John Taylor

[annabananae]

Hello,

My great grandfather John Taylor came out from Canada to Australia in 1930 aboard the QE2 when he was 17. Apparently his parents Stephen Norman Taylor and Ruth Helen Lipsett (Lippset/Lifford) died young in a car accident. Can anybody help me trace the family back any further? Where was John born and his parents too?

Thankyou for all of your help,

Anna Brisbane Australia

[jorose]

Did he serve in WWII? I see in Australia Recordsearch a John Taylor b. 18 Mar 1911 in Estavan, Canada (this would probably be Estevan, Saskatchewan, I have relatives from the same area), next of kin Phyllis Taylor (wife?)

I haven't been able to find any trace of his parents yet; where do you have the names from? I thought his father might appear in WWI records but no luck.  Do you have anything which mentions an occupation for his parents?

[valeriec]

Did he have any brothers or sisters that may help in the search.

[annabananae]

Yes, in the queensland australia bdm search his death records show his parents names. His wife was Phyllis so that record of WW1 is probably right. His parents are sure hard to track!

[jorose]

Since the info on the death record would be supplied by an informant (maybe his wife or children) and the family in Australia quite possibly never met the family in Canada, it's possible that info is off.
Do you know where/when he married Phyllis? His marriage certificate might give different info.

(Although I see on the QLD bmd site his father's name only as "Stephen", no Norman, do you have the original?)

[valeriec]

Maybe you can answer a few questions that could help in the search.
Did John go to family or friends in Australia or just immigrate. It seems a long way for a 17 year old to go if he wasn't going to friends or family. You haven't told us if there were siblings or not. Do you know what his religion was as that can narrow down some possibilities. Most people use an ethnic background when talking about themselves such as English, Irish, Scot, etc.
If John went to family or friends, do you know if they immigrated from another country such as England.

I found a possible match but need more information
1911 Ontario Lincoln 18 Grantham
Stephen Taylor, b. 1888, England, age 23, boarder, immigrated 1906, Presbyterian.

In the same area
1911 Ontario Lincoln 21 Grimsby North
Lipsit changed to Lipsil on corrections page. Ontario had the greatest number of Lipsit and alternative spellings. The origin of this family appears to be Dutch.

[annabananae]

Sorry his parents did die in a car accident in canada and that is the reason for his immigration... I found out the 'Norman' for Stephen's second name from a family member, but no one can recall anything else to help in the search. His wife's last name was Embry.

Anna

[valeriec]

I think you need to get his birth certificate from Saskatchewan Vital Statistics. I tried to get you the website but my internet is very slow at present. His birth certificate will give his parents names and hopefully even more information. The information that you will get from the certificates is different for each province in Canada. We do not have a central registry, it is done by province.  According to the information found from his WW2 file, John was born in March 1911 and the census of Canada was in June 1911. But we can't find those names on the census. There are several Taylor families in the Estevan area though.
I realize that both of John's parents died in a car accident. On his arrival in Australia did he live with any family members or was he totally on his own. Can you get a copy of the passenger list to see if you can get a departure port. Are there immigration or custom papers for his arrival in Australia? These papers could list who his contact in Australia was. If you can find the departure port or country, that may help in your search.
If your greatgrandfather had many children, he may have named them for relatives such as his grandparents which could also help in finding information on them.
I find it strange that at 17 he would go as far as Australia from either Canada, the USA or Great Britain unless he was going to meet up with family or friends. As we can't seem to find any evidence of his mother and father here, its it possible that one of them was originally from Australia. The other option is that he was extremely adventurous. Do you know what his occupation was? Sometimes sons carried on the occupations of their fathers. Any information can be helpful.

[valeriec]

If it is your John Taylor that was born in Estevan Saskatchewan in 1911, it is entirely possible that the family may have been in the USA at census time. Estevan is only 10-12 miles from the US border. The family may have been in Montana or North Dakota. Estevan main source of employment would have been the railway, farming and coal mines.