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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: RedMystic on Thursday 10 August 17 19:22 BST (UK)
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Hi Chatters,
I am looking at the signature lines of a 1911 marriage record. Can anyone please help with the names and the addresses?
The marriage took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and both witnesses lived in Vancouver. I'd like to figure out who they were and where these places are. I have tried Googling some street name options, but wonder if the old street names may have changed over the past 116 years.
The witness on the left appears to be ??? living at 1857 ??? Street.
The witness on the right appears to be S. L. Spencer living at 1044 or 1544 ??? Street.
Thank you in advance for your eagle-eyed assistance.
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What terrible writing!
I think S L Spencer's address is William St.
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That is a brilliant deduction Primrose.
There is a 1544 William St in Vancouver. :-* I'm glad I didn't write what I thought that address could be, but I can assure you it wasn't anywhere close to William St. ::) ;D
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I saw it as William Street too. The other one could be Keeper Street, I'm not familiar with the area so don't know if it exists.
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Just checked - there is a Keefer Street in Vancouver.
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Thank you Jool. :-* There is an 1857 Keefer St in Vancouver. Again, I'm glad I didn't tell you what I thought it read as it would have thrown you off - but it wasn't Keefer. ::)
Now - we're down to the name of the person at Keefer St in 1911. ???
By the way Primrose11, I've tried to find who was living at William Street in 1911. I came across this blog post and it says a missionary named John Spencer moved in in 1913. Isn't it a happy looking home? Thanks again.
http://karen-magill.blogspot.ca/2014/11/fancy-billy.html
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Now - we're down to the name of the person at Keefer St in 1911. ???
It could be Harvey.
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I keep seeing Arthur Young
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I keep seeing Arthur Young
My thought too :)
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Thank you horselydown86, shanghaipanda, and Geoff-E. I really appreciate the help. :)
I have determined that a George Doran was registered as living at the house 1909-1913. Perhaps he had a boarder or something similar.
I'll follow up on the Arthur Young and Harvey leads.
I couldn't have got this far without you. My sincere thanks.
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Hi, The 1911 Census of Canada shows George Doran, Mary Doran, Marjory Doran, Alberta Taylor and Ada Taylor at that address. No sign of an Arthur. This census was started on 1st June 1911.
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Thank very much for going above & beyond with the look-up Jool. :-*
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The 1912 street directory has an Arthur Gowan at 1857 Keefer.
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I forgot to mention (as the Doran's were mentioned above) that the next door house, in the same directory, has Burton DORAN at 1863 Keefer.
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Nicely done Bart. :-* It's a stretch, but I wonder if the scribble could be Gowan.
Thank you for that. :)
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My first thought was Gowing...so maybe Gowan is a variant, depending who's hearing/recording the name ;)
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I thought the first letter of the surname started with a G, followed by an o. The rest I am not sure about.
I would check the rest of the document to see how the person writes their Gs - though not proof, it may help. :)
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Thank you anneck & Ruskie :)
Unfortunately, checking the rest of the doc won't help. The witnesses each completed their sections & the handwriting is totally different than the minister who completed the rest. ;)
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Besides 1912, Arthur Gowan was shown at that address in 1913. However, in 1914, the name was spelled Arthur GOWING. (which is what Annmck saw :) )
The only Arthur Gowing I can find died in 1914 which might be why I can't locate him from 1915 and onwards. This Arthur was married to a gal with surname Paul, if that rings any bells.
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The death record is a wonderful find bbart. Thank you to annmck for sussing out the handwriting there too. :-*
Unfortunately, that is one of the death records that the BC Archives doesn't include on-line as a scanned image, so I'll put it on my list to pull it off microfilm the next time travel to the Archive in Victoria.
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I'm glad I was the first to see that... Usually someone gets there before me! Yes it looks a nice place.
P
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RedMystic, I cannot verify anything at all on the following link, but it's a blurb on Arthur Gowing and wife Mary: http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/p/a/u/Margaret-A-Paul--banner/GENE5-0006.html
There might be some names that tie in for you. However, the author may have tied the wrong Gowing to the big part about the mining claims, so take that with a grain of salt!
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This is brilliant bbart!!!! :-* :-* :-* :-*
The name of the man who married in Vancouver in 1911 is in this document as a business partner!!! Gowing it is when it comes to the witness signature & now I know so much more about the business interest of the man I'm searching. Yay!
Now - on to Spencer. ;)
Why is this important? I'm looking for a potential father for a child that was adopted into extended family of the partner who married. It's a long shot going at it this way, but a lead is a lead. ;D
Thanks again. I couldn't have done it without you!!
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I'm glad that was good news, because now I have to burst your bubble on S L Spencer. :(
It is Sarah L Spencer, wife of physician John C Spencer. I finally found John living at 1544 William in the 1912 directory. Ancestry shows them living in Skidegate in the 1911 census, but the index is linked to the wrong image, so here is the index info:
Name: John C Spencer
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Age: 51
Birth Date: Oct 1859
Birth Place: Ontario
Relation to Head of House: Head
Race or Tribe: English
Province: British Columbia
District: Comox-Atlin
District Number: 8
Sub-district: 30
Sub-District Number: 30
Place of Habitation: Skidegate
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
John C Spencer 51
Sarah L Spencer 42
Dora D Spencer 15
Bertha M Spencer 8
Harold H Spencer 6
Ralph E Spencer 2
This *could* be their marriage: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-696Q-GTG?i=2782&cc=1307718 although his occupation at that time looks more like missionary?
Good luck in your endeavour! ;)
Edit:
http://www.longislandsurnames.com/getperson.php?personID=I5422&tree=Spencer
What stands out to me is the line "she followed her husband to the Skeena River area
of B.C. where he was a missionary. Her description of the journey is available."
I'm wondering if this is online, and if there is some contact person that could point you to it, in case she talks about the people you are looking for.
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Well - I don't know how to thank you more than I have. Your assistance has been stellar. Thank you very, very much.
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Happy to help, although it didn't help your search for the father. :(
One more bit on Arthur Gowing... just a fluff piece on mining, but maybe some names will pop for you.
http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist53516uvic#page/n9/mode/1up/search/gowing
(The link doesn't line up perfectly, just manually slide to the orange arrow, and his name will be highlighted in blue, lower right side of page).
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Thanks again bbart. :-*