Lady Quenet celebrates her 100th birthday
Rynpark resident Lady Gabrielle Quenet (née Price) celebrated her 100th birthday on April 2, with an intimate family lunch in the garden of the retirement village.
She moved to Benoni about 20 years ago, to be closer to her youngest son, Adrian (68) and two of her grandchildren, Monique and Clyde.
Lady Quenet and her twin sister, Josephine, were born in Tshwane to Norman and Dora Price.
Their mother was an Irish settler and a well respected teacher, while their father was of 1820s settler stock and was, at the time of his daughters’ birth, a practicing advocate.
The sisters were home-schooled by their mother, but, in 1932, Gabrielle was permitted to attend St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls, Pretoria, for a portion of her matric year. She completed her matric and obtained distinctions for all her subjects.
She worked as a counting clerk at Standard Bank and was later promoted to teller.
She also modelled for world renowned South African visual artist Henry Pierneef during the time he was working on his well-known Johannesburg Railway Station panels, which are now on view at the Rupert Museum, in Stellenbosch.
On March 5, 1938, Gabrielle married Vincent Quenet, a practising advocate in Johannesburg.
He worked all over the county and was also admitted as a member of the Middle Temple, one of the four ancient Inns of Court in London.
He was made King’s Councillor (senior advocate) in June 1947 and, six years later, he was appointed a High Court judge of the Federation of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
The couple, together with their three young sons, relocated to the neighbouring country and settled in Salisbury (now known as Harare).
He was duly knighted by Queen Victoria and Gabrielle subsequently became Lady Quenet.
Her husband served as Governor of South Rhodesia in 1964 and then resumed his duties as an appeals court judge. When he retired he was Judge President.
Lady Quenet moved back to South Africa in 1983 after her husband’s passing and lived in Hermanus before relocating to Benoni.
Josephine moved to KwaZulu-Natal and passed away 20 years ago, when she was 80 years old.
According to Lady Quenet’s family she has slowed down, but is still mobile with a sharp mind and a will of steel.
She is the mother of three sons, namely Adrian, Robin (73) and Richard (75), and has six grandchildren, Wendy, Craig, Darryl, Matthew, Monique and Clyde.
She also has seven great-grandchildren, including a set of nine-year-old twin girls, Kaylyn and Kiera, and their younger brother, Oliver, as well as Michael, Ryan, Gary and Michelle.
Her family is close although they are scattered between South Africa, Zambia and Canada.
