About four years ago we were given a copy of a copy of a wedding photo from 1897,  passed on by a family researcher who had visited Salt Spring Island to connect with descendants of this couple.  Along with the photo came the following explanation:

This photo and description are invaluable in spite of not listing all names and containing a couple of minor discrepancies.  It gives us a wonderful glimpse of two related branches of Terry's family at the end of the 19th century in Victoria, a frontier city that had only been incorporated less than 50 years before in 1852.  Although we haven't identified everyone in this rather large gathering, we can make some educated guesses about some of them based on placement and age, and we can confirm some identities based on other family photos.  We can also fill in the story and relationships behind this photo.

The bride, Henrietta Emma Avery BOORMAN (1867 - 1952), was the second daughter of William Scoons BOORMAN and Frances Jane ROBSON - they are sitting on to the right of the bride, so I don't know why "William Boorman" was crossed out in the photo description - as it is him!  Hettie (as she was known to her Boorman relatives at least) was living in Victoria at the time of their marriage.

The groom, James John "Jim" ROBSON (1867 - 1943), was the son of William Matthew ROBSON and Annie MUNROE - they are sitting to the left of the groom.  Jim was a farmer on Mayne Island at the time of their marriage: 27 May 1897 in Victoria BC, according to their marriage registration.  Both were 29 years old when they married.  William M ROBSON (father of the groom) was the older brother of Frances J ROBSON (mother of the bride), making the bride and groom first cousins on her mother's side. 

The witnesses at the wedding were Walter Wm BOORMAN and Alice A BOORMAN, both of Victoria - likely the names of the Best Man and the Maid of Honour, and most certainly both siblings of the bride.  This in part matches the description provided, which lists the Best Man standing just behind the groom (and slightly left).  We know from other photos that this is Walter William BOORMAN, who is also standing to the right of Marion E GUTHRO who he was to marry the following year.  As to the Maid of Honour, it's not obvious to me from their dress which one it is, so am glad that the description points to the one standing directly behind the bride.  That would likely be the witness Alice Amelia BOORMAN, her sister and a school teacher who never married.  I would also guess that the bridesmaid between William Walter and Alice Amelia is an older sister, Frances Eliza "Lillie" BOORMAN, who also never married.  The other bridesmaid could be her third sister sister Katie Elizabeth, as she looks a lot like their brother Harry. Katie Elizabeth Boorman was 10 years younger than the bride so she would have been not quite 20 years old in this photo.  As we don't know what happened to Katie after 1901 when she was living with her brother Walter William in Victoria, it is nice to catch a possible glimpse of her here.

The groom was the eldest of six children; he had 4 sisters and the youngest was a brother Stanley.  His oldest sister Eva (Evelyn Maud) ROBSON was married in 1894 to Andrew Irvine; she had a toddler almost 2 years old at the time of this wedding and would also have been 6 months pregnant with the next one.  Could this be the very young child and woman shown in the picture behind the groom's father?  Could at least some of the other ladies on the left be other sisters of the groom?

The younger boys sitting on the ground in front on the left are a bit of a mystery.  One of them is likely the groom's younger brother Stanley Howard ROBSON, who was born in 1883 so would have been age 14 in this photo.   Perhaps the other is a Robson cousin?  Somewhere in this mix there has to be the groom's Uncle Frederick James ROBSON who was unmarried at this time.  In 1901 and 1911 he was listed in the census as single, living with his nephew Stanley in the Victoria North area (which may have included Mayne Island where he died in 1937) and Saltspring Island.  We don't yet know if any of the other Robsons also came to the Victoria area from Kent England, or what other cousins there were in the ROBSON line.

The younger girl on the ground on the right is reported to be "Granny's Dad's sister Eliza".  This doesn't make sense to me.  Granny (Henrietta's) Dad (William Scoons BOORMAN's) sister would have been much much older than this girl, so the generation does not match.  Henrietta's sisters would offer 2 possibilities if they were younger, but both Frances Eliza (Lillie) BOORMAN (age 31) and Katie Elizabeth BOORMAN (age 19) were both older  than this girl appears to be in 1897.   Even the groom's sister Emma Eliza ROBSON was 25 in May of 1897 (soon to be 26), and already married.  But the groom's youngest sister  Eliza May ROBSON was days away from turning 17 and was a niece of France Jane, mother of the bride.  I think she is more likely to be the girl Eliza shown sitting on the ground in the photo.

As to Henrietta's two other brothers, the one on the far right of is Albert Sidney BOORMAN (might have been known as "Bert") who didn't marry until 1910.  The brother in the back row "between two ladies" with a flower in his lapel and behind the guy with the mustache is Harry Eustace Boorman, Terry's grandfather, who also married in 1910.  

The lady beside Harry on the left (his right) with the crenelated and  caped outfit with light-coloured trim, looks like she might be a Guthro (perhaps a sister to Marion Guthro who was to later marry Walter William Boorman), based on younger photos we have of this family.  But this is just a guess.

I wonder if everyone in the photo is a relative or their significant other, or if friends are also included?  It would be nice to know who the others in the photo are, and how they connect.

I thought it would be appropriate to kick off our BOORMAN section with some stories that are close to home, that being beautiful Victoria BC Canada.  Although I was born here in Victoria, I never actually lived here until I attended the University of Victoria.  And none of my ancestors lived in Victoria.  Terry, on the other hand, has a much longer history in Victoria, as his great-grandfather William Scoons Boorman immigrated to Victoria from Wandsworth (now part of London) England in 1894. 

In fact, there are 7 Boorman relatives buried in the old Ross Bay Cemetery which occupies prime waterfront property between Dallas Road and Fairfield Road in Victoria BC.  William Scoons (1842-1909), his wife Francis (nee Robson, 1844-1924)  and four of their seven children are buried together in two side-by-side plots, marked by a minimalistic ground plate that simply states: Boorman.  The wife of his son Albert Sidney (who was also named Frances but born an OLIVER, 1887-1952) was cremated and buried in another section of the cemetery.  As to the other three children of William and Frances Boorman: Henrietta Emma Avery Boorman was buried on Salt Spring Island BC, Harry Eustace was buried elsewhere in Victoria, and so far we have not been able to trace what happened to Katie Elizabeth Boorman after she was living with her brother Walter William in Victoria in 1901, so we don't know when or where she is buried.

I'll leave it to Terry to fill in the stories of these seven Boorman's buried in Ross Bay Cemetery, in order of their birth …

William Scoons BOORMAN was born on August 26 1842 in Wandsworth, a suburb of London England. He was a
coal merchant clerk, and married Francis Jane ROBSON in the Nonconformist Church, Wandsworth on August 31 1865.  He was the fifth of 14 children born to Thomas Boorman (1810 - 1894) and Mary Ann Green (1816 - 1862), although 5 died as babies.

William and Frances emigrated to Canada in the 1890’s.  The 1901 Canadian census tells us that William immigrated in 1892, with his wife and at least three children coming out in 1894. We have not yet found any immigration records or passenger lists, so we don't know the exact dates.  Their daughter Henrietta apparently immigrated in 1893.

William worked as a merchant, mercantile clerk, grocer and clerk at the Driard Hotel in downtown Victoria where today’s Bay Centre is located. The façade of the Driard Hotel is preserved on the View Street side of the new shopping centre. He lived on Michigan Street in James Bay and died at the age of 66 years on February 16, 1909. He was buried in the Boorman family plot in Ross Bay cemetery.

Francis Jane ROBSON, the wife of William Scoons BOORMAN,  was born in Chatham, Kent, England on August 4th 1844, one of eight children born to James ROBSON and Eliza STIGANT of Brompton, Medway, Kent, England.

Francis emigrated to Canada in 1894 or 1895 to Victoria BC along with some of her children where she "made home" for her family on Michigan Street in James Bay. At least two of her ROBSON brothers also immigrated to Victoria BC: William Matthew Robson settled on nearby Saltspring Island, as did Frederick James Robson, although he died on Mayne Island BC.  (There were other BOORMAN /ROBSON marriages which will be the subject of future posts.)

Francis was widowed in 1909 and died while living at 2640 Cook Street, Victoria in 1924.  She is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in the Boorman family plot.

Francis Eliza “Lillie” Boorman was born in Wandsworth, a suburb of London in the year 1867. She never married, and died in Victoria in 1957 at the age of 91 years. She also is buried in the family plot in Ross Bay Cemetery.

Alice Amelia Boorman was born in Kensington, a suburb of London on July 12th 1869. She went by the name of Alice, and also emigrated to Canada before the turn of the century in the 1890’s (in 1895 according to the 1911 Canadian census). The whole family came to Victoria BC (but not all at the same time) and lived in James Bay, on Michigan Street. Alice never married, although she was a witness (and likely the Maid of Honour) at her sister Henrietta's wedding in 1897.

Alice Amelia lived with her widowed mother Frances Jane Boorman (Robson) at 1324 Balmoral Street
(previously 1324 Fisgard Street). In 1911 she was living with her widowed mother next door to her brother Albert and his family.  Alice was a needlework specialist and taught sewing at public schools
until her sudden and untimely death from a ruptured ulcer at the age of 47. She is buried in the Boorman
family plot in Ross Bay Cemetery.

Walter William Boorman was born on June 4th 1871 in Kensington, a suburb of London England. He may have been one of the first of this Boorman family to emigrate to Canada, perhaps as early as 1889 (according to the 1901 Canadian Census), although we haven't yet found any passenger lists or immigration records for this. He probably had dreams of making a fortune as the lucky ones did in the gold rush of 1858, but it was too late to cash in on that event. Canada was growing and there was free land on offer to those who had the skills and experience to make their own way in this “new land”.  But when he got to Victoria he found out that since he came from the city of London, and was not experienced in farming or logging, he was ineligible for the free land grant. However, there were plenty on jobs available and he went to work as a clerk.

Walter William also joined the auxiliary Royal 5th Regiment stationed at Fort Rodd Hill, and we have been told they sometimes had encampments at Beacon Hill Park and at Macaulay Point.  Fort Rodd Hill was built in the late 1890s, and we have a photo of the regiment believed to be take about 1897, so Walter William may even have been involved at the outset.

In 1898 he married Marion Emelda GUTHRO, and they had one daughter: Katie Evelyn Boorman, born in 1899, who married a Llewlyn GOSSE in 1924. Walter William unfortunately died too young during the typhoid epidemic that struck Victoria in 1907, when he was just 36 years old.

Albert Sidney Boorman was a son of Willian Scoons Boorman. He was born in 1876 on 427 Fulham Road in Chelsea, a suburb of London, England and moved out to Canada as a young man with his mother in 1894, following his brother Walter William Boorman. 

Albert Sidney married Frances (Fanny) Oliver in Victoria in 1910 and had two daughters Mollie and Winifred.  He worked at the Canadian Puget Sound Lumber Company’s large sawmill that was located in Victoria’s inner harbour where the large parking lot now exists below Wharf Street. The Puget Sound Lumber Company was a division of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company that was a very large landowner in today’s Esquimalt. It was also a branch company of the Hudson’s Bay Company. He worked his way up to the position of foreman in the cabinet making division of the company.

At one period of his life he lived in the part of Victoria’s western community that became known as Metchosin. A house fire (date unknown) claimed his entire home and all their possessions and he was forced to move in with his widowed mother Francis Jane (Robson) Boorman. At the time of his death, Albert and Fanny were living at 3238 Wetherby Street in Saanich in Greater Victoria.

Albert Sidney Boorman died in Victoria on October 10, 1947 at the age of 71 years due to heart problems, and was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in the family plot. His funeral was administered by McCalls Funeral Directors and attended by the Loyal Order of Foresters, an organization of which he was a member.

Francis (Oliver) Boorman was the widow of Albert Sidney Boorman. She was born in England in 1887, the daughter of Richard Oliver and Mary Davis, but she was already in Victoria BC in 1910 when she married Albert there at the First Congregational Church. Together they had two daughters, Mollie and Winifred,  and six grandchildren.

In 1952, almost five years after Albert's death and while still living at 3238 Wetherby Street in Victoria, she died in the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria at the age of 64 due to head injuries suffered in a car accident.  An inquest was held and her death ruled accidental.  She was cremated and her ashes buried in another section in Ross Bay Cemetery with her parents (according to the burial records if not the tombstone).

I have no memory of my natural father, Claude Angus HENSON, as he was tragically killed in a logging accident in Sooke BC when I was a toddler and my sister a newborn.  My mother moved us to Duncan BC to live with her parents, and in 1960 she remarried and I took the last name of TAYLOR.  Growing up I had very little if any contact with most of my Henson relatives except for my Aunt Ethel (Henson) King who also lived in Duncan BC, and occasionally with Aunt Mae and Uncle George Gillespie who lived in Nanaimo BC (they had a daughter Yvonne who died young).  The others lived farther afield and I have no memory of meeting them as a child.

I do remember meeting my Henson grandparents Henry Angus HENSON (known as Angus) and Bessie Mae HUNT when they visited us in Duncan BC - it would have been in 1960 when they journeyed from Alberta, the year of their golden wedding anniversary.  Bessie's health was already failing - she had trouble walking and had dementia.  I remember Angus as a tall, slender man who seemed quiet and watchful, and I don't remember talking to him.  As this was the perspective of a young child, it is likely not a true indication of his character.  He was also missing a hand, lost in a mill accident I think, which he tended to keep hidden.  I believe they both passed on in 1968 in Alberta, although I'm not certain of the dates.

It wasn't until July 1987 that I met all of Claude's six Henson siblings when they gathered in Duncan at his brother Wayne and Fran Henson's place for a mini-reunion.  I attended with my mother to represent Claude.  I learned that Dick and Joan lived nearby in Sidney BC, but they later moved without leaving a forwarding address so I lost touch.  Mildred Fiveland was there from Alberta and shared some of her family notes with me.  Pearl Johnson was also out from Alberta and Mae Gillespie was down from Nanaimo.  Ethel King also attended, although was already afflicted with dementia.  It was a happy afternoon for me, getting to meet and visit with my elderly Henson aunts and uncles.

I know I have a good number of Henson first cousins somewhere out there, and I'm trying to find out how to contact them, often nothing more than a first name (sadly I didn't get enough details at this 1987 gathering).  I am already in contact with Ethel's daughter, and have only recently connected with the wife of one of Mildred's grandsons.  But that's it so far for this immediate family.

So my Henson family research really started in the 1980s when I compiled the information received from Mildred and the little that my mother knew.  For the most part, this research remained dormant until 2000 when both my mother and my Aunt Ethel passed away.  I reconnected with Ethel's daughter when arranging to have Ethel's ashes buried with my father in Duncan BC.  

Over the last few years I have also taken advantage of the growing number of records and networking opportunities now available on the internet.  I even found our family's homesteading story in an article entitled The Henson-Hunt Story, written by my Aunt Mildred Henson for a Boyle Alberta local history publication, which had been digitized and made available online.  I was thrilled that it included a photo of Claude, Dick and their father Angus taken about 1945 that I had never seen before.

I have also had the privilege of connecting with other Henson researchers and relatives online, who have been kind enough to share their information and friendship with me.  In particular I'd like to thank Claudine, Evelyn, Fran, Shirley and most recently Annette for their help and for making this process of discovery so enjoyable!  Also thanks to Linda, a more distant cousin on the CROW and HUNT side. 

Here's to continuing happy hunting and even more new connections and discoveries!

This Boorman Family Genealogy blog will encompass many branches of our family, not just those with the Boorman name.  Other sections of this website only summarize the bare facts of our four main lineages:

But there is more to our ancestors and to family history than vital statistics and timelines.  What about the other details: their physical appearance, their personality traits and idiosyncrasies, their occupations and hobbies, their education, skills and aptitudes, their relationships with family and friends, their residences and travels, their health and disposition?  What events and factors shaped their lives, their choice of location, occupation and life partner?  Who?  What?  Where?  How?  Why?  When?

Short of finding personal diaries and photos as well as the usual records (census, birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial, wills, directories, court records, newspapers etc.), it is unlikely that all these details can be found for most of our ancestors.  But even if we only find a few extra details, this adds depth to our understanding and appreciation.  Even if a particular relative is still living, could we answer all these questions?  Perhaps it's time to start taping those interviews to capture our living histories!

There are also stories to be told about the genealogy research journey itself - the search for more answers about our ancestors, relatives and even ourselves.  We plan on using this blog to document stories and anecdotes about our ancestors and about our research, both past and present.

As with all blogs, they are organized and archived by date of posting rather than by content.  So I will try to categorize them, at least by their surname line, to help you locate posts of interest.  As this blgo program does not come with additional keyword searches, I will be adding a search bar to the right as a finding aid once this site has been visited by the search engines - it's still a new site.

You too can join in the fun by following this blog, adding comments to posts, and even sending us a note using the form on our Contact Us page.  The adventure begins!