Mirror Lake near Kaslo, BC - DRAGE

[JillStatton]

Can anyone please help?

William Cartwright DRAGE married Lottie Ethel Scott PEARSON on December 29, 1915 in Kaslo, BC.

Lottie DRAGE died, I believe, on November 14, 1942 (67) at Kaslo.

She apparently lived on a homestead at Mirror Lake and was mistreated by her husband.  He was committed to the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale in 1944.

Lottie was in England with her parents in 1911.  I would like to discover more regarding her life in BC; how, when and why she arrived in Canada and in Mirror Lake; where she is buried; and the fate of her husband.  I am not aware of any children but I would be most pleased to hear from any descendants.

Is it likely that local newspapers may have reported her mistreatment; her death; and/or her husband's committal? 

Is her death certificate available online?  I would like to know the cause of her death.

Any other suggestions?

With thanks,


Jill Statton
Adelaide, South Australia

[Lisa in California]

Hi Jill:

You may order her death certificate, but before you do, perhaps there might be a RootsChatter who could find information for you.

This is where you could order the certificate (I believe):
http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-236EAD0/query/Births,Marriages,Deaths/find-adv%2B%20surname%3D(drage)%20%2B%2B%2B%2B

[JillStatton]

Thanks Lisa, that was where I found my original details of marriage and death.  I will defer ordering certificates until I see whether some kind Rootschatter can provide any of the info I need.

[cosmac]

http://www.rootschat.com/links/071v/
Lottie's arrival in Canada - destination Kaslo, BC

Debbie

[LemonMallie]

Hi Jill,

I can look up Lottie's death certificate at the end of this week.  I checked the index but I don't see a death registration for her husband William - even if he died at Riverview Hospital, there would be a death registration.

Even today, Kaslo is a very small town so I doubt they had their own newspaper.  The news was probably covered in a paper from nearby Nelson and I hate to say it but I don't think women's issues, particularly mistreatment or abuse, would have been covered in a newspaper. 

I believe you can order historical patient records from Riverview/Essondale but you would have to make an application to the BC Archives under the Freedom of Information Act (they have details on their website).  Unless you are direct family or have another compelling reason for the records, I don't think they would be released as we have very strict privacy laws in Canada - particularly when it comes to confidential medical records.

The death certificate will list an informant so if she had any children, one of them may have acted as the informant.  I'll send an update on Friday when I get the death registration.

Regards,
Lynwen

[JillStatton]

Lynwen,

You are so very kind - thank you so much for offering to look-up the Death certificate and for your informative answer re Mental asylum etc.  As I am more interested in Lottie I will not pursue William's fate, especially given that I probably will not receive access.  I look forward to hearing more upon examination of the death registration.

Debbie,

You are a brick.  Thanks so much for finding Lottie's arrival in BC. 

It would seem that she did not arrive "to be married" as another entry was stamped, but can I infer from columns 11-17 that she was going to a situation as a domestic in Kaslo?  Hence, she either answered an advertisement or was recommended, perhaps through the Wesleyan church - her father was a Wesleyan Minister.  Was there even a Wesleyan church in Kaslo?

I found the column headings hard to read and, not being IT savvy, I could not increase the size.  Also column 29, does this refer to her literacy, that is she could read and write? 

Was Mrs MacARTHUR's party the Catholic Women's League party, or another?  Was Lottie part of this?

Would be grateful to hear further explanations for the interpretation of the passenger list.

Thank you both.  You Canadians are very generous people.

It has also occurred to me that her younger sister (by 10 years) may also have immigrated to Canada.  Alice Kathleen PEARSON  (known as Tass) was born in 1888.  Any chance of finding her on a passenger list?

Thanks everyone - I am chuffed to advance my research in this way.  Jill

[LemonMallie]

Hi Jill - I have Lottie's death registration so please send me a PM with your email address and I will send it to you.  Not a lot of information unfortunately - she died of pernicious anemia and the informant was her husband.  I wasn't sure if you had her marriage registration so I took a copy of that as well.

I'm not sure if there ever was a separate Methodist Chapel in Kaslo.  I did a bit of googling and it looks like the Methodists and Presbyterians might have shared a local church - which was fairly common in smaller communities where they didn't have enough adherents to support their own church.  The United Church of Canada currently holds the archival material for Kaslo Methodist BMDs.  The United Church was created in 1925 when many Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches amalgamated to form one new denomination - and I learned today that the United Church is Canada's largest protestant denomination.

You might want to try and contact the Kootenay Lake Historical Society - http://www.klhs.bc.ca/services.htm - as they might be able to provide some local knowledge or maybe even dig up an obituary.  They also have a few Kaslo photos on their website.

I had a look on Find My Past for Alice but there are quite a few possible matches under Alice Pearson.  Do you have any idea of a time period when she might have emigrated?  Or when you lost her in the records?

I couldn't find anything on her husband William.  But there are a few Border Crossing records on Ancestry for "William Drage"; not sure if they are a match but maybe someone with a sub could have a look.  According to his marriage registration, he was born in London, England in 1881 to Wm George Drage and Elizabeth Jacobs.


Lynwen

[Alan of Kaslo]

I live in Kaslo... so this one is close to home. When I looked it up I found out something new to me. It seems that William Drage was farming in a tiny hamlet outside of Mirror Lake (very tiny itself) called Archer. I know generally where it was (only so much flat land around).

"ARCHER

Listed on the CPR’s 1916 timetable as a landing on Kootenay Lake between Twin Bay and Mirror Lake. It appeared in the 1918 BC directory as “a settlement near Kaslo.” The only resident was W. Drage, a rancher. By 1922, there were no residents, and it was dropped from the directory after 1924.

The namesakes were likely Frederick Ebenezer Archer (1859-1957), mayor of Kaslo for more than 12 years between 1903 and 1942, and his wife Jean Moyer Dryborough Archer (1860-1933)."

https://www.trailtimes.ca/community/place-names-adamsons-landing-to-archer-5025131

I don't see any Drage's in the Kaslo cemetery ... but many graves are unreadable.                       

[Alan of Kaslo]

They don't mention the cause of death here. No children spoken of.
Nothing in the BC newspapers of the time about anything else related to William or Lottie (other then what I shared).

Source:
The Daily News
Nelson, B.C. : News Publishing Co.
1942-11-18