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Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) - #4 (52 ancestors)

1/31/2018

2 Comments

 
Theme: Invite to dinner
PictureClaude Angus HENSON served in the Canadian Army in WWII
If such dreams really could come true, I would invite my father - Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) - to dinner, so I could visit and talk to him for a while.  I never got that chance before, as I was only a toddler when he was tragically killed in a logging accident.   I have so many questions for him, about every aspect of his shortened life.  What does he remember about growing up on a homestead in rural, northern Alberta during the depression?  How did he get along with his parents and six brothers and sisters?  Who were his childhood friends?  Did he like school?  What was his favourite interest?  When did he first leave home?  How and when did he meet my mother?  I also have some tougher questions about his war service and his first wife and the difficult time of his divorce.  The questions could go on and on.  No shortage of conversation anticipated.  I'm not worrying about the menu here!

My mother was only able to tell me a limited amount about Claude, and I have always wished I knew more about who Claude was as a person.  I still have a sense of loss, so perhaps being able to ask him even a few questions, to hear his voice and to see his mannerisms, would help ease some of that.  I believe I look more like my mother, but would I recognize myself in him?  I know it would be an intensely emotional meeting.

The outline I have of Claude’s life is based on what relatives have shared with me over the years, and what little else I have uncovered in family photos and papers, local newspapers, and online. 

Picture

HENSON - HUNT FAMILY, Probably in Boyle Alberta Canada, c1927-28
On left: Bessie’s parents Joseph and Mary Jane Crow.
Henson family, back row: Ethel, Wayne, Pearl, Angus and Bessie;
4 children in front: Mae, Mildred, Claude and Dick
PictureHENSON FAMILY, minus Claude (away working?)
Mildred, Wayne, Betty, Mae, Dick, Ethel with baby Raymond and husband Joe King (sitting), Bessie and Angus Henson. Alberta Canada 1940.
Claude was born 4 May 1919 on the family homestead near Boyle, Alberta, Canada, the 5th child or seven children, and the 2nd son of Henry Angus HENSON (1887-1968, known as Angus) and Bessie Mae HUNT (1886-1968).  Both the HENSONs and the HUNTs have deep roots in the USA.  His father Angus was born in Crawford County Arkansas, and Bessie in Missouri, but they met and married in 1910 in Elmwood, Beaver, Oklahoma.  Their two oldest children (Pearl Leila, 1911,  and Earl Wayne, 1913) were born in Oklahoma before they decided to try homesteading in Canada.  They emigrated about 1913 or 1914, then claimed a land grant in the area of Boyle, 163km NNE of Edmonton Alberta.  Bessie’s parents - Joseph Alexander “Alec” HUNT (1860-1928) and Mary Jane CROW (1856- 1934) and sister Hettie also moved north to the same area, but her sister Tanie stayed behind with her new husband Herbert HIBBS.  Hettie married Elmer JONES in Alberta in 1913 but unfortunately she and her baby died in childbirth the following year.  Also in 1914, Claude’s sister Ethel was born, followed by Mildred in 1917.  All this happened before Claude was born in 1919, and before the first World War ended, but set the stage for Claude's arrival.  Two more children followed: Lorena Mae in 1921, and Richard Raymond “Dick” in 1924.

The above family group photo is the only one I have that shows Claude as a boy.  As his Grandfather Hunt died in Sep 1928, and as his younger brother was born in Jan 1924, I am guessing it was taken in 1927 or earlier in 1928 during the warmer months. 

​As I’ve already described in my earlier story about his father Angus HENSON, life on the homestead was difficult for the HENSON family right from the beginning.  After his father lost his right hand in a sawmill accident, the depression made it even more difficult for a man with disabilities to get a job.  So as soon as they were able, the oldest three went out to work to help support the family.  And everyone worked to maintain and survive on their homestead.  Claude may have made it up to grade 11 in school before seeking employment.  

​There is one other story from this period that may have involved Claude:

 “One thing though that Daddy did do, with the help of one of the boys, Claude I think, was to dig a 60 foot well in the center of Boyle.  This was in 1934 and that was the village’s main water supply for the next 30 years.”
I don’t have an exact timeline for Claude after he left home.  But I believe he followed his older brother Wayne north to Yellowknife where they both worked as gold miners for a time.    I have some photos of him there, mostly outside in the snow with his coworkers and heavy equipment (photos not yet scanned and organized, so those will have to wait for a later post).

Both brothers also lived in Ontario for a time, which is where Claude enlisted in the military. First he signed up in the active militia on 10 Jan 1941.  He was assigned to the Algonquin Regiment and attended the NPAM Training Centre for the next month.  But he would have rather been in the Air Force!  He is described as 6 ft 1 inch tall, with blue eyes, fair hair and complexion, 190 pounds.  He claimed a public school education, and was living at the time  in South Porcupine, just east of Timmins, Ontario.  Two months later in nearby Matheson Ontario, Claude married Mary Hykaway.
With the war continuing, Claude re-enlisted on 25 Jun 1942 as a gunner in the No. 2 District Depot in Timmins.  I am told he went overseas, and have ordered his military file but it has not yet arrived.  So those details must wait, too, for a future story.

By 1945 he is listed as a voter and soldier in Boyle, Athabasca, Alberta.  Claude was demobilized on 25 Jan 1946 at the Armoury in Calgary Alberta.  By Sep 1946 he was up mining again in Yellowknife NWT.  By this time he was obviously separated from his wife Mary, but his divorce took quite a while to finalize.

In 1951 Claude’s mailing address was a postal box in Duncan BC, where his sister Ethel and family lived, and where he met my mother Mabel Marion ANDREW (1918-2000), perhaps at a dance or event at the local legion.  I know that Claude was friends with my Mom’s brother Dean ANDREW, a fellow veteran who had been badly injured during the war.  I also know that Mom was friends with his sister Ethel (whose husband Joe KING was also a veteran I believe), but don’t know whether either of these friendships were the cause or in the aftermath of Claude and Mabel meeting.   So many unanswered questions!
By 1952, Claude and Mabel were living near Sooke BC and Claude was employed as a logger.  I was born, and then my sister, but very shortly thereafter, on 20 May 1954, Claude was instantly killed by a falling tree.  Mom remembers hearing the sirens racing by and wondering who was in it.  But I can hardly dare to imagine what it must have been like to later learn that it was actually Claude in that ambulance, already deceased.  There was a coroner’s inquest (I have not seen that paperwork) and his death registration was signed by the coroner, declaring the death accidental.  The other informant was his brother-in-law J R KING.

Claude was buried on 26 May 1954 in the Mountain View Cemetery in the Somenos area outside Duncan BC, and close to Mt Prevost.  His sister Ethel was to join him in his grave many years later.  The local newspapers published a very short account of the accident as well as a short obituary for Claude HENSON:
​

1954 news clipping, Victoria Daily Times, Victoria BC, Friday, May 21 1954:
​
“Sooke Logger Killed.  Father of Two Hit by Tree
Claude Angus Henson, about 30, was killed instantly Thursday at 2.30 pm at the Elder Timber Products Ltd. operations at Sooke when a falling tree twisted and crushed him at his work.
Married and the father of two small children, he was employed as a bucker and had worked for the company since March of 1952.
Dr E C Hart, coroner, will conduct an inquest at Hayward’s Funeral Chapel Tuesday at 10 am."

Picture

Brief news coverage of Claude HENSON's logging accident, 1954
1954 obituary, Victoria Daily Times, Tuesday, May 25, 1954, pg 18, deaths:
​

"HENSON - On May 20, 1954, at Sooke, BC.  Claude Angus Henson, aged 35, beloved husband of Mabel M Henson of Sooke, BC, born in Boyle, Alta.  Besides his wife and two children he leaves his parents, Mr and Mrs Henry A Henson, two bothers and four sisters.  Mr Henson was a veteran of the Second World War.
The remains are resting in Hayward’s BC Funeral Chapel and will be forwarded on Wednesday morning’s train to Duncan, BC, where service will be held and interment made."

Picture

Obituary of Claude Angus HENSON, 1954
PictureClaude's 6 HENSON siblings and spouses, Duncan BC, 9 Jul 1987
Dick Henson, Pearl Millard, George Gillespie, Ethel King, Mae Gillespie, Wayne Henson behind a with Mabel (Andrew Henson) Taylor in front, Fran Henson (Wayne’s wife), Mae Gillespie and Joan Henson (Dick’s wife) in front.

​In 1980 and also in 1987, I met Claude’s surviving 6 siblings, some of them for the first time.  I wish that I had asked many more questions then, but at least I took some photos.  My Aunt Pearl and Aunt Mae also sent me some family papers and information.  It wasn’t until years later that I found a couple of articles online that Mildred had written about her HENSON and HUNT family and then published in 1982 in a Boyle Alberta local history book titled “Forests, furrows and faith : a history of Boyle and districts“.  These articles gave me further insights into their lives and the hardships and misfortunes they suffered.  All these HENSON siblings have since passed.  Claude of course was the first.

Early in  2017, I was thrilled to meet a new first cousin Sherrill from Alberta for the first time, although we had been corresponding since 2014. She is a daughter of Claude’s youngest brother Dick.  Sherrill and her husband visited us in Victoria for an afternoon while on vacation in our area, and she shared lots of old family photos and stories with me.   Dick was the last HENSON sibling to pass away in 2010, and I learned that among his affects was a WWII army kit bag complete with canteen, shaving kit, and wool cap with ear flaps, which Sherill later mailed to me. I was extremely moved to hold and touch them  - an unexpected gift and invaluable family keepsakes!   There was also a beret with a badge that reads "Sherbrook Fusilier Regiment, Droit au But".  Claude's name and number are written on the back of the  kit bag, but the cap and beret aren't labeled.  However, I recognized the beret and badge from one of his army portraits, and the wool cap with earflaps from a younger portrait of Claude in uniform. 

Dick served in the Air Force, but had managed to meet up with Claude during the war.  He and Claude were said to be quite close, and Dick had obviously held onto these mementoes of his brother for all those years.   I am so very grateful that Sherrill developed an interest in her family history and recognized their significance when sorting through her father’s belongings.  They are very special to me.

So, if it were possible to finally meet my father, over dinner or anytime, there would be two different lifetimes of stories to catch up on.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if such wishes really could come true?

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Orvil “Strawberry” HENSON (1912-1986) - #3 (52 ancestors)

1/19/2018

36 Comments

 
Theme: Longevity
PictureOrvil "Strawberry" HENSON, postcard photo
Orvil HENSON was born 19 Mar 1912, but to most of the folks in his native Winslow Arkansas he became known as “Strawberry”.  This unusual nickname stuck, even after he stopped selling strawberry plants and fruit.  He later became a timber worker, as were many in his family.  His father Ike owned his own sawmill, as did his oldest brother Theron near Millers Chapel, Washington County, Arkansas.  The family was known for their hard work and honesty.

Strawberry was the son of Isaac “Ike” Henson (1886-1956) and Mahala Elizabeth EASTER (1887-1963), and the 3rd of their 7 children (although there may have been an 8th child, perhaps older than Orvil).  He died 9 Jul 1986 in Fayetteville Arkansas at the age of 74.  Although his age was 3 years above the average life expectancy for males in the USA at that time, he was far from breaking any records for longevity.

Yet age and years aren’t the most important ways to measure a life’s value, at least according to the following popular quotes (showing just 3 of the many variations found online)  …

“It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it.”
​“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”
     ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

“And in the end, it’s not how may years in your life, but how much life in your years.”
     
~ Edward J. Stieglitz, M.D., author of “The Second Forty Years”, 1947
Picture
There is definitely more to be said about Strawberry’s accomplishments and his life well lived.   Certainly there were stages of Strawberry’s life of greater than normal duration than average.  Most prominent on his list are his 19 children.  That’s right, according to family sources he had 19 children (or perhaps even 20?).  Strawberry was married twice, first to Bernice in 1937 in Benton County Arkansas (when he was 25 and she was 18). Together they had 11 children before divorcing.   In 1968 (when he would have been 56) he married again and then fathered another 8 children. That's a lot of mouths to feed. 

I would consider Strawberry’s extended period of child rearing a form of longevity.  Would you agree?


As Strawberry's first child was born in 1938, only 2 children made it into the 1940 USA census.  Later census records cannot yet be accessed.  Looking at census statistics in general, I was disappointed to see that they count all families with 7 or more people together in a single column, and do not identify the size of the largest family.  But I think most would agree that families with 19 children are rare.  Considering the necessary ages and time span required to produce this many children, it would be highly unlikely for all of them to be living in the same household at any given time.  Many of the older ones would have moved out on their own before younger ones were born.  The census deals with household size rather than family size, so is not always an accurate source of overall family size. 

Notoriety came to Strawberry, not only through his unusual name and the amazing size of his family, but also through a national publication.  In the March 1978 edition of National Geographic magazine, page 421, as part of an article on Arkansas, they chose to include a full page head shot of Orvil “Strawberry” HENSON with his long grey beard, his floppy hat, and dark piercing eyes.  A face full of character.  On page 420, the magazine also published  a small photo of his 2 youngest children (as of 1978) along with the following caption:

“Ozark patriarch, Orvil “Strawberry” Henson (facing page) has cut broomcorn in Kansas and picked apples in Washington.  Now 66, he’s home to stay with his second wife and the youngest of his 16 children ... .  He resents newcomers who clear the forest for development.  But of those who come to find a simpler way of life, he believes “that’s real worthwhile.  Those people won’t hurt the land.””
A photo very similar to the one in National Geographic was produced on a postcard (shown at the top of this post)  One copy at least has been saved by a relative.  The back of that postcard reads:
“Strawberry Henson was born and raise[d] in Arkansas and for many years he has performed on TV Programs, public benefits, or just wherever a crowd gathers.  His ability to create a multitude of sounds and make them all come out of his mouth at once has made his animal fights a pleasure to many Arkansans.  Self taught, he plays several musical instruments and writes many of his own songs.”
PictureSimple wooden cross marks grave of Orvil "Strawberry" HENSON,
Millers Chapel Cemetery, near Winslow Arkansas
From these various sources we have learned some interesting facts about Strawberry and his life well lived.  He was industrious and hard working, with a strong respect for the land and its resources that he and his family relied upon for their livelihood.  Probably out of necessity, he was practical and down to earth, keeping his beard long and his floppy hat shielding his eyes with their intent gaze.  He had musical talent, and liked to perform for people.  He had strong family roots in the Winslow Arkansas area on the western edge of the Ozark National Forest, and he fathered an unusually large number of children that practically guaranteed the continuation of his line.

I have been in touch with this family via facebook, and as of 2016 his second wife and 16 of his children were living.
  11 of those children attended a family reunion that same year.

Only a simple wooden cross marks Strawberry's burial in Millers Chapel Cemetery near Winslow, but his living memorial exists in the extraordinary number of his descendants.

Picture
 REFERENCES

Quotes - Edward J. Stieglitz, M.D., author of “The Second Forty Years”, 1947
​
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/07/14/life-years-count/

Quotes - Martin Luther King Jr. - https://www.logomaker.com/blog/2013/01/21/12-quotes-on-leadership-from-martin-luther-king-jr-for-small-business-owners/

Poem - Helen Steiner Rice - "Time is not measured by the years that you live ..." -   https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/292123-time-is-not-measured-by-the-years-that-you-live

Life expectancy in the USA, 1900-98 - http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html
Male life expectancy - http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy-male 
​
Census - U.S. Households by Size, 1790–2006 - 
https://www.infoplease.com/us/household-and-family-statistics/us-households-size-1790-2006
National Geographic magazine, March 1978 issue, page 470-471, part of article "Easygoing, Hardworking Arkansas" by Boyd Gibbons, Photographs by Matt Bradley (access by subscription)

Find A Grave Memorial #87825563 - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87825563/orvil-henson


36 Comments

ANDREW Cousins At My First Family Reunion - #2 (52 ancestors)

1/13/2018

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Theme: Favorite Photo
Picture

Harry & Nell ANDREW with 14 of their grandchildren, 1959, Duncan, BC, Canada
This picture, taken in the summer of 1959, is important because it truly represents FAMILY to me. It captures a precious moment at an important event in my childhood, when  I was surrounded by cousins at a reunion of my mother Mabel ANDREW’s immediate family.  This photo was taken by my Uncle Charlie CLARK (husband of my mother’s sister Harriet ANDREW) in their large back yard in Duncan, BC, Canada.  It shows a somewhat disorderly group, featuring  my maternal grandparents Harry Charles ANDREW and Eleanor Louise "Nell" RICHARDSON​  with many of their grandchildren. It must have been hard trying to corral this large group of young children for the photo!

Uncle Charlie told me in later years that, not only did he take this picture  (I forget the exact details of the make and model of the camera which he clearly remembered), but he also developed the film himself and made a limited number of copies for family.  A man of many talents!  I doubt that the negative has survived, but thankfully some of the copies have.

This event was the first organized reunion of my mother’s ANDREW family that I attended.  It was also their first full reunion that I know of since the end of WWII when parts of this family moved their base camp from the Prince Edward Island (PEI) on the east coast of Canada to Vancouver Island (BC) on the west coast.  Mom’s brother George ANDREW settled in Ontario, and another brother Alan ANDREW re-enlisted in the Air Force, so was stationed in a number of locations.  But in 1959, the other siblings were all living in Duncan, BC, close at hand for the reunion.

Growing up, I learned that I was one of 21 grandchildren on my mother’s side, all born between 1946 and 1964.  We were the offspring (natural and adopted) of Harry and Nell ANDREW’s 7 children.  So my sister and I had 19 maternal cousins, and I am so proud of that!  In this photo I see only 12 of these grandchildren, with 2 others hidden. In 1959, 5 cousins had not been born yet, one was a toddler and probably napping, and the last one missed the photo.  I’m the one wearing glasses, sitting cross-legged right in front.

This reunion was also memorable because it was the first time I had met my Ontario cousins.  George had 4 girls and the youngest one is only 4 months older that me.  So I remember being very excited to meet them.  Three of these new cousins are in the above photo, and I don’t know why the 4th one was missed.  Perhaps she wasn’t feeling well, or was camera shy.

There were other photos taken that day, and in the days surrounding the reunion, that expand and enhance the story told by this photo.  I can't help but include 4 of them:
  • My grandparents Harry and Nell ANDREW in front of their house on Garden Street in Duncan BC where I lived with them for at least 4 years of my early childhood.  In this photo they are likely waiting for a ride to the reunion, only a short distance away.  I never knew them to have their own car.
  • Harry & Nell ANDREW with their 7 children, organized in order of birth:  George, Mabel, Dean, Harriet, Alan, Eleanor and Syd.  It was to be a very rare event for all 7 to be together.  I’m not even sure if they every did again, as George ANDREW died of cancer in 1976.  As of 2017, they have sadly all passed.
  • This is the whole reunion group: Harry & Nell, their 7 children with 5 spouses, and 16 grandchildren.  I count 30 people plus Charlie who took the photo.
  • A group photo in front of a huge tree was likely taken in Goldstream Park just north of Victoria.  Charlie and Harriet CLARK and 4 children took a road trip with the visiting George & June ANDREW & 4 girls from Ontario, and Alan and Bobby ANDREW.  Charlie CLARK took the photo.  Missing from the photo is George ANDREW.
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Paying Respects at Ross Bay Cemetery - #1 (52 ancestors)

1/10/2018

2 Comments

 

BURIALS: BOORMAN, SCHOENECKER, GOSSE, WHITTAKER, IRVINE, ROBSON 

Theme: Start
PictureROSS BAY CEMETERY, Victoria BC Canada
Looking west from in front of the grave of
Joyce (Thomas Boorman) SCHOENECKER.
Arnold SCHOENECKER's grave is at the base of this tree as shown, right side.
As part of the new 2018 “52 ancestors in 52 weeks” challenge, this first posting focuses on multiple relatives in my husband Terry Boorman’s tree who are all buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, BC, Canada.  Instead of one ancestor this week, this is about one cemetery with multiple family burials.  I’m  feeling unconventional!  But I have a good reason for this approach.

The optional theme this week is “start”, and to get inspiration I decided to look back to when I started my blog in 2012 .  Back then I chose to start close to home here in Victoria, looking at burials for Terry’s paternal relatives in Ross Bay Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in the area. 

​
At that time I only wrote about 7 BOORMAN burials, with all but one of them resting in the Boorman family plot in Block O.  They are marked with only a single gravestone, inscribed simply with their surname “BOORMAN”. 

Picture

Boorman family plot gravestone in Ross Bay Cemetery, Block O, Victoria, BC, Canada
However, there are additional family burials in this historical cemetery, which is situated on Dallas and Fairfield Roads, right on Victoria’s scenic waterfront.  One of these relatives died only last year.  So this posting is about Ross Bay Cemetery and some of the other family burials that we have found so far.  There are likely more to be found.
​

SCHOENECKER

My husband Terry’s mother, Lillian “Joyce” BOORMAN (nee THOMAS), was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in 11 May 2006, as was her second husband Arnold John  SCHOENECKER in 1988.  Joyce died peacefully on 24 Feb 2006 in a nursing home in Victoria.  Arnold was born 27 Sep 1910 in St Paul, Minnesota.  He was previously married with 2 children and worked as a labor negotiator in the US.  He married Joyce in Victoria on 17 May 1970 and for a short while they lived in Seattle before returning to Victoria.

Joyce’s ashes were buried by her two children under a large tree on the eastern edge of the cemetery, close to where Arnold was buried under a neighbouring tree.   Joyce certainly has a marvellous view of the surrounding trees and monuments.


​GOSSE & BOORMAN

PictureGOSSE family plots, just south of the Wilson monument
According to the Ross Bay Cemetery Index, the GOSSE family secured 3 adjacent burial plots in Block Q on the west side of Road U (a paved path), just south of similar plots acquired by the prominent Wilson family (not related).  While the Wilson family erected a massive monument across their plots, it is in stark contrast with the grassy GOSSE plots beside them, adorned only with 2 small and simple flush-mounted markers:
  1. Plot 71: One name listed: Josiah Gosse
  2. Plot 70: Six names listed a small metal plaque: GOSSE; Josiah 1938, Susannah 1946, Frank (S S Sophia) 1981, Josiah (Si) 1937, Llewellyn 1930, Katie (nee Boorman) 1991

NOTE: The cemetery index says that the 2nd Josiah (1853-1937) is buried in Block P Plot 124 on the east side of M Rd with Deriah Gosse and Anna Maria Gosse; the index does not list Katie at all, at least that I could find.
PictureKatie Evelyn BOORMAN as a girl in Victoria
in a formal portrait with her dog
Katie Evelyn BOORMAN was Terry’s father’s first cousin.  She was the only child of Walter William BOORMAN (buried in the Boorman plot mentioned above) and Marian Emilda GUTHRO.  Katie was born on 18 Jul 1899 in Victoria BC at 57 Kings Road.  Two months after she turned 8, her father succumbed to typhoid in 1907.  In 1909 her mother remarried to Albert Edward WHITTAKER, but they had no further children.  Katie’s mother Marion died 29 May 1942 in Victoria and is buried with her first husband Walter William in the BOORMAN plot in Block O. Ten years later in 1952, Albert was buried in Block A.

The only photo I have of Katie is a formal portrait of her as a child, dressed in elaborate finery and accompanied by a very large dog.  Not your usual portrait but wonderful to have.

Katie met and married Llewellyn Sparkes GOSSE on 15 Apr 1924 in Victoria.  I have rarely seen such a detailed wedding announcement (including gifts and out of town guests) as was published the next day in the Victoria Times:

Home Wedding was Pretty Ceremony. 
Nuptials Last Night of Miss Katie Boorman and Mr. L Gosse.
A very pretty wedding took place last night at 9 o’clock at the home of the bride’s mother, Mrs. A. E. Whittaker, Balmoral Road, when the Rev. Dr. Campbell united in marriage Katie Evelyn Boorman, only daughter of the late Mr W W Boorman and of Mrs A E Whittaker, Balmoral Road, and Mr. Llewellyn Sparks Gosse, third son of Captain and Mrs. J Gosse, 235 Belleville St.
The ceremony was performed in the drawing room under an arch of greenery from which was suspended a large floral bell, while potted plants and cut flowers were artistically arranged throughout the rooms.
The bride, who was given in marriage by her stepfather, Mr A E Whittaker, looked charming in a gown of powder blue Canton crepe, simply fashioned and embroidered with steel beads and wore a wreath of orange blossoms in her coiffeure.   Her only attendant was Miss Mildred Russell, who looked fascinating in a  fawn Canton crepe costume.  The groom was supported by Dr H L Alexander of Portland, Oregon.  During the signing of the register Mrs. Morton sang “Beloved, It is Morn,” accompanied by Miss Dorothy Morton, who also played the Wedding March as the bridal party entered the drawing room.
A delicious buffet supper was served in the dining room which for the occasion was in a color scheme of blue and gold.   Streamers in these shades formed a canopy over the table, which was centred with a three tier wedding cake, surrounded by bowls of daffodils and blue candles in bronze sconces.
The following friends of the bride assisted in serving: The missed J Homans, Edith Parsell, Marguerita Hicks, Alice Findler, Della Fair, Evelyn Macdonald, Dorothy and Gertrude Gosse, Quida Beacham and Florence Russell.
Among the many beautiful wedding gifts was a set of flat Community silver, presented by the members of the commercial staff of the BC Telephone Company of which the bride has been a member for a number of years, also a set of aluminum ware from the employees of the Union Oil Company, with which company the groom is associated.
On their return from the honeymoon, which is to be spent in Vancouver and the Sound cities, Mr and Mrs Gosse will reside in Coper Apartments, Menzies Street.   Among the out of town guests at the wedding were Mr and Mrs Fred Beacham and daughter of Chemainus, Mr and Mrs I L Dougan of Cobble Hill, Captian and Mrs T S Gunns of Vancouver, Captain and Mrs J Goss of Vancouver, Dr and Mrs Homer Alexander of Portland, Mr and Mrs J F Strang of Vancouver, Captain and Mrs J F Gosse of Colwood, Mrs. A D Losee of Seattle, Mr R Sparks of Vancouver and Mr R Gosse and daughter of Rossland.”

​After Llewellyn’s early death on 19 Apr 1930 following surgery and his subsequent burial in Ross Bay Cemetery, many years passed before Katie was remarried to a widower Douglas Edmonds PEARSALL. Douglas passed away in 1976 in Vancouver, and Katie died 15 Nov 1991 in Victoria, then cremated in Royal Oak.  Athough her burial is not recorded in the Ross Bay index under Pearsall, Gosse or Boorman, the memorial plaque placed by family on the Gosse plot implies that Katie (nee Boorman) was buried there.
PictureAlan Frank Guthro GOSSE, 1925 - 2017
Katie and Llewellyn had one son, Alan Frank Guthro GOSSE,  born 11 Mar 1925 in Victoria.  He was Terry’s second cousin. We had the pleasure of meeting him in 1999 at a Boorman family reunion, where he shared some of his family stories and photos.  One of the group photos showed and impish Alan as a young boy with his grandmother Marian, together with Terry’s grandparents and 2 aunts (when they were girls)I was contacted by Alan’s daughter last year to let me know that Alan passed away on 16 May 2017 at the age of 92, and that his ashes were buried at Ross Bay.  His name is not yet in the cemetery index, nor is there a marker for him yet.  But on a recent visit to Ross Bay Cemetery to pay our respects, we noticed a patch of recently disturbed grass in Gosse plot 70 that is likely his resting place.  Alan Gosse’s online obituary provides more information on his life and family. 
​
The other GOSSE’s known to be buried in this plot included Llewellyn’s parents Capt. Josiah GOSSE (c1865 - 28 Apr 1938) and Susanna “Susie” SPARKES (c1868 - 7 Jun 1946).  They both died in Vancouver.  Frank was Llewellyn’s oldest brother who tragically drowned while working in Alaska when he was only about 26.

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Daisy & Harry Boorman with 2 granddaughters Sheila and Audrey Boorman,
on the right: young Alan Gosse and his grandmother Marian (Guthro, Boorman) Whittaker (sister-in-law of Harry Boorman)


​IRVINE & ROBSON

Evelyn Maud “Eva” ROBSON was born 3 Jun 1870 in the Medway District of Kent England.  Her parents were my husband Terry’s great-great-uncle and aunt: William Matthew ROBSON (1842-1923) and Annie TICK / MUNRO (1847-1923).  They started their family while still in Kent, where their son Jim and 2 daughters Eva and Emma were born.  Sometime in the mid 1870s they decided to give New Zealand and try, and their daughter Annie was born there in 1877.  But by 1880 then had moved again to the west coast of Canada, settling on Mayne Island where their 2 youngest children Eliza May and Stanley Howard ROBSON were born.  William Matthew ROBSON’s sister was Francis Jane “Fanny” ROBSON (1844-1924) who married William Scoons BOORMAN (1842-1909) - Terry’s great-grandparents.  There were some later interconnections between these families as described in my 2012 posting:  “ROBSON / BOORMAN Wedding in 1897, Victoria BC”.

Back to Eva ROBSON, who was the member of this family to marry Andrew IRVINE on 17 Aug 1894 in Victoria BC.  Andrew was born in the Shetland Islands in 1866, son of John IRVINE and Margaret JOHNSTON.  I know nothing about his early life or when he emigrated.  Andrew and Eva had 5 children together between 1895 and 1907, some at least on Mayne Island.  Some of the others are listed as born in Victoria, but back then the Victoria District encompassed quite a large area including the Gulf Islands, so it’s hard to be certain.  But by 1921, most of this IRVINE family was living in Victoria City, except for their oldest son Robert who was living in Vancouver (poised to marry a girl from Washington State the following year and eventually move to California).  Andrew worked as a seaman until 1932.
Eva died first on 22 Apr 1924 from cancer at age 53, then Andrew followed her on 7 May 1943 following a sudden stroke at age 76.  Just this past October I realized that both Andrew and Eva IRVINE were buried in Ross Bay Cemetery.  It turns out their grassy double plot is very close to Fairfield Road across from the Fairfield Mall.   Officially they are buried in Block 3, plots 90 and 91 on the west side of road 46.  There is no grave monument, only their surname “IRVINE” engraved in the cement curb surrounding the raised grassy area. 

A final side note to the IRVINE name: Terry's father was named William Irvine "Bill" BOORMAN, and we're still not certain where his middle name came from.  Bill BOORMAN'a father (Harry Eustace Boorman) and Eva (Robson) IRVINE were first cousins on Harry's mother's side.  But why would Harry name his first born son after the husband of a first cousin?  There must be more to that story!
​

​These families of Terry's certainly didn’t go in for a lot of memorial showmanship, but no doubt it was much more affordable that way.  The cemetery records have been very helpful in tracing the lives as well as the deaths of these Victoria relatives.
​
REFERENCES
Ross Bay Cemetery Index - City of Victoria Archives
Plot Map  of Ross Bay Cemetery - interactive with incomplete index 
2 Comments

NEW YEAR PLANS and GOOD INTENTIONS for 2018

1/9/2018

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Well, this is embarrassing.   Last year I only posted one blog article. Yes that’s right, only ONE in the WHOLE year, and only then because my Uncle Syd ANDREW passed away and I really needed to pay tribute to his memory. Pretty sad performance on my part,  and VERY sad reason to post.

It’s not that I didn’t do any genealogy last year.  I can guarantee you that I clocked a huge number of hours researching, networking, organizing, and documenting my family history, but none of it made it into my blog. I haven’t even updated my online trees recently.  I didn’t do much better in 2016, with only 6 blog posts that year.  

2015 was a different story altogether with 54 posts in all, thanks to taking the “52 ancestors in 52 weeks” challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. Feast or famine, it seems!  Admittedly, the pace of writing in 2015 was quite exhausting, and left room for little else as I felt obliged to cross-check and do extra research for each story.  Admittedly I set my own bar quite high, but I always like to be thorough. But as I already have other research priorities set for this coming year (DNA research among them),  I do need to somehow find a middle ground for my blog entries that is more achievable.  But the previous 52 week challenge certainly made me accountable, which obviously produced results.  Hmmm…

When I recently received word that the 52 week challenge is on again for 2018, I decided to sign up again so that I could at least do some of the stories (realistically).   I’m not committing to the full 52 posts, but even one is a step in the right direction.  I really do want to share what I've learned with others, while continuing to learn even more about our wonderful families and how to research our family history.

My first story is now nearing completion.  As you will soon see, it involves a number of different relatives, so perhaps I can count for more than one story?  No matter as long as it gets written!


Why not  join me? Lets "give it a try"!

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    Authors

    Terry and Claudia Boorman have been interested in their family history since the 1980s.  They live in Victoria BC Canada.

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