Adeline Deloume Memorial Scholarship
Adeline Julienne Deloume (d.1964)
Adeline Julienne Bentin was born in Lille, France, near the Belgian border in the mid-1890s. She left home at an early age, after disagreements with her stepfather, and came to Vancouver Island as a "ladies maid" for the Pemberton family in Mill Bay. All her schooling had been done in France.
In Mill Bay, she met Henri Lucien Deloume, the eldest son of one of the few French families in the community. They were married around 1912. Henri worked as a millwright in the saw mills of Mill Bay, Genoa Bay and Duncan. They had two sons - Fernand and Edward. Edward was a pilot in the RAF and later was in construction and real estate. Fernand retired as a mathematics professor after 20 years at the University of Victoria.
In 1930, Adeline Julienne moved to Victoria where she operated a rooming house on Yates Street, and with her sons working for her, built houses on Glasgow Avenue, Cornwall and Monterey. She retired to her waterfront home in Cordova Bay.
She was an avid gardener, and her flower and vegetable gardens were second to none. She was an excellent businesswoman and acquired real estate for investment. The development of Victoria College and later the University of Victoria was always of great interest to her, and she left scholarships to encourage proficiency in French.
For herself, she took courses in public speaking to improve her English. She died in Victoria after achieving many of her life's goals. She is buried in Royal Oak Cemetery.