Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Fanny Gross fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
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Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
5 cm of textual material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Fanny Rankin Appleton was born in Epping, UK in 1827. She was the daughter of Mary Ann Rankin and Joseph Appleton. When Joseph died, Fanny’s mother married George Conrad Gross around 1840. When Fanny’s mother died a few years later, George returned home to Leer, Germany with Fanny, her sister and brother, and his two daughters.
Sometime between the death of her mother and 1850, Fanny and George were married. They moved to New York where George ran a grocery store. After the death of a baby boy, the couple moved to Whitby to be closer to Fanny’s sister, Emma and George’s daughter, Caroline. Fanny and George enjoyed a privileged life in Whitby and were well-connected in the community. George ran a hardware store in downtown Whitby and built a castle-like residence nearby. According to local lore, Fanny was known as the 'Duchess of Whitby.'
Fanny and George had 10 children. She died at Whitby in 1900 and is buried in Union Cemetery, Oshawa.
Custodial history
The letters were kept in the family and donated to the Archives in 2021 by a great granddaughter of Fanny and George Gross.
Scope and content
The fonds consists mostly of letters written by Fanny Gross to her youngest daughter, Edith. There are also letters written by friends and family to Edith and some letters written by Edith. The letters show that Edith travelled frequently from the Gross family home at 200 Colborne Street West in Whitby to visit relatives and friends in other communities. Subjects of discussion include parties, family, travel, and daily life. Fonds also consists of a copy of The Greatest Thing in The World, An Address by Henry Drummond.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Frances Grant
Arrangement
Arrangement of letters is in chronological order.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
None
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals expected
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Fanny Gross (Subject)
Genre access points
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Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Final
Level of detail
Full
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created December 2021