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"She's the sweetest aunt that ever lived, in spite of her name. She can't help that! She was called Jamesina because her father, whose name was James, was drowned at sea a month before she was born. I always call her Aunt Jimsie."
Stella Maynard about Jamesina.[src]

Jamesina was the daughter of James, the mother of Elizabeth, the aunt of Stella Maynard and the housekeeper of Patty's Place in Kingsport, Nova Scotia.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Jamesina was born sometime during the 1830s and was named after her father who drowned a month before she was born.

Life at Patty's Place[]

"Her only daughter has recently married and gone to the foreign mission field. Aunt Jamesina is left alone in a great big house, and she is horribly lonesome. She will come to Kingsport and keep house for us if we want her, and I know you'll both love her. The more I think of the plan the more I like it. We could have such good, independent times."
Stella Maynard, in a letter to Anne Shirley[src]

In about early 1884, Jamesina's only daughter married and left Jamesina alone. Then Stella Maynard, her niece, wrote to Jamesina and asked her to come to Kingsport and keep house for a small group of young women (Stella and her friends) while they attended Redmond College. Jamesina was happy to oblige, and she brought two cats with her to Patty's Place: Joseph and the Sarah-cat. Although Anne, Pris and Phil, Stella's friends, 'awaited her advent rather dubiously', they quickly grew as fond of Jamesina – or 'Aunt Jimsie', as she was called – as Stella was. While Jamesina was at Patty's Place, she slept in the downstairs room off the living-room.

When the 1884 Christmas holidays arrived, the four girls returned to their homes, but Jamesina elected to stay with the three cats (the Sarah-cat, Joseph and Rusty) at Patty's Place. The weather was cold, so she let the cats sleep indoors at night. She was a merry soul, young at heart, and amiably got along with all the inhabitants of Patty's Place for the three years they stayed there.

Personality[]

"But I am old-fashioned. My clothes are, and it stands to reason my opinions are, too. I don't say they're any the better of that, mind you. In fact, I daresay they're a good deal the worse. But they've worn nice and easy. New shoes are smarter than old ones, but the old ones are more comfortable. I'm old enough to indulge myself in the matter of shoes and opinions."
—Jamesina to the girls of Patty's Place[src]

Jamesina was sweet, amiable and had a good sense of humour. She considered herself young (if not in body, then at heart) and was very kind and appreciative of all the girls at Patty's Place, though she despaired of Phil ever learning any sense.

Physical appearance[]

"Aunt Jamesina was a tiny old woman with a little, softly-triangular face, and large, soft blue eyes that were alight with unquenchable youth, and as full of hopes as a girl's. She had pink cheeks and snow-white hair which she wore in quaint little puffs over her ears."
Anne of the Island[src]

Etymology[]

"She's the sweetest aunt that ever lived, in spite of her name. She can't help that! She was called Jamesina because her father, whose name was James, was drowned at sea a month before she was born. I always call her Aunt Jimsie."
Stella Maynard, her niece[src]

Jamesina is a female name of Hebrew origin and means he who supplants.

  • Jamesina was named after her father James who had died a month before she was born.

Behind the scenes[]

Trivia

Gallery[]

Anne of Green Gables Wiki has 1 image of Jamesina (view category).

Appearances[]

Book appearances

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