Tag Archives: Emigration

Guy Silversides (1883-1964) – emigration to Canada

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Introduction

I am continuing my occasional research into more distant members of my family. Currently I am working on a project for the Family and Community History Research Society looking into the experience of patients in County Pauper Lunatic Asylums during the period 1861-1901. While researching my Silversides cousins I came across Guy, my third cousin four times removed, working as an attendant in Stanley Royd Hospital, Wakefield in the 1911 census. Stanley Royd was the first West Riding county pauper lunatic asylum built in 1818. Guy didn’t remain working there long but turned out to be interesting for another reason; he emigrated to Canada not long after the 1911 census was taken.

Guy was the youngest son of William Silversides (1842-1916) and Elizabeth Habbishaw (1842-1927). He was born in Naburn near York (see OS Yorkshire sheet CXCI.NW published 1910 map) and was said to be 18 and a gardener when he enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers on 27 February 1900. Guy was 5ft 5in tall, weighed 124lbs, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. His three older brothers, George, Robert and John had enlisted in the army before him and two of his sisters’ married men who served in WWI.

Guy’s military record indicated he had served as a bandsman in the West Indies and then South Africa where he arrived on 23 July 1902. The Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the Second Boer War, had been signed on 31 May 1902. Guy remained in South Africa until 4 March 1907. As a sergeant bandsman he was posted to the army reserve on 7 March 1908. While serving in the army he gained his St John’s ambulance certificate for first aid to the injured. Perhaps this enabled him to gain a position at Stanley Royd as an attendant. Guy was working there when the 1911 census was taken on 2 April. Not long afterwards his military record showed that on 2 June 1911 he was permitted to go to Canada.

Emigration to Canada

Guy left Liverpool for Canada on 7 July 1911 as a passenger on the steamship Victorian, Allan Steamship Line, bound for Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He arrived on 14 July 1911 and was described as an attendant with the intention of farming. His entry on the passenger list was stamped “British Bonus Allowed”. Commission was paid to UK steamship booking agents, by the Canadian government’s Immigration Branch, for suitable immigrants who bought a ticket to sail. Guy as the passenger did not receive a bonus.

The next record found for Guy was his marriage to Edythe M Kimber (or Kember) in 1913 in Edmonton, Alberta. Edythe, a nurse, had left Liverpool on 21 February 1913 bound for New Brunswick, on the Hesperian, Allan Steamship Line.

On 8 January 1915 Guy enlisted in the 101st Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force Band Corp. He was described as an attendant living at 9725, 96a St, Edmonton South, with his wife Edythe. His previous service with the Northumberland Fusiliers was noted.

Guy departed for England on 8 January 1915 and by 9 October 1915 he was a corporal in the 49th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry on his way to Boulogne, France. While he was serving in the army his personnel records showed that he was granted leave on the following dates:

  • 20 August 1917 – 2 September 1917.
  • 15 February 1918 – 3 March 1918.
  • 25 January 1919 – 8 February 1919.

Guy’s personnel record also recorded separation payments to his wife Edythe. She returned to England on 2 August 1915 and gave her intended address as 43 Pentonville Rd, London. The record of her payments showed that she didn’t remain there for the duration of WWI. Edythe spent some time at 2 Darby Terrace, Horn Street, close to Shorncliffe camp used as a base for the Canadian forces (see OS Kent sheet LXXV.SW published 1908map). This was also where Guy’s brother John was base and his wife and family were at 2 Darby Terrace. Edythe’s final address was in Naburn, possibly with other members of Guy’s family. Perhaps he was able to visit her when he returned on leave from France.

After the end of WWI Guy and Edythe both returned to Canada on separate ships. Edythe arrived back at St John’s, New Brunswick on 25 April 1919 on the ship Corsican while Guy returned to Canada on 2 May 1919. After this date no records have been found which included either or both of them, notably the 1921 census. At some point Guy moved to Vancouver where he married his second wife, Elsie Davenport (1902-1970), on 23 May 1931. They were recorded together in the 1931 Canadian census when Guy’s occupation was recorded as a postman, who was not working. It is not clear what happened to his first wife Edythe. They may have divorced and it is possible Edythe remained in Alberta and remarried there in 1924.

Guy and Elsie continued to live in Vancouver where they were recorded on lists of voters:

  • 1945 – Guy, a mail carrier, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.
  • 1949 – Guy, retired, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.
  • 1962 – Guy, retired, and Elsie living at 2784 Adanac St, Vancouver East.

Guy died on 12 May 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His burial record stated that he had been in Canada for 45 years and Vancouver for 41 years. It also included information from his British Columbia marriage record and that he was a bachelor when he married Elsie. His first marriage to Edythe was mentioned and she was his next of kin in his Canadian Expeditionary Force personnel file. If he had been in Vancouver for 41 years then that suggests he moved there about 1921, possibly two years after he returned to Canada from serving in WWI.

Finally

I would like to know more about all the people mentioned in this blog post, and in particular, Guy who emigrated to Canada. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share.

Note: the maps used in this blog have been reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland under the following creative commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ and sourced from the NLS maps site https://maps.nls.uk/.

Bibliography:

Alberta, Canada, Marriages Index, 1898-1944. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Births, marriages and deaths. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990.

British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canada, Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865-1935. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canada, World War I CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canada, World War I CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Canadian Immigration Records. https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/immigration/pages/immigration.aspx : accessed August 2024.

Census records. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Newspapers. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

OS Maps. https://maps.nls.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Shorncliffe Camp. https://www.saltwoodkent.co.uk/the-canadian-at-shorncliffe-during- : accessed August 2024.

UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

UK, Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Records, 1760-1920. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

Yorkshire baptisms, marriages and burials. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed August 2024.

James Bean 1822-1899

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James is my first cousin five times removed and I decided to write about him because his father was a nurseryman/ market gardener like mine. James and his family also emigrated to the USA in the mid-19th century.

James was the eldest son of William Bean (1773-1864) and Ann Wetherill’s (1790-1875) five children. They had married on 31 October 1816 in Acklam parish church and settled in nearby Leavening; both places are in what was the North Riding of Yorkshire. The following outline descendant chart shows their immediate family:

Outline descendant chart for William Bean and Ann Wetherill

William and Ann continued to live in Leavening; in the 1841 census William was recorded as a nurseryman. Lewis’ topographical directory of 1848 described Leavening as follows:

Leavening from Lewis’ 1848 topographical directory of England

Two of William and Ann’s children moved away from Yorkshire. Their eldest daughter Jane (1817-1887) had moved to York by 1840, when she married her first husband George Gray (born 1815). By 1871 she was living in Chorlton cum Hardy, Lancashire with her second husband, James Cameron (1813-1882), who was described as a “survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade”, and a private in the 13th Light Dragoons, on his Find A Grave record.

James was their second child to leave Leavening. He married Harriet Harvey (1821-1876) in St Botolph’s Church, Bishopgate, London on 11 April 1847, when James was described as being from Featherstone in Yorkshire. Their first child Mary was born in Featherstone in 1848. By 1851 James was a gardener at Stockeld Hall, near Spofforth, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

James, Harriet and children Mary, Elizabeth, William and Charlotte, left Liverpool on the ship Mariner and arrived in Boston on 12 May 1854. James’ naturalization certificate recorded his arrival date as 13 May 1854; perhaps the date they actually left the ship. On the passenger list James described himself as a gardener. Initially the family were found in the 1855 Massachusetts State Census in Roxbury, near Boston, where James was a gardener. The family had moved to Medford, Massachusetts by 1859. Medford was described in a local history as follows:

Usher, page 13

James and Harriet had nine children before she died on 29 March 1876. The following chart shows their family, as well as James’ second wife Anna Kinsley Allan (1828-1905), who he married on 20 November 1878.

Dandelion chart for James Bean

The book of the history of Medford also provided information on what James did when he settled there. The following extract describes how he set up in business as a florist which, he then passed onto his second son, George Henry Bean (1854-1922):

Usher, page 437

After he passed the business onto his son George, James became a coal dealer. It was recorded as his occupation on his death record, when he died on 19 June 1899. It seems that his daughter Charlotte (born 1852) continued in the business for some time after his death.

I am interested in knowing more about James and his descendants. Do contact me if you have any further information which you are willing to share with me.

Bibliography

Acklam and Leavening. https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Acklam : accessed February 2022.

Births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ https://findmypast.co.uk : accessed February 2022.

Lewis, Samuel ed. (1848) A Topological Directory of England. London: Lewis. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england : accessed February 2022.

Massachusetts, U S, Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists Records, 1820-1963. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

Massachusetts, U S, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

Massachusetts, U S, State Census Records, 1855. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

Massachusetts, U S, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

Spofforth. https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Spofforth : accessed February 2022.

UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s to Current. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

US State Federal Census Records. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed February 2022.

Usher, James. (1886) History of the Town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Boston: Rand, Avery and Co. https://archive.org/ : accessed February 2022.

Alice Beilby (born about 1822) and Robert Thackeray (1825-1859)

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Alice is my first cousin four times removed. I have already written about her younger sister, Esther, (1830-1875) who emigrated with her husband William Heaton and two sons, to Utah, USA in 1856. William was a Mormon Elder who had met Esther while he was developing his ministry in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the 1850s. It was entries in his missionary journal which helped me to find out more information about Alice and her husband Robert.

Alice was baptised on 17 February 1822 in St Helen’s Church, Wheldrake, to parents Thomas Beilby (1789-1859) and Mary Walker (1793-1850). By the 1841 census Alice was living in the nearby village of Escrick where she was working for Joseph Lewis, a farming bailiff. At some point Alice moved to York where she became a servant in the North and East Riding’s Pauper Lunatic Asylum, in Clifton. The asylum had opened on 7 April 1847.

OS Yorkshire174 date 1853

Note: the three circles show the asylum, approximate position of St Olave’s parish church and the one on the far right is York Minster.

While she was at the asylum, she met another servant, Robert Thackeray, who was a baker. Robert had been baptised on 18 January 1825 in St Sampson’s Church, York, to parents Robert, a butcher and Elizabeth. Robert was admitted into the Register of Freemen of the City of York on 27 April 1846, by birth right, and his address given as Swinegate, York. 

Around the time Alice met Robert, he seems to have also had a liaison with Mary Ann Richardson. Mary had entered the asylum as a patient in December 1848, been deemed cured and started work there as a housemaid. Robert was named as the father of her child in a report on a bastardy case detailed in the York Herald (23 November 1850, page 6). It seems that Mary had left the asylum in June 1850 and declared that the child she was carrying was Robert’s. Robert was then given notice to quit by the asylum; he said that he would marry Mary if the committee of visitors would allow him to continue working there. They didn’t agree to his request. The magistrates in the bastardy case ordered Robert to pay Mary 1s 6d per week towards the upkeep of her son, Albert, who was born 25 October 1850 and baptised on 1 November 1850 in St Cuthbert’s Church, York. Mary and Albert were living at 34 Bilton Street, York at the time.

Robert left the asylum in June 1850, along with Alice, my ancestor. They were married by licence in St Olave’s church in York on 11 June 1850; they both gave their address as the asylum. Robert’s father, Robert’s occupation was recorded as a butcher and Alice’s father, Thomas’s occupation as a farmer.

St Olave’s Church Tower (York)

By the 1851 census Robert and Alice were living in Wheldrake with her father, Thomas, and Alice’s siblings, William and Mary. What happened next was something of a mystery, until I re-read the missionary journal of William Heaton’s, Alice’s brother in law. His entries for 18 and 19 November 1851 talk about Brother Thackeray (Robert’s brother George) and Alice herself, as follows:

Extracts from William Heaton’s missionary journal for 18 and 19 November 1851

From this it seems that Robert had already emigrated to the USA, perhaps to avoid paying for his son Albert. He may not though have adopted the Mormon faith as I couldn’t find him in either the Saints by Sea or the Mormon Migration Databases.

William later recorded in his diary entry for 2 April 1852 that he had taken tea with “a number of saints and friends at Mother Newsom’s”. Alice was about to join her husband in the USA and this was her farewell party. William then helped Alice with her luggage to the railway station on 5 April and by 8 April the family had heard that Alice had arrived safely in Liverpool. Despite an extensive search of passenger lists and Mormon records I have been unable to find when either Robert or Alice left for the USA. They don’t feature again in William’s journal, although Robert’s younger brother George does. George (1836-1890) arrived in Utah on 7 January 1853 where he served as a Justice of the Peace and County Commissioner.

Unfortunately, the only other record I’ve been able to find for Robert is a Millennium File record on Ancestry with details of Robert’s death on 9 January 1859. No further corroborating evidence has been found.

A record of Alice’s second marriage to Daniel Badcock on 17 September 1868 in Manhattan, Kings, New York, USA has been found. Daniel (born about 1834) had travelled to the USA sometime after he was made bankrupt on 30 May 1862. He had been a brewer and publican of the Bevois Tavern, Winchester, Hampshire, England. However, no further census or other records have so far been found for the couple. A particular challenge with regards to Alice is her age which varies widely depending on the record. For example, when she married Robert in 1850 she said she was 22 (born about 1828), in the 1851 census her age was recorded as 26 (born about 1825) and when she married Daniel she gave her age as 35 (born about 1833). The only baptism record found for Alice was in 1822.   

If you know more about what happened to Alice, Robert and Daniel then do please contact me.  

Note: the map used in this blog has been reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland under the following creative commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ and sourced from the NLS maps site https://maps.nls.uk/.

Bibliography:

Baptisms, marriages and burials. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed April 2021.

Census records. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/ : accessed April 2021.

Freemen records. Collection: City of York Apprentices and Freemen, 1272-1930. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed April 2021.

Heaton, Daniel H. ed. (1967) Missionary Journal of William Heaton. Utah: Publishers Press. https://www.familysearch.org/catalog/search : accessed April 2021.

London Gazette. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed April 2021.

Mormon Migration Database, 1840-1932. https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2365248 : accessed April 2021.

Newspapers. Collection: British Newspaper Collection. https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ : accessed April 2021.

North and East Ridings of Yorkshire Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Annual Report 1850. https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b30313740#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&z=-0.4374%2C0.2678%2C1.9259%2C0.9745 : accessed April 2021.

North and East Ridings of Yorkshire Pauper Lunatic Asylum (Clifton). https://www.countyasylums.co.uk/clifton-york/ : accessed April 2021.

OS Maps. https://maps.nls.uk/ : April 2021.

Saints by Sea. https://saintsbysea.lib.byu.edu/ : accessed April 2021.

St Olave’s Church Tower. Beep boop beep, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 : accessed April 2021.