The truth about Harry Gordon

[J.J.]

Forgive me if this turns out to not be his family, but I'm sure you can separate the grain from the chaffe!
There is a photograph halfway down of the 3 lads who arrived through Halifax, ( The 1889-03-26 Siberian arrival party) but the names are duplicated, making it difficult to distinguish between them...I wonder if it is just a list of the boys or actually matches the photo...If matching, William would be the lad with the giant light tam , third from the right/front row?

http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/william-quarrier--brockville-ont-7200-immigrated.html

You probably have to be a descendant... You can inquire at link below...Perhaps if you can prove he had no descendants they might release more   http://www.quarriers.org.uk/resource/trace-your-history/

[J.J.]

I guess it would be better if we could find the lad in an informative census first to be certain of some things. ( before you spend a good deal of money) His job may have made him too transient to settle anywhere at census time, though...as he surely is elusive, but what if he really was born England and from Barnardos, although you did say they had nothing on him, correct?? Or was it that they would not share anything with you?

[manawakian]

Curiosity killed the cat and 7 pounds!

Parents John Gordon & Mary McDowall married 16 Nov 1875 in Glasgow.  Ran out of credits before viewing marriage, got date, place and her maiden name from birth certs.

While at Fort George John was a colour sergeant with the 78th Highlanders. The children born there:
John 2 April 1876
Barbara Turner 17 December 1877
William 18 April 1879
James 22 March 1881

After leaving Fort George:
Henry Turner Gordon 11 November 1882 Edinburgh father now a general labourer but mother and marriage details match the 4 siblings above
Alex not found before credits ran out

Curious how these children are hard to find in any of the censuses after their arrival in Canada.  John was still in Fairknowe Home in 1891 but couldn't see any of the others there.

If Henry Turner Gordon is the same as the Harry Gordon buried in Wapella then he did surpass his desire to reach 100 years of age.

[RedMystic]

Hi manawankin & JJ

What wonderful finds you've made in my absence on the road. I've blocked Thursday morning to get back to this sleuth when I'm home again.

Thanks manawakian for using your SPcredits. Like you, I've burned through MANY pounds worth over the years. I think I have 25 left right now, so will follow up when I'm at my desktop. If I can do any look-ups for you to pay you back, please let me know.

JJ, wow you've found me so great stuff to delve through. Like you, I'd like to find a census I can link to Harry to see if he arrived at the year manawankin found & if his parents were Scottish. For some reason, in my childhood memory, I thought he was from Yorkshire (but I've no reason to think I didn't imagine that & Mum doesn't remember ever knowing).

We only visited Moosomin about 8-10 times in my childhood, but Old Harry became a favourite of mine. He lived in a shack next door to my Grandma & Grandpa & I used to write to him at Old Harry, Moosomin, Saskatchewan. Amazingly, the letters used to arrive & get delivered (& Mum said she never added any additional address). Grandma used to send over pie plates with dinner left-overs several times a week.

Even in the 1960s, Harry had a wood stove for heat & cooking. His tap was a pump on on the wooden counter over an chipped enamel bowl full of filthy water.  He didn't have a fridge,  and while I clearly remember electrical wires going to to the shack, he used kerosene lanterns. The house was full of cats & he would tell the doctor that he couldn't go to the old folk's home until there were no more cats to look after (though he never got them fixed so the risk was low).

The last time I saw him was in 1982. He was in the same home as my grandma & sitting in a wheel chair. I wandered over, a far cry from the little girl he'd last seen, and when I asked how he was doing, he responded with a jaunty, "Pretty good for an young feller." He knew, almost immediately, that I was Graham McDonald's grand daughter.

So, he's not family by blood, but he's family in my heart. Thanks again for all the time & effort you've put in to trying to connect Henry to my Old Harry. I really appreciate it. 

[jorose]

Hmm,
http://ourroots.ca/page.aspx?id=2879599&qryID=0ec941dc-8d9c-4476-965b-15596a7554e3
This entry has some of the same information but gives him as died Feb 14 1984 - "14 days after his 100th birthday".

It would be worth contacting newspapers in the Moosomin area, to see if they'd be willing to run a story seeking anybody who remembers him.

[J.J.]

If Harry came as a farm labourer ( Farm Boy) he might have come over as an older teen, and been missed on the home children site, which is not always accurate nor complete... ( and so much harder to use now that it has been 'updated")
The town & area histories are wonderful, but the information only as good as those who supplied it.  I have seen first hand that people can flip around the info randomly, leave people out of families....
But still would be awesome if the birth date of february 1 is accurate.

Now if someone actually knew if his accent was Scottish or British...

[RedMystic]

Hi JJ & jorose,

I was thinking of writing the Moosomin newspaper as well. My mum & her sister remember Harry being around both their farm and their grandfather's farm but they don't remember much about him. Hopefully, someone else will recall more.

I don't remember him having an accent, jj.  That doesn't mean it wasn't so, just that my childhood brain was far more interested in hearing his tales than picking up a speech pattern. I'll follow up on that too.

I can't find a record of WWI service with Canadian military service, but there MAY be a record of him crossing the border into the USA after the war. Unfortunately, the reproduction on *A* is so soft as to be unreadable. I've written to *A* to see if a better scan can be produced as I can't think of another source of border crossing docs.

Thanks again to all for the suggestions. I'm looking forward to Thursday when I'm home & can try to dig deeper to find Old Harry's story.

[J.J.]

By the way manawakian, so fabulous of you to invest in finding out about the wee ones. Even if they are not RedMystic's lot, you've brought a little family into the forefront, that they may one day be found on here! 
Quote from you "Have to admire someone who will spend some pounds creating a family for an almost total stranger."  Haha, now you've gone and done it, as you've gladly done the same ...and now you're likely hooked on home children threads as well. A fine addiction!

Yes, RedMystic, you are right, if he was a small lad when he came over he may have lost the accent early, and that would have been too far back for those alive now to remember...
J.J.

[manawakian]

Somebody, not me  , might try a $45 search of the 1940 National Registration described here:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/022/022-911.007-e.html

Money back if search not successful.  Probably take months for results.