Tag Archives: WWI

Guy Silversides (1883-1964) – emigration to Canada

Leave a reply

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.

The unidentified John Sarginson

Leave a reply

It was probably about a year ago when my brother Tim set me a family history challenge. He is interested in a specific name on the WW1 war memorial which resides in St Helen’s Churchyard in Escrick; the village we were born and brought up in. The man’s name was John Sarginson. Neither of my parents was able to shed any light on this man who shares the same surname as we do. Our uncle Taff, one of my father’s brothers, wasn’t able to help either when we asked him about him earlier this year. Mind you he didn’t know that one of his ancestors from a nearby village had served in World War One, survived and is included in one of the historical books about Riccall; the village which he lives in.

Anyway how hard can this be to identify someone who is currently unidentified I thought to myself. Well much harder than I’d anticipated is the short answer. I started with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and found some John Sarginson’s who had not survived the war but, having carried out further research,  I don’t think it is any of them. Then I thought well perhaps he is in some of the other WW1 records: Ancestry, Imperial War Museum lives of the Great War, Findmypast and the National Archives at Kew. No luck there though.

Then I realised that there would probably have been some meetings to discuss the war memorial and discovered that some papers and meeting minutes had been lodged at the Hull history centre as part of the Forbes Adam collection. Perhaps this was going to be the eureka moment that we family historians crave. Yes you’ve guessed it, it wasn’t. A very interesting letter from Lady Wenlock written in 1921, just after the commemoration service for the war memorial, did reveal some of the local feeling around it and some of the the names which had been included on it. But no the papers didn’t provide any information about who was going to be included on the memorial. A separate sub-committee run by the Rector made those decisions; and so far it doesn’t look these papers still exist or are accessible.

So it was back to the drawing board. After extensive further research, including also looking at the other soldiers on the war memorial and who they served with, I am no further forward in identifying the unidentified John Sarginson. I am loathe to leave him as a mystery so have written to the local historian who wrote a book about Escrick to see if he can help.

If you know anything about this John then do please contact me. I have also posted this blog to my other genealogy website https://sarginsonfamily.com/.

Postscript: it looks like John may no longer be unidentified. He was probably Corporal John Sarginson of the West Yorkshire regiment. It would be good though to know more about his connection to Escrick as he wasn’t born there. If you have any further information do please get in touch.