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Family Keepsake - Handcrafted Stained Glass Sun Catcher - #8 (52 ancestors)

2/26/2018

Theme: Heirloom

This heart-shaped stained glass sun catcher was handcrafted by my Aunt Eleanor (ANDREW) Jones at a class she once took, almost certainly in Duncan BC Canada where she lived. Although I don't know what year it was made, I do know that from the start, she intended it to be a birthday present for her oldest sister, my mother Mabel Marion (ANDREW, HENSON) Taylor. She chose a heart because Mom's birthday was on Valentine's Day. The design included leaves and stems and a single flower, probably because Aunt Eleanor loved to garden. So it was a very personalized and appropriate gift, for sure.

After Mom passed away in 2000, I brought this lovely keepsake home with me, and decided it need to be admired rather than stored away in a box. I chose our west-facing dining room window to hang it in, where the afternoon sun could bring its design and colours to life. And it was there every time we looked out the window into our garden. In hindsight, I should have checked the suction cups more often, as one day in 2013 they let go and in the fall, a section of the clear glass was broken. Oh no! I was heartbroken (pun not intended - well, maybe partly intended!) Still beautiful but damaged, I didn't want it to come to further harm. So since then, it's been stored it in a red heart-shaped box to keep it safe. I wish I knew how to repair it, but then again, doing so would remove some of her handiwork which I'm reluctant to do.

I am sad to say that I never confessed to Aunt Eleanor that her beautiful creation had been damaged. She passed away in 2016 without knowing. Yet I still treasure this sun catcher, and her thoughtfulness in creating something so special for my Mom.

A stained glass sun catcher, a gift to my Mom and handcrafted by her sister Eleanor Jones .

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Mabel Marion ANDREW (1918-2000) - Valentine Birthday - #7 (52 ancestors)

2/18/2018

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Theme: Valentine

On Valentine’s Day, I posted a birthday card to my mother, who would have celebrated her 100th birthday on that very day if she was still with us. We always thought it was extra special that she was born on the holiday that celebrated love and devotion, which she certainly gave to us. So we had a double reason to celebrate, and still do. So many happy memories. I now want to continue her story in celebration of her life.

Mabel (ANDREW) HENSON with her two daughters. In honour of her 100th Valentines Day birthday, 14 Feb 2018

Mabel Marion ANDREW, probably in Summerside, PEI

Mabel Marion ANDREW was born 14 Feb 1918 just before the end of WWI on her family farm in North St Eleanors, Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada. She was the oldest daughter and second of seven children born to Harry ANDREW and Nell RICHARDSON, and the namesake of her paternal Aunt Mabel MAY who did not have any children. There was work to do on the farm, and all children helped out as soon as they were able. Mom helped care for her younger siblings and was known to work in the fields and garden. But there was also school and church to attend, and many relatives and friends to visit. I grew up on the other side of the country, hearing about the many places and people that occupied my mother’s childhood rural farming community in PEI.

Distances were not large on PEI, but it wasn’t until my teenage years when I looked at a map of PEI (Canada’s smallest province) that I realized the true scale of the place. Prince Edward Island is only 3 miles across from shore to shore in that particular part of Prince County! North St Eleanors is on the north shore and Summerside on the southern shore, but still they are at most 3 miles apart. My perspective underwent a rather abrupt reality check that day. It was literally a “small world”! Now of course Summerside has grown and spread, and the two communities have since amalgamated.

Mom’s generation lived through the post-war recovery years of the 1920s, followed by the stock market crash of 1929 and the depression in the 1930s. While everyone needed food, the price that farmers could get for their crops was often less than the cost of labour to harvest them. My grandfather once told the story of having to abandon a field of turnips because he couldn’t afford to dig them up. It was a very hard time. Then WWII started and in 1941 the family farm was taken over by the government as part of the new air base and training centre for Atlantic Canada, where my grandfather later got work as a boiler man. I don’t think he was too sad to see the farm go.

Barely attaining adulthood by 1939, WWII took away so many of these young men and even women in my mother’s generation while in their prime. Their lives and their families were turned upside down during the six war years, by life altering experiences both at home and abroad. Mom’s life was no exception, as three of her brothers were old enough to enlist including Dean ANDREW who was critically injured while oversees. My Mom had already finished 10 years of school by then, which was as high as grade school went at that time. She moved to Summerside and got a clerical job there in the legal office of a relative Lowell Compton. According to one of her brothers: "She had this job after she left school. She proved very good at it. She had a good mind, and picked up the 'legalese'. It was a Compton firm she worked for." Mom also made new friends, and seemed to enjoy her new freedom and responsibilities. Her best friend during this time was Betty Manderson, known as “Mandy”, who may have been a nurse.

The following photos, many taken by Mom's uncle Fred MAY, give us a glimpse at her earlier years living in Prince Edward Island.

On right: Mabel HENSON holding daughter Claudia
On left: her sister Harriet CLARK and daughter Elaine, in SookeBC

I have already written about Mabel ANDREW's life in the period after WWII, and her decision in 1947 to travel on her own all the way across Canada, leaving her mother, her sister Harriet, and her maternal grandparents behind. Mom’s new life started on the west coast, near the town of Duncan on Vancouver Island, where her father, some of her other siblings, and her aunt and uncle Fred and Mabel May had recently moved. Mom first lived with her parents in a house on Herd Road north of Duncan before the family moved into Duncan, buying a small 2 bedroom house on Garden Street on the east side of the railway tracks.

At some point she met my father Claude Angus HENSON, a veteran as well as a miner and logger, whose sister Ethel KING lived in the area. In 1952 Claude and Mabel moved to Sooke, west of Victoria, and my sister and I were born in rapid succession. Then in 1954, tragedy struck when Claude was killed in a logging accident, leaving the whole family in shock and devastated.

Mom moved back to Duncan with her babies and once again moved in with her parents; it must have been a tight squeeze in their small house. She found work in the nearby Cowichan Senior Secondary School Office (where I later graduated). In 1959 her Aunt Mabel MAY (nee ANDREW) died, and as her namesake, Mom inherited her 2-bedroom house at 667 Coronation Ave in Duncan. She met John Gilbert TAYLOR, an English bachelor who was part owner of Taylor Bros Logging with his brother Geoffrey TAYLOR. He was known as Gilbert and lived in a boarding house two doors down the street from her house. I know very little of their short courtship except that their first date was square dancing in Mill Bay on the outdoor platform which used to be visible from the highway. Mom finally learned to drive using Gilbert’s large red and white Oldsmobile. And she gave up smoking.

Gilbert TAYLOR and Mabel HENSON arriving at the
Duncan United Church for their wedding, 3 Jun 1960

Mom and Gilbert were married 3 Jun 1960 at the United Church in Duncan. Gilbert moved into Mom’s house and Mom quit her job to became a full time housewife. Under legal guidance and following the convention at that time, they both adopted me and my sister the following year, and legally changed our last name from HENSON to TAYLOR. I was not happy about the name change as I was old enough to know what was happening and I realized I was losing the surname given to me by my birth father. But I had absolutely no say in the matter.

In the summer of 1963, they sold Mom’s house in town and bought a farm 5 miles out of Duncan on the old Cowichan Lake Road, between Tansor and Sahtlam. Gilbert proceeded to log part of the property between the house and the road. This may have been necessary for financial reasons, but it was upsetting to lose most of the beautiful large evergreens, and created an awful eyesore that he made little effort to properly landscape. There were more adjustments needed because of the more isolated location, where we needed to bus to new schools, make new friends and meet new neighbours. And visiting my mother’s relatives was no longer within walking distance. We were on well water and septic tanks, and had to be very frugal with our water use, especially in the summertime.

Mabel TAYLOR and her parents Harry and Nell ANDREW
at Claudia's wedding in Duncan in 1974

In the 1970s, Mom let her girls “fly the coup” at an early age to make their own way in the world, but she continued to be there whenever we needed her. She was there to help me find a place to stay when I moved 40 miles away to Victoria to attend university. In 1974 she was there when I was married in her church in Duncan, although Gilbert refused to give me away or have anything to do with the wedding. She was there to accompany me to Vancouver just after my younger son was born and needed surgery at the BC Children’s Hospital. She traveled down to the US to visit my sister and help out when her boys were young. Just to name a few examples. Mom did not like to drive over the winding Malahat, necessary if she wanted to visit us, and I regret that our visits to Duncan to visit her were not nearly often enough. In spite of keeping busy on the farm, she must have been quite lonely as Gilbert was not very social and they rarely went out to social events.

In the 1990s, Gilbert decided to buy Mom a house without consulting her, and purchased a 2-bedroom bungalow off of Gibbins Road closer to Duncan. I think the idea was to replace the house she already had when he married her. With the farm not sold, he didn’t stay at the new place that often. And then he announced that he was leaving Mom after over 30 years of marriage. He contacted my sister, then living in the US, and told her to come back home to look after Mom, and in 1995 she arrived with her two sons. It was a hard time for everyone. Gilbert subsequently sold the farm, moved out of the area and remarried twice after Mom died. In the end, he refused contact with my sister and I.

Mom returned to her Anglican faith, and was an active member of St Johns Church where she joined the various women’s groups. She helped out at church bazaars and when closing time approached, she was wont to buy some of the remaining knick-knacks, especially those made by children. They usually ended up in our Christmas packages. It was a lesson in charity and in showing appreciation for their creative efforts.

Never one to complain, Mom nevertheless suffered from arthritis, and underwent knee and hip replacement surgeries in later years. She was active with the Arthritis Society as well. After she turned 80 she would admit that she felt tired and seemed to really need that morning cup of coffee to get going. We all wrote it off as age related, but not long after her 82nd birthday in April 2000, she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Like many in her generation, she had smoked for a number of years as a young adult, but quit in 1960. Although she never smoked after that, the cancer developed and spread to the lymph nodes, and she was given 6 months to live. Yet just over 3 weeks later on 20 May 2000, Mom passed away in hospital with us all by her bedside. We strongly believe that she chose that day to leave us, as it was the anniversary of her first husband Claude HENSON’s accidental death back in 1954. It took 46 years, but she was finally together with him again.

Mabel’s obituary was published on page 25 of the Cowichan Valley Citizen, Duncan BC on May 24, 2000:

“TAYLOR, MABEL MARION (nee ANDREW)
Passed away peacefully at Cowichan District Hospital on Saturday May 20, 2000, following a short encounter with lung cancer.
Born February 14, 1918, North St. Eleanors, PEI. Moved to Duncan BC 1947. Predeceased by husband Claude Angus Henson (1954), brother George (1976), father Harry Charles (1985), mother Eleanor Louise (nee Richardson) (1992).
Lovingly remembered by daughters Claudia (Terry) Boorman, Vivian Lucas; grandsons Russell and Colin Boorman, William and Warren Lucas; siblings Dean Andrew, Harriet (Charles) Clark, Alan (Doreen) Andrew, Eleanor (Vernon) Jones, Sydney (Barbara) Andrew; numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.
Service at St. John's Anglican Church, Jubilee Street, Duncan BC, 2pm Friday May 26. Private burial of ashes in St. Mary's Cemetery at later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cowichan Valley Arthritis Society, Canadian Cancer Society or St. John's Anglican Church.”

Mom had arranged to be buried in St Marys Anglican cemetery (the Church has been moved elsewhere, but their cemetery remains on Somenos Road), where her parents are also buried. Claude had been buried just down the road in the Municipal cemetery. But after Mom's memorial service, my sister and I were not yet ready to bury her ashes. Six years later we eventually buried her on the anniversary of Claude’s funeral, in a small private ceremony also attended by a few relatives. All considered, we thought that was the most appropriate time and way to put her to rest.

At the time of her memorial service, the outpouring of love for Mom was extremely heartwarming, and the church was packed to overflowing. One of my cousins shared the following testimonial about Mom, which speaks to both her character and her lasting legacy:

"Aunt Mabel was such a constant in our early lives, partly because of Dad’s powerful affection for her and partly because of his work with Gilbert and his brother. At any rate, because we saw her so often, especially out in the country, I have more of a “sense” of Aunt Mabel than specific recollections. Whenever we arrived, Aunt Mabel was hard at work. But, like Granny, she always had something to offer those of us who dropped in – juice or milk for the kids, tea for the grownups, and usually some cake or cookies. She always made sure we were warm enough and sat us down by the fire or heater – I guess what I think of is that sense of safety and comfort, with grown-ups talking in another room. I do remember going haying at Aunt Mabel’s when we were slightly older: she did up all or most of the food that day, and we had so much fun getting hay stuck in our hair and cutting our fingers. As with all of Dad’s sisters, food was a very important element of get-togethers, and provided the glue that kept the family in touch with one another.

I know that Dad loved Aunt Mabel very much. He was a close friend of Claude’s and I think, after his death, Aunt Mabel’s welfare was often a subject of concern for him. It pained him that she had to work so hard on the farm. I find that Dad’s love for Mabel and Eleanor (and theirs for him) has shaped my own feelings of tenderness for those two. And, like you, I was often struck by how smart Mabel was and how interested in the world – especially when I called to visit in later years."

Another cousin shared a story by her Dad about Mom and her inexperience with controlling horses. It seems that Mom was not a natural rider. I think the horses must have sensed her lack of resolve and knew she wouldn't hurt them, so they took advantage!

It's always revealing to learn other people's memories or impressions of a person we both know. These comments about my Mom were very touching, and I heartily agree. Yet I often saw the other side of Mom that liked to keep in the background and not "force" her opinions, wishes or thoughts on others, even though she did have some strong opinions. She also had a wonderful sense of humour. She was such a caring person, and always seemed to put others first. It was not her way to "rock the boat" and she was rarely outwardly assertive. Mom had her share of insecurities (don't we all?), often second guessing what would be best to do or say or act. I know she carried a lot of guilt around with her about some of the decisions she had made at various times in her life, perceiving they had caused others harm. But she kept the details about the hard times to herself. Although I felt that she was being overly hard on herself, it's difficult to see things from her perspective without more details. I so wanted to reassure her that she really was a wonderful person, but didn't really know how to make her believe it. She WAS smart but I remember her being self-depreciating about that too. We once talked about the final grades she got in school at the end grade 10. If memory serves me, she said she graduated in all but 1 subject. Her best subject was math (perhaps 80%?), but she didn't quite make it in history (perhaps 48 or 49%?) (dear knows where my notes on that little story are so I can't check the details). She obviously regretted that failure. I look on the positive side and celebrate her successes and her strengths and her caring nature.

As mentioned above, food was always at the centre of hospitality for the Andrew women. And I remember those haying "parties" too, when many gathered to help with the work, so needed to be fed (a farmer's wife's duty!) One year was particularly hot when I helped out in the field, stacking, loading and unloading bails of hay. Hard work for sure. Other years I helped Mom in the kitchen and delivered rounds of food and drink to the fields or barn. During the rest of the year we had a herd of polled Hereford cattle to care for. I remember one year after calving season I helped with the paperwork to register the new arrivals, and my Mom was very grateful for my efforts. I enjoyed doing it because I got to dream up appropriate official names for the calves, based in part on their official pedigree. Perhaps that was the first sign of my budding interest in our family’s genealogy!

In 2013 I created a photo book titled “ANDREW, RICHARDSON, COMPTON - Ancestry of Mabel Marion ANDREW HENSON TAYLOR 1918-2000“. It's an overview of the family, with limited text linking the photos and the people together. If interested, you can view all the pages of this book on the Shutterfly website via a link in a previous post: “A Picture Book About My Mother and Her Ancestors”.

Mabel TAYLOR with her mother Nell ANDREW, daughter Claudia and 2 grandsons. 4 generations in 1990.

Mom, we love and miss you and thank you for all your love and your gentle heart. You will forever be my special Valentine. Rest in peace.

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Happy Birthday, Dear Mom

2/14/2018

1 Comment

Wishing today that my Mom, Mabel Marion (ANDREW) HENSON TAYLOR,
was still with us on what would have been her 100th birthday this Valentine's Day.

We miss you, Mom! Here's a birthday card for you,
with love from your two daughters and four grandsons.

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Thomas Wakeham Ashburnham RICHARDSON (1796-1876) - #6 (52 ancestors)

2/11/2018

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Theme: Favorite Name

St Giles Church, Dallington, Sussex, England
Rev. William NORTH served as Vicar here, and his youngest grandson
Thomas Wakeham Ashburn RICHARDSON was baptised here in 1796.

Listed at Grade II* by English Heritage (NHLE Code 1233384)
By The Voice of Hassocks - Own work, CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16067647

I am quite partial to lengthy names, where a single individual has three or more first names. While theses types of names can come across as pretentious or even grandiose, they are usually very distinctive (if not unique). They also offer additional clues to family relationships, thereby helping the family building process.

One branch of my maternal grandmother’s RICHARDSON family really embraced this practice. My 5-times great uncle Thomas RICHARDSON (with only one unremarkable first name) married an Elizabeth Ashburnham NORTH in 1790 in Dallington, Sussex, England. Elizabeth was the only child of Rev William I NORTH (middle initial only mentioned in one parish record, and we don’t yet know for certain what it stands for). Her mother Ann WAKEHAM was William’s step-sister as well as wife, so there was already a strong bond between these families.

I think it was important to Elizabeth and her parents (who had no male descendants) to continue on the surnames in her line in any way possible. So Elizabeth and Thomas RICHARDSON awarded each of their three children with three Christian names each:

William North Wakeham RICHARDSON (1791-1871)
Eliza Ann Irving RICHARDSON (1793-1877)
Thomas Wakeham Ashburnham RICHARDSON (1796-1876)

Quite the jumble of names, for sure, and each a mouth full in their own right!

It’s immediately clear where most of these names came from (Richardson, North, Wakeham), but two of them are not as obvious (Irving, Ashburnham). Unless of course Rev North’s middle name was Irving? Anyone want to bet on that? If I ever decide to push this unrelated NORTH side back further, I’ll have to keep an eye out for IRVING families. I originally thought that one of the executors of Rev North’s 1797 will was a George Irvin, shopkeeper of Robertsbridge, but a later document clearly refers to him as George Munn. So much for my handwriting interpretation skills!

The NORTH name has been the most tenacious, appearing several generations later in Australia branches at least. I have been in contact with a talented researcher and historian “down under” who has unearthed some interesting records about these Richardsons. I was very impressed with how well she grasped implications and possible scenarios from her findings, offering useful historical insights that help connect the dots. Such was the case with the ASHBURNHAM name. From old newspapers and the Clergy of the Church of England Database, among other sources, she investigated Rev North’s education and career history. Of particular interest was this reprint in an English newspaper (almost 100 years after the fact):

Sussex Advertiser, 28 June 1842, “Gossip with our Great Grandfathers” column: CLERICAL -
"Lewes, Feb 1747.- The Rev. William North, AM., has been lately instituted to the Vicarage of Dallington, in this County, at the Presentation of the Right Hon. the Earl of Ashburnham; a living worth L100 per annum."

Ashburnham Place, Sussex, England, home of the Earl of Ashburnham, patron of Rev William North, Vicar of Dallington.

This kind of patronage by a notable Earl couldn’t have happened without a pre-existing or developed connection with this titled Sussex family. Perhaps this connection was through the Wakehams “who are clearly described as gentry”. We also believe that Rev North probably reciprocated, acknowledging this sponsorship and gift by including the name ASHBURNHAM when christening his first (and only) child: Elizabeth Ashburnham NORTH. It seems his patron’s name got higher priority than his wife’s maiden name (Wakeham), which was missed in this generation. This would give Elizabeth added incentive for using Wakeham as well as North and Ashburnham when naming her own children. We do not yet know of any blood connection between the North and Ashburnham families.

(Click to enlarge this image from Google Maps)

I'd now like to focus on the youngest child of Thomas Sr. and Elizabeth: Thomas Wakeham Ashburnham RICHARDSON, who was christened 8 Aug 1796 at St Giles in Dallington, Sussex. This location was also where his maternal grandfather Rev William NORTH had been Vicar, and perhaps still was at the time of his grandson's birth (I’m not sure if William ever retired).  Sadly, his mother Elizabeth died when Thomas Jr. was only two, followed by his grandfather's death in 1800 when he was four. Unfortunately I know nothing else of Thomas’ childhood.

I'm still not sure if Thomas actually inherited part of his grandfather's estate. Rev North wrote his 5-page will in 1797 when his daughter Elizabeth was still alive, but in the end she preceded him in death. His will also named his brother Thomas Wakeham of East Grinstead, who was to pass away before July 1805. Rev North left provisions in his will for all three grandchildren to inherit equally, in trust until they turned of age, under control of his executors Richard Smith and George Munn. However there seems to have been a legal hearing or perhaps a dispute in 1812 when Thomas's oldest brother William turned 21. It wasn't until 1815 that their grandfather’s estate was finalized with the conveyancing and release of the real estate to the Earl of Chichester. Thomas Jr, the youngest grandson, was only about 19 at the time, which makes me wonder if he got his fair share in the end.

By 1815 Thomas Jr was a “gent” living in Walworth Surrey. His older brother William emigrated to Canada while still a teenager, but returned to England  to collect his inheritance, settling in Devon for a time before returning to Canada and spending the majority of his life in Ontario.  His sister Eliza married a relative James RICHARDSON in 1815 and settled in Brede Sussex.  Thomas later moved to Brede as well where he married on 5 Nov 1829 to Jemima BARNES APPS (another name I like).  As an interesting aside,  Jemima’s surname APPS comes from her paternal grandmother who gave birth to Jemima's father prior to marrying Samuel BARNES. So the records use both Barnes and Apps as surnames, making this line quite confusing to trace.  The pattern then repeats itself in the next generation, with Thomas and Jemima having a daughter Angelina in 1828 prior to their marriage in 1829.  So poor Angelina had three possible surnames to use: Richardson, Barnes and Apps! Thomas RICHARDSON (mechanic / pauper) is listed as her father in Angelina’s baptism record of 3 Feb 1828, and in a maintenance order, which confirms her paternity.  Thomas’s fortunes had certainly declined since 1815.

How many children did Thomas and Jemima RICHARDSON really have? At least eight.  The census records, along with birth registrations and baptisms, helped build this family.  In 1841 they are listed with only two children: Angelina age 13 and Thomas age 3.  His son’s full name, according to his birth registration, was Thomas Wakeham Cavendish RICHARDSON.  So the long names continue!  With such a large gap between these 2 children’s ages, there were likely other children born in between who died young, but this isn’t a certainty.  No such baptisms have been found, although they may not yet be indexed online.

Gravestone for Thomas's son William North RICHARDSON
and wife Jemima in Brede Sussex.
Thomas is mentioned, but where is he buried?

In 1851, Angelina had already moved out (she was living in a Workhouse, pregnant with her son Clement). Younger children listed were Thomas W C (13), Dorothy (9), Elizabeth (5), William North (4), and Fanny Jemima (1). Ten years later in 1861, their children were Thomas C (22), William N (14), Clement (10), Horace (8) and Mary (6). We know that Clement was really their grandson, the illegitimate son of Angela who died shortly after childbirth, so he was taken in by his grandparents and raised as their son. So I can't help but wonder: were Horace and Mary also their grandchildren? Jemima was christened in Feb 1810, so she would have been 41 when her grandson Clement was born, and still young enough to have two more children when she was about 43 and 45. Her oldest son Thomas (born 1837) was probably not old enough to have fathered children in 1852 and 1855, and we know he didn’t marry until 1868. So I think that Jemima really did have two children after her first grandson Clement was born.

The 1871 census confirms her children William (23), Horace (19) and Mary (16?).

Thomas supported his family through a succession of occupations. He is alternately listed in the census and children’s baptisms as mechanic and pauper, artist, optician and brass founder. He seems to have been a man with artistic inclinations, combined with some mechanical aptitude that he could fall back on as needed. The arts are not renowned for paying high wages!

At least three of his children died before him: Angelina in 1851 (age 23), Fanny Jemima in 1858 (age 9) and Elizabeth North in 1874 (age 29). Thomas himself died 20 Jan 1876 in Brede Sussex when he was about 80. Just a few months later, he was quickly followed by his son William North in May 1876 (age 30). His wife Jemima passed in 1877. Jemima and son William share the same grave in St George's churchyard on Brede Hill. Thomas is also mentioned on the gravestone, but if he is also buried in this grave or cemetery, his dates are not acknowledged or his own grave is not marked.

According to Thomas's published death notice:

Death notice in the London Evening Standard. The Standard (newspaper), London, Wednesday, February 9, 1876, No 16,081, column 1, DEATHS:
“RICHARDSON, Jan 20, at Brede, Sussex, Thomas Wakeham Richardson, Esq., in his 80th year. Friends will please accept this intimation. American papers, please copy.”

The reference to American papers suggests that close relatives had already emigrated. We know that his grandson Clement was living in Chicago where he married in 1874 and moved to San Francisco prior to 1880. Son Horace was a seaman who also ended up in San Francisco. But his son Thomas III remained in England and continued the tradition of giving his children two or three first names apiece, some including Wakeham, North and Cavendish. I don't know who the Cavendish name honours, so it's another name requiring further research.

These grand-sounding names serve as reminders of their more illustrious and prosperous ancestors. And I like these names!

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Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) in the Census - #5 (52 ancestors)

2/2/2018

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Theme: In the Census

Claude Angus HENSON as a boy, c1927

Today I finally found my father in the 1921 Canada census! As mentioned in my last blog post, Claude Angus HENSON wasn't born until 1919, so this was the first and only applicable Canada census where he should be recorded.

Claude's parents were married in the USA in August 1910, just after the US census that year, where each were listed as single in different households. After starting a family, they emigrated to Canada in about 1914, so missed being recording in the 1911 Canada census. The family fortunately shows up in the 1916 Canada "prairie" census along with their first three young children Pearl, Wayne and Ethel. It was too early for Claude, though. Later census in Canada are not yet accessible by the public, so this was my only opportunity to find Claude in our federal census.

Finding this ancestral family in 1921 records is cause for great celebration, as they had been hiding in the census indexes for some time. It turns out that this was yet another example of hard-to-read handwriting (in part due to the use of a thick black pen), and poor deciphering skills by the indexers. The wrong names were indexed. Unable to guess the actual spelling variant used in the indexes, I turned to the census images on the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) site (whose indexes produced no correct results either using the surname Henson). I checked the notes provided by LAC for known issues with this census. They warned that in some areas, the names had been cut off and not shown in the film images. That did not sound promising.

Knowing that my Hensons lived near Boyle in rural northern Alberta, I then accessed the district and subdistrict lists on the LAC site to determine the best search parameters for that location (thankfully made easier with details provided by the 1916 census). There I learned that the the census images for that area DID exist. Limiting the search to district and subdistrict numbers but no names, the list of results was very long. But I got lucky. On the very first page I recognized the first name Wayne who was the right age to be Claude's older brother. So I accessed that image, and - Voila! - there they all were with names included!

HENSON family as entered (in part) in the 1921 Canada census in
"Cartier", Dist 5, Sub-Dist 41, Section 28, Tp 64, Range 19, West of 4th meridian ~~~ (click above image to enlarge)

To access full LAC file: http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002857969

Want to guess what the associated index said for this family?

Claude Henson was listed as "Clark Hannas" - really! Of course, the others in this family were also listed as "Hannas". While I admit that Bessie's name is hard to read, I would never have read her name as "Burt". All the other first names were fortunately correct, except for poor Pearl whose name had been corrupted to "Paresh". I spent some time submitting correction notes to LAC. Checking ancestry.com for the name Hannas, I found them there as well with the exact same errors. So I sent them correction notices too.

The only mystery remaining here is the location of "Cartier" Alberta, as it doesn't exist on modern maps. Although there is a Cartier Creek Campground in Alberta, it's hundreds of miles to the southwest. Cartier must be in the Boyle area, though, because the district and subdistrict numbers are the same. I checked on the 1929 township map of the western provinces, but even Boyle wasn't shown. So I've marked up a clipping from that map (below) to show the Henson's location in 1921.

I am absolutely thrilled that my young father and his family have finally been found in the 1921 Canada census!

Update regarding "Cartier" and other Alberta locations - 5 Feb 2018:
Thanks to my cousin Sherrill and the information she found on the Province of Alberta Archives site (explaining the development and organizational history in what is now County of Athabasca #12 in Alberta) , I have learned that the Cartier Rural District #637 was created in 1914. It was renamed as Cartier Municipal District in 1917 (where my Henson father was enumerated in 1921), and renumbered as #103 in 1945 (same name). Then in 1947 the Cartier MD was merged with a number of other districts (105, 106, 102, 122, and Athabasca 103) to become a larger Athabasca MD 103. In 1958 it was renamed again when it amalgamated with the Athabasca School Dist #42 to form the "County of Athabasca #12".

For reference: 1 section = 1 square mile, usually divided into quarters for homestead applications. A township is 36 square miles (a square 6 miles by 6 miles). The further north you go, the larger the township number. The further west you go, the larger the range number until you hit the next meridian when the range numbers start again at one.

In the 1921 Canada census, Cartier Municipality is said to encompass townships 64 & 65, range 19. The Henson homestead was in the NE1/4 of S28, Tp64, R19, W4, so was within this municipality. We know they lived near Boyle, a village now within the County of Athabasca. On a larger scale township map of this area, Boyle is shown in NE1/4 of Sec 3, (inferred Tp 65, R 19), which would put Boyle within Cartier Municipality as well. So we're looking at different ways to describe parts of the same area.

Boyle village was named after the Hon J R Boyle, Liberal representative as well as a lawyer and judge. Boyle was part of the Warren School District. School Districts in this area that are mentioned in our Henson family history are:
School Dist #: section-township-range-meridian: date range
• Warren #3265 [Boyle]: 3-65-19-W4: 1915-?
• Flat Creek #3106: NW 28-66-19-W4: 1914-1949
• Cash Creek #3045: 18–64-20-4: 1913- ?
• Plum Lake #2815: 5-65-20-W4: 1912-1948

It would seem to me that the names used for residences must have been rather loosely applied by the people who lived there. Or else the above coordinates did not encompass all of the associated area. In looking at the homestead application by Angus HENSON in the period of 1914-1919 (homestead in NE1/4 of Sec 28, Tp 64, R 19, W4, just south of Boyle), he said he was living in Flat Creek (which is listed as Township 66 in the above list , which would place it a few miles north of Boyle). But perhaps, considering the vast expanse of land in this area, a few miles difference is close enough!

REFERENCES
Library and Archives Canada - Western Canada Land Grants (with link to map...)
Map of Western Canada Townships - data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/nmc/n0043265.pdf
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) - census pages
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) - 1921 census image and index for Claude Henson
Province of Alberta Archives (PAA) - County of Athabasca #12 - Fond PR2315
Athabasca County, Alberta website - 2016 Athabasca County Land Ownership map

2 Comments

Family Keepsake - Handcrafted Stained Glass Sun Catcher - #8 (52 ancestors)

Mabel Marion ANDREW (1918-2000) - Valentine Birthday - #7 (52 ancestors)

Happy Birthday, Dear Mom

Thomas Wakeham Ashburnham RICHARDSON (1796-1876) - #6 (52 ancestors)

Claude Angus HENSON (1919-1954) in the Census - #5 (52 ancestors)

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