I have utterly enjoyed the correspondences shared while finding a home for the 1937 Roslyn Elementary grade six class! To bring my readers up to speed, I’ve corresponded with friends and family members of Bruce Chisholm, Donald Grahame, David Casgrain, Bill Nicholson, John Bishop, Edward Walls and Robert Cockfield. Ultimately, the photograph was sent to Mr. John (Jack) Walls who seems to be one of the only living gentlemen from the photograph. He is third from the right in the middle row. I’d like to send my gratitude to Valerie who made this connection for me…and for Francie who has more connections with me than even I can believe and to Jack.
Thanks to Cynthia’s information, the photograph will be donated to the Westmount Historical Association for safe keeping and for all to enjoy. This has been a lovely experience.
I packed the photograph up, after framing it. Included, were the stories and provenance associated with the number of contacts that were made. I then sent it off to Jack.
I am now celebrating a new friendship with Francie, Jack’s daughter, who is making certain that this piece of history is no longer shuffled about and lost in a second hand store, but finds its way to Westmount Historical Association. Thank you, Valerie.
The Westmount Independent, a local paper in a Montreal suburb, ran a wee article on Tuesday, seeking out a boy in this photograph.
It turns out that a friend of one of the Walls boys, might just be the candidate! She is taking the article to Mr. Walls, who is reported as in good health, to view the image today and will get back to me. :0) I’m pretty happy that we may have made a connection here. Stay tuned!
Dad described the Bernardo’s file on Grace and Alice, sparse, and it is. Their brother, John, had traveled with the Annie Macpherson organization when he was only 13. While not at the beginning of the sad movement of children for indentured service to Canada, Australia and other countries, it was early, in 1889.
Grampa always spoke of his Dad and Grand Dad helping orphaned children and it does appear that John, after two placements and a number of years, accompanied two other groups of children with the organization, one time traveling with a friend (21), Arthur Wheeler. Arthur separated from John and traveled, instead, to Toronto and my research has turned up nothing but dead ends where he is concerned.
Hmmm….this story is not about John, but about Grace. Alice is still a bit of a mystery. On John’s papers I learned of two placements for a Miss Moore, 39 Duke Street, Hamilton and 61 Robinson Street.
On the recent acquisition of information, dated July 24, 1892, I learn that Grace is a domestic at Dundurn Castle…
and then, later, a servant with Mrs. Counsell of 11 Herkimer Street in Hamilton, Ontario.
Regarding all of these placements, I feel tremendous gratitude. In our study of the British Home Children, our group refers to domestics and servants in these positions as the ‘lucky ones’. First of all, Grace was twenty years old. If you look at the list of immigrants above, some of these children were as young as four and six. Some were emigrated without their parent’s knowledge. As my research and understanding opens up, I realize that I need to be grateful, however repulsed by the stories of so many others. I’ve just finished a book, a gift from my father, Laying the Children’s Ghosts to Rest: Canada’s Home Children in the West by Sean Arthur Joyce. These and other books, as well as the dedicated work of such individuals as Lori Oschefski, Sandra Joyce and Karen Mahoney with the British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association have brought to light, bit by bit, a part of Canadian history that needs to be acknowledged and taught in schools.
What’s interesting about such placements of domestics is that very little is written about their responsibilities or circumstances in the history books. These were the people who toiled for the comforts of the fortunate and yet it is difficult, in the rural placements especially, to ever find them on the census records. Few narratives endure. My father teases me and says that I can invent their stories, but you see, I will never write anything unless it is based on fact.
Of these circumstances, Bernardo’s records support both the location and the reality for Grace.
My quest for information will continue, but I wanted to touch, just briefly, on Mrs. Counsell of 11 Herkimer Street. I find 18 year old E.M. Counsell, clerk for the Merchant’s Bank, living at 11 Herkimer Street and so, as the 1891 Hamilton census would suggest, Edward was living with his parents, Charles M. Counsell and Charlotte E. Counsell at the time, listed as a 17 year old.
At the bottom of their records, it is evident that Charles and Charlotte have, in 1891, three domestics, John and Maggie Thompson and Tillie Hammond. Grace would have followed behind them, although she does not appear on the 1901 census because she was living at home with her father, John Moors and family, immigrated 1898, many years after his own son, John.
I find Charlotte widowed on the 1901 census (Charles death certificate reading 1900) and she lives in Hamilton for the remainder of her life until May 9, 1923. So, this is the Mrs. Counsell who had as her domestic, Grace Moors.
Charlotte Elrington Leith Counsell
And this is her home at 11 Herkimer, as it appears today.
Amazing what worlds are opened up with a few pieces of information. As I watch The Midwives of Netflix or read my current list of books, I can not help but appreciate more and more the resilience of my ancestors for their struggles and their determination. I am proud to be a descendent, on my mother’s side, of the Acadians and on my father’s side, of the east side Londoners. I anticipate learning more as I continue my research.
The second address, 61 Robinson Street, will be described in a new post.
My great great grandfather, John Moors, is somewhat elusive on my ancestral search. I am having a difficult time finding his parents. Through a number of links, I have his birthplace as Yeovil, Somerset, England. It may be that he is the son of a Jane Moors, resident of the Swan Inn at the time. Jane disappears soon afterward, so I am also going to make the assumption that John ended up lost in the struggles of the community at the time, likely orphaned…dunno. I put this research ‘out there’ in the hopes that other researchers might confirm or add to my information. I also hope that my research makes the search for others less taxing.
Birth Record
He married a Grace Rebecca Porter and together, they had four girls and one son, also named John. It was this lad who ended up on a ship at the age of 13, a home child to Canada, working on a piece of land in the Arthur area until 1898, when his father, mother and family also immigrated to Canada.
This watch was presented to my Great Great before he immigrated to Canada in 1898. It, in turn, was passed on to my Great Grandfather who passed it to my Grandfather. Unfortunately, it fell under disrepair before it found its way into my father’s hands. Still, the historical inscription remains.
1865 to 1935 Canadian Passenger List
Of his grandfather, MY grandfather, John Moors, says…
“My Grandfather Moors was a red-headed man with the most beautiful blue eyes that you ever did look at! He was a very quiet man. And Grandma Moors was a very short lady, especially when compared with my father who was 6’2″. When we went down to visit Grandma and Grandpa, just as a joke, Father would pick Grandma up by the elbows, right up off the floor, and give her a great big kiss. He’d put her down and we’d all laugh. Of course, Grandma rather enjoyed it too, I’m sure!
Grandfather Moors took me to the Toronto Exhibition to see another new-fangled idea, the milking machine. He promised me that we would go to the midway. Of course we didn’t make it because all he did was look at the cattle, hogs and horses. The result of that trip was the purchase of a cream separator. He told us that if he caught any of us playing with this machine, what he would do to us would fill a book. But I noticed that after the beauty and novelty wore off, we soon got our turn to run it. There wasn’t much fun in it after all!”
Interesting that on Rose Margaret’s marriage to Harry Clayton, on the marriage certificate, John is listed as being a Stencil Maker. See on the far left side of the document.
John Moors was laid to rest in 1914 in an unmarked grave in the Hamilton Cemetery, sharing the space with my great Uncle Robert A. Moors. His only son (Canadian home child), John Moors, is at rest in Etaples, France, having died as the result of a German bombing raid on Canadian Hospitals in Etaples on May 19, 1918.
John’s signature on his marriage certificate…
The spot where Robert rests is well marked. His wife, Jessie Maclean, has also slipped beneath my genealogy radar.
Resting Place for Robert A. Moors and to the left of this flat marker, foreground would be John Moors, Robert’s grandfather. Hamilton Cemetery York Blvd
As a result of conducting family ancestral research, I have connected with new cousins. Some suggest that the past should be left in the past. I’m not really in support of that concept. When I met Mike, I felt that I had met someone who absolutely was connected with my history and my way of being. For Pete’s sake, he takes awesome photographs of birds!
Photo Credit: Mike Moffat, Green Heron at Grindstone Creek
Although my trip to Hamilton was a short trip, the more I spoke with Mike, the more I felt connected with family. I am grateful to you, Mike, for introducing me to your Mom (my Dad’s cousin) and your family (your son is a musician…so is mine) and your beautiful wife. Thank you for being such a generous participant in the search for my ancestors in their resting places.
Hamilton Cemetery on York Blvd is a magical location, featuring a Gothic Revival style building erected sometime between 1855 and 1862. Having initially researched relations on the Elliott, Haddow and Moors branches of my family, I was thrilled to be able to say my prayers at the resting place of many of my ancestors. Next visit, I fully intend on leaving flowers…and will try to time my visit without my pooch, Max, and with the event, Doors Open Hamilton, similar to our Doors Open Calgary. I want to make certain that I visit the Hamilton Public Library archive collection in order to round out my knowledge about the area as it relates to my family. I’m still pretty amazed that I managed to navigate my way on the 401 south west and to the QEW on my own. My next drive will also include a stop at Paris, Ontario, home of Penman’s textiles.
Lavery, John (Sir) (RA) (RSA) – The Cemetery, Etaples, 1919
It is with gratitude that I have found and finally registered with The Great War Forum. The research and the heart felt participation of so many has been invaluable as I have piece-by-piece reconstructed the military history of some of my family. In order to respect the anonymity of the participants, I have used no names, but wish to point out this site for any individuals who are doing research on their own relations.
Yesterday, I wrote…
My great grandfather, John Moors, was killed while wounded in Canadian Hospital #51 during the bombing raid of May 19, 1918, leaving his widow and children to grieve in Hamilton, Ontario. I am so grateful to this site for sending me to various links regarding the circumstances of that night. I was wondering if anyone knows if the wounded/or killed soldiers of this night were awarded the Victoria Cross. Where would I obtain information on whether or not our family holds that history?
From a member.
Hi and welcome to the forum, as you can see this thread originally dates from 2008 and refers to the raid of the 1st June 1918.
My great uncle was also killed during the raid on Etaples on 19th May (in all probability one of those referred to in the Matron-in – Chief’s war diary (from Sue Light’s Scarlet finders site above) as one of the casualties brought in from the IBD see http://www.scarletfi…s.co.uk/90.html).
It is arguable whether the Infantry Base Depot (where the hospitals were located) was a legitimate target as it was a staging post for reinforcements, but at the time there were no air raid precautions were in place when the first raid took place on the 19th. There was no black-out and the hospitals were clearly marked with the Red Cross.
The raid on Etaples was conducted by Boghol (Bomber Squadron) 6 of the Imperial German Army Air Force. The Squadron flew AEG bombers
( http://www.wwiaviati…ers_german.html ) and was based at Matigny, close to Saint Quentin.
The series of raids became known as ‘the hospital raids’ and later cited as the League of Nations grappled with the ethics and morality of aerial bombardment during the subsequent post-war decades.
I’ve previously posted a link to the Canadian War Memorial site where there is a film of the funerals the following day(s) http://www3.nfb.ca/w…m.php?id=531255
four minutes into the film it can be clearly seen the padre is reading the eulogy over a mass grave.
Etaples cemetery (the largest CWGC Cemetery in France) is unique in that officers and men are segregated (the nurses are buried with the officers) whereas the casualties from the air raid are in a long line across the front of plots LXV – LXV111 (see CWGC http://www.cwgc.org/…LITARY CEMETERY click VIEW CEMETERY PLAN). It’s slightly raised and looks over the rest of the cemetery and probably not a bad place to spend eternity. From this I assume the internments shown in the film are of the other ranks, including your relative and mine, rather than the nurses who, with the officers killed that night are interred in plot XXV111.
Given the dates include those who died the following day I suspect the film shows the mass funeral on the 21st May but I have no evidence for this.
I have a copy of the War Diary for one of the Canadian Hospitals but can’t put my hands on it at the moment but it was available online in the Canadian War Memorial collections.
As far as I know no decorations were awarded as a result of this action and no VC has ever been awarded to a soldier named Moors (VC database Ancestry).
I am grateful to this member and to all of the Great War Forum.
“The first occurrence of the surname has been traced to the part of England now called Cumbria, at the start of the 19th Century. Aided by DNA analysis, a common ancestor has been identified, from whom all living Had(d)aths are believed to be descended. The surname appears to have developed as a variant of Haddow. Research is currently stuck at 1767 when William Haddow of Pennington (one mile west of Ulverston) married Agnes Boulton of Baycliff (on the coast, three miles south of Ulverston) at Aldingham-in-Furness Parish Church (on the coast, one mile south of Baycliff) on 21st February.
The origin of the name is believed to be the Middle English for ‘half’, plus the Gaelic dabhach, which is a measure of land equivalent to four ploughgates (so the name means ‘two ploughgates’). A plough worked by eight oxen was capable of bringing 104 acres into tillage in a year. A ploughgate was therefore the name that was given to 104 acres of arable land, and a ‘half dabhach’ or ‘hadabhach’ (being half of four ploughgates) is therefore 2 x 104 = 208 acres of land – hence the title of the Had(d)ath Family History book.”
It is a wonderful thing to recently have some of the pieces to the ‘Haddow’ puzzle, in Canada and in the United States, begin to come together.
I am so blessed. I putz around to a great degree these days…sorting, tossing, accumulating and sorting again. As my readers know, I feel like it’s important to work on my family research and the archives on such research can become pretty extensive at times. I enjoy sharing my findings with my parents when I come upon something new. Today ‘the new’ came in the form of a message from Anne in Kansas, sharing that I had attached an incorrect photograph to my Agnes Mary (Mae) Haddow South on our ancestry.ca site and I had! But what was wonderful about that was that this was a distant cousin who was sharing this news with me. Undoubtedly, we will remain friends now, as it seems that Anne is the keeper of family history to the south of the border, while definitely I am doing the same to the north. She and I will most definitely become pen pals.
I liked that all of this today sparked a memory for my father…a drive that he shared with my grandfather John Moors, between 1967 and 1968. Grampa had made a visit with us in North Bay, Ontario and he insisted that my father head out with him, on a drive to Powassan, to meet the Souths. This is what my father wrote of this memory.
“I knew all about this Agnes Haddow — Her husband (Elkanah Alfred South) had one of the first saw mills in Powassan. Don’t know if he was the guy but some guy named South took the first team of oxen up north (to Powassan) and is buried in a grave way out in the middle of the bush about 3 miles from Powassan. I could not believe it when Dad directed me right to it. He was on the trip that took the oxen up there as a young boy (don’t remember how old). Dad even knew where the old house was and all that was left of it was parts of a stone basement walls.Then Dad looked up some lady named South living in Powassan that day-I did not go in the house but it must have been a living relative.”
I received a lovely e mail from Peter Mason, the researcher/writer/expert on tourist codes of conduct in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. In fact, he did NOT snap the photograph that I own and is signed and dated, P. Mason, 1989. THIS P. Mason was generous to even correspond with a Canadian artist-chick about this photograph and I am very appreciative. So, the bear-photographer hunt continues! If you recognize these two wrestling bears and your name is P. Mason, I would really enjoy hearing from you! Thank you, Peter, and you have my best wishes as we adventure into 2012! I have much respect for your life’s work!
Here they are AGAIN, readers!
Hi Katleen,
Thanks very much for your message and I have now looked at your very interesting blog and also can now see the polar bear photos. However I am going to disappoint you by letting you know that I did not take the photos. Strangely enough I was in Canada at the time of the photos, but did not really start researching Arctic tourism issues until the 1990s. This does mean, however, that I am the author of the articles that you have referred to.
So, apologies for not being in a position to give your permission to use the photos, as they are not mine!
Best wishes,
Peter
Hello Peter!
I paint endangered species…came upon this photograph in a second hand shop…I treasure it regardless, but, will treasure it more if I find that it was taken by the gent who wrote about and studied tourism in the developing north. :0) Thank you for communicating through your other e mail. I need your permission to use this as a reference for a painting I want to do and Peter, if you have any other references that I might paint from, I would be so appreciative. Kathleen
A few days ago, I was looking for P. Jules…today, I’m looking for P. Mason. My cousin is doing these remarkable collage pieces recently and framing them with finds from the same second-hand shops that I peruse so frequently. She knows that I am investigating wildlife and so when one of her frames contained what looked like a poor quality image of two polar bears, she agreed to give it to me. It turns out that it is a hand-signed photograph by P. Mason on very good quality photo paper, dated 1989. So, of course, given the clues, I began to look for P. Mason. I love this photograph and will use it as a reference for a painting…but won’t use it for collage-purposes, my earlier intention.
When I begin research like this, I have the name and the time frame and easily here, I have a location. The person I believe was behind this camera was a gentleman who wrote codes of conduct for tourism to the extreme northern and southern communities. His work is sited throughout A Review of Tourism Research in the Polar Regions by E.J. Stewart, D. Draper and M.E. Johnston…a publication written in 2005. It is an amazing and revealing piece of work! And here lies the possible connection; this document was published by the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary. So, somehow this photograph of two polar bears may have left the hands of someone connected to this study…my guess. I’m unable to find P. Mason today. Where are you, P. Mason?
Just some of what P. Mason published…and there is so much more! This was P. Mason’s BLISS! And, evidently, research is mine! Just this morning, I wrote an e mail to see if this is Peter Mason, the photographer.