Death of Henry Shaw, Ottawa

[KarenM]

Maybe his mother was married before to a Smith and then married Henry?

On that James A. Smith marriage it dosn't list a wife's name, so next time I am at the library I'll look up the original registration just to see what it says.

Karen

[oldcrone]

Thanks, Karen, that's brilliant of you.    I certainly would be keen to find out more about this 'James Aloysius Smith' - just seems rather coincidental that combination of names.....speculating like mad, might he be my grandfather's father?!   

Thanks again for your help

Clara

[KarenM]

It's bad enough to have a "Smith", but with the name Aloysius, why would you want to make that one up?    It must be a clue to something, what, not sure yet.

You mention his 1st wife, did he marry again and if so do you have that marriage certificate?

Karen

[oldcrone]

Yes, he did marry again in 1926 to my grandmother, after his first wife died the year before.  And no, I don't have that marriage cert yet - it's on my list! 

I certainly will get on the case, as it would be interesting to see what he puts down for his father......probably, Shaw again, as I would imagine he would have wanted to keep his history of name-changing and desertion from my grandmother as long as possible!!  She'd already inherited his 5 kids!!

Clara

[J.J.]

Hi, Clara...(& Karen!
Guess you have seen on the 1881...Anderdon, Essex, Ontario
Henry SHAW Irish   1841  b. ont.   Farmer
 Anna SHAW  Irish   1852   b. ont.
 John SHAW   1878  b. ont.

If he turns out to be a shaw...maybe he used a name he heard from Ontario
that stuck in his head...
Hmmm...but how would he have guessed the spelling...?

A few James son of James Smith on the 1881...

Intriguing can of worms, my dear!  J.J.

[jorose]

Aloysius is a Saint's name, his day is the 21st June - does fit with an Irish/Catholic background.

[J.J.]

( Born 1878 and not Irish) Peterborough West, Ontario
Found a scottish descent James A Smith with a James A. Smith on the 1881...mother Jane, born Eng..other children's names don't match said brothers, though...

[oldcrone]

Thanks Jorose and JJ for your input!  Sorry that this is such a stinker....

So much of what I have on my grandfather is family hearsay (he would never talk about his past), so I'm just trying to prove/disprove various info about him at the moment.  I've always thought he was playing a bit of a game with the names - ie the same JAS initials!?  A few points: 

He was always known as 'Jim' rather than 'John' (even when he was officially John Arthur Shaw).
He never followed the Catholic faith (although his second wife, my grandmother, converted to Catholicism).
Was James Aloysius Smith an assumed name (he was running away from something in Canada) and he reverted to John Arthur Shaw (his real name?) when he married?
Was 'John Arthur Shaw' just used to try and cover his tracks when he deserted?

I would have thought that you change your name if you want to evade someone/something; if you get some sort of kick out of changing identities; or if you don't actually know your real name....

Sorry, don't know if any of this helps or confuses    I certainly think the Guelph James Aloysius Smith is an interesting one, though....

Clara

[KarenM]

I know from my own experience that my great-grandfather (the picture under my name) changed our last name when he came to Canada, but he kept his first name and birth date the same.  I think it was fairly easy to do the same back then.  However, when he dissappeared after WWI, it turns out he went back to England and resumed his original name, marrying another woman without divorcing my gr-grandmother.  We still are "Stanley's" here in Canada, but the second family in England is "Gandley".

I wonder if because he was known as Jim his name is James since that's a shortform, where Jack is a shortform for John?

Karen