Dinah Head

June 5, 1883 - June 13, 1981

 
 



Dinah Head was born in Bosham, Sussex, England on June 5, 1883. Her parents were William Henry Head and Eliza Jane Arnold. Henry and Eliza had five children; Dinah, Solomon, Clace Henrietta, Mary Ann, and Hilda.

Bosham, England is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chichester Harbour where Bosham has its own harbour and inlet on the western side.


Bosham is definitely one of the prettiest villages on the south coast. It combines a beautiful setting next to Chichester Harbour with a vibrant but relaxed atmosphere.

On 6 June 1840, the first official emigration company left on the ship Britannia. These 41 Preston Saints were led by John Moon and blessed by Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young before they left for New York. They arrived on 20 July. In all, Brigham Young organized 800 emigrants into seven companies for the journey overseas. For the next five years, New Orleans became the preferred destination for the emigrant companies, who would then take a steamboat up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo.

To pay for the trip, many Saints worked several months or years prior to their trek or after arriving at their port of entry in America. Some immigrants paid passage for half or all of their way, while others relied heavily upon the Perpetual Emigration Fund provided by the Church for its members journeying west. The fund was replenished by repayment of loans or donations from members. In 1852, Church leaders opened the fund to the 30,000 Saints in Britain and other converts in Europe (prior to that year, the fund was mainly used by the pioneers' trek in America). European members used the fund with the promise to payback that loan through money or labor. Because of the high price of travel, it took several years for immigrants to pay their debt—many were unsuccessful.

Dinah married William David Levi on September 24, 1919 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah. They eventually moved to Beaver City where they spent the several years before moving back to Salt Lake City where William David died in November, 1950.

In 1930, after her husband Morris Thompson passed suddenly away, Norma Jensen moved to Salt Lake City where she lived with her Aunt Diane and Uncle Will. She worked for a year sewing in the Mode-A-Day factory before becoming home sick, moving back to Beaver City where she worked in the Beaver Drug Store. That is where she met Ray Easton and they were married in 1937.


Diane Head and her sister-in-law Sophia Jensen Dobson at the Jensen home in Beaver City, Utah

William David was a brother of my Grandmother Katie Bell Levi Jensen. I do not remember Uncle William David, we always called him Uncle Will, but I always remember her as Aunt Diane and she was one of my mother's favorites. I remember her English accent. Uncle Will and Aunt Diane gave my mother and dad the plot next to them in the Beaver City, Mountain View Cemetery so that they could be buried next to them.

Aunt Diane died on June 13, 1981 in Beaver City and is buried next to William David Levi in the Mountain View Cemetery.



Dinah's husband William David Levi



Dinah's father William Henry Head



Dinah's mother Eliza Jane Arnold



Dinah's sister Clace Head



Dinah's sister Hilda Head

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