KEWLEY in Ontario post 1906

[Aceh]

Ernest Kewley, born Bradford, Yorkshire, England 28/8/1876 married Florence Longbottom at Wyke near Halifax Yorks on 9/12/1899 by whom he had two daughters, Edith born in Bradford, Yorks on 20/1/1901 and Alice at North Bierley, near Bradford, on 3/3/1906.

Ernest, a carpenter & joiner, emigrated from Yorkshire to Canada; an index of ship’s passenger lists shows that he sailed from Liverpool to Montreal in 1905.
The Canadian census return for 1911 shows that he was working as a cabinet maker in a furniture factory in Stratford Ontario and that his elder daughter Edith aged 10, who had emigrated in 1906 presumably with her mother and baby sister Alice, was living with him at that time.

The 1911 census return also states that Ernest was divorced from Florence!   
Enquiries on the divorce some years back drew a complete blank as I was told that this was too far back for the records.

Ernest returned to England around October 1913, whereupon he remarried, apparently leaving his original family back in Canada.

I should be grateful for any information on what became of Florence and her daughters Edith and Alice.

[susano]

Hi Aceh

Florence Kewley with children, Edith and Alice, sailed to Montreal, Quebec aboard the Tunisian and arrived August 31, 1906.  There is a notation on the passenger list that they were destined to join the husband in Stratford, Ontario.

Have you searched for Florence and Alice in the 1911 Canada Census?
http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/

Susan

[J.A.M.]

Hi,

You could try the Stratford Public Library to see if they have index cards to BMD articles

http://www.stratford.library.on.ca/

Ontario Cemetery Search has several Kewley but none in Perth County where Stratford is located

http://ogs.andornot.com/CemMenu.aspx

You can search the telephone directory for current Kewley living in the area who may have knowledge of your people

http://www.canada411.ca/

The Stratford Clerk's Office

http://www.city.stratford.on.ca/site_stepstocityhall/departments_results.asp?InfID=23&type=contact

The Ontario Archives has divorce records after 1930 & prior to that they would be at the county clerk's office. Check the Archives site

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/guides/rg_210_divorce-ontario.aspx

If you do find a marriage in the area for either Edith or Alice or re-marriage of Florence you can check the cemetery index for Avondale Cemetery

http://rootsanddirt.ca/main%20index.html

Good hunting.

[susano]

There is a border crossing for Florence and daughters on June 30, 1907 at Detroit, Michigan.  Last residence was Stratford, Canada and final destination was Detroit, Michigan; passage paid by husband; and they were going to join the husband, Ernest Kewley, at 183 Irskine St.

Susan

[susano]

On the 1910 US Federal Census, Florence and Alice Kewley (transcribed Kewlley) are rooming with a Dennis and Nellie McBrien in Chicago Ward 18, Cook county, Illinois.  Florence is shown as married and working as a seamstress at a hotel. 

The image is very grainy and a little difficult to read so I can't make out the street name but there are a lot of roomers there.

I have to go out to an appointment soon but will check back later to see what else has been uncovered.

Susan

[Aceh]

On the 1910 US Federal Census, Florence and Alice Kewley (transcribed Kewlley) are rooming with a Dennis and Nellie McBrien in Chicago Ward 18, Cook county, Illinois.  Florence is shown as married and working as a seamstress at a hotel. 

The image is very grainy and a little difficult to read so I can't make out the street name but there are a lot of roomers there.

I have to go out to an appointment soon but will check back later to see what else has been uncovered.

Susan

Ahah! This would explain why I could not find Florence and her younger daughter Alice in the 1911 Canadian census. But why were the children split up? Had the divorce already taken place by 1910? For every answer there seems to be yet further questions! But twas ever thus!

Many thanks.

[susano]

I just found Edith Kewley, age 11, aboard the Cassandra from Glasgow to Quebec, arriving September 1, 1913. 

Her last permanent address is shown as Chicago, US; her nearest relative in the UK is her aunt, Mrs. S. A. Kewley, 26 Carrington St, Bradford, England; passage was paid by her mother; she is destined to her mother, Florence Alton (or Afton), 307 So. Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; she has been in the US before in 1912 and she was born in Bradford, England.

Now...off to try to find them in the 1920 US Census!!

Susan

[susano]

I just found Ernest, age 33, and Edith, age 9, on the 1910 US Federal Census living on Ogden Avenue, Chicago Ward 12, Cook County, Illinois. 

They are boarders in a home with Archie Wall and his family.  Ernest is shown as married, 11 years in answer to number of years in present marriage; he's a cabinetmaker at a (illegible)? factory.  They have been in the US since 1907.

Susan

[Aceh]

Hi Susan,

Ye gods! An adventurous young lady was Edith. So she had gone back to Bradford, where she was staying with Ernest's unmarried sister Sarah Alice. I presume the shipping lines had chaperones for young children commuting hither and thither across the Atlantic.

Ah but ... Ernest returned to Bradford in 1913 so it looks like Edith was with him on that leg of her journey. But this must have really cramped his style as it was on the boat back that he made the intimate acquaintance of Rosina Osborn, returning to London from Canada, who upon finding herself in a delicate condition winkled him out up in Bradford and demanded he make an honest woman of her!    
Rosina only found out about Florence and her daughters when she was already the 2nd Mrs Kewley and happened to stumble across a photograph of Ernest and his first family.

And the shipping line's records show Edith's mother as Florence Alton, so she would appear to have remarried and be living in Chicago. So the divorce may have been in the US not Canada.