petals must be down lower than the outside ones or it will not look natural. The thread must be wrapped tightly or it will come apart. I watch her dear hands, deformed from the painful arthritis, but always busy, busy, lest they lose their use altogether. Many a home is adorned with a beautiful bouquet of Nannies roses or mums or iris. Her wood fiber flowers with soft velvety petals are her masterpieces. Lucky are the girls who own a corsage she has made.

Sometimes Nannie is beading necklaces, earrings, brooches to bring joy to someone else. Sometimes she is decorating a wedding cake, or Easter eggs. She can make the cutest little chickens and rabbits. Nannie forms the roses and other flowers with her fingers, a master’s touch she has.

Sometimes I put up Nannie’s hair in pin curls. She’s not very happy in its change in texture since it went gray. I enjoy putting it up, and I am happy I can do something to help her. I enjoy talking to Nannie while we work. One time I remember Nannie did my hair , too. I had stayed ‘up town’ to go to a dance. My hair was long and had been in braids, but that wasn’t very glamorous way to go to a dance so she brushed it out and put a big bow on top, like in mother’s picture, and I had a wonderful time at the dance.

Sunday dinner at Nannie’s is an occasion to remember. How Nannie loved to serve all her family a meal fit for royalty. Nothing in the world ever tasted better than her Yorkshire pudding and gravy. We watch and wait for it to come out of the oven and then enjoy the feast.

A highlight of my childhood is Christmas at Nannies. It’s a time of wonder. We sit for hours looking at all the myriad of ornaments on the tree. The glass birds are my favorite. There are streamers from the walls to the ceiling, decorations on the walls and windows. Our Queen of Tarts has been baking, tarts,

lemon curds, fruit cake and all kinds of special goodies for our delight. We had our own sugar plum fairy in our special Nannie. How I love to go home in memory to your palace, Nannie; a refuge of warmth and love. There it holds so many symbols of your very precious heart. Home is where love is -and my Nannie.