Searching Marriages in Canada

[ZarasGran]

Hi, Can anyone point me in the right direction.  I am trying to trace the marriage of a Thomas Dawson, who went to Canada in WW11 to train to be a pilot in the RAF.  Whilst there he married, I think, June McClelland, some time before 1944 and after the war, settled in Canada with his wife.  Is there any way I can try to search for his marriage records via a Canadian site?

thanks a lot,
Brenda

[cosmac]

Unfortunately Canada has no central registry of BMDs and you have to know the province that they married in.  Also we have privacy laws which would restrict access to marriage records in the timeframe you are searching in.  Trying to trace modern day families in Canada you depend on newspaper announcements, cemetery records, obituaries, telephone directories.

Do you have any clues as to where in Canada?

Debbie

[valeriec]

There are some avenues that you can look for information. If you are a close relative, you may be able to obtain his service records for WW2. You may be able to determine where he did his training in Canada through the files. Training occurred in all 9 provinces at the time and also in Newfoundland.

Can you provide his date and place of birth and his parents and siblings as well. Sometimes through internet searches, obituaries will pop up and having this information will narrow down a search.

If you are able to obtain his military file and find something of interest, there is an on-line telephone directory
www.canada411.ca

Also, do you know if he and his wife returned to England for a visit or if any family visited them in Canada. Passenger lists can be checked at the follwing site up to 1960.

www.ancestorsonboard.com

[valeriec]

There is a
Thomas Dawson b. 1922
June Dawson b. 1924
Thomas Dawson b. 1949
1950 Newcastle to Halifax

I found this on the Ancestor's on Board site. It is a pay site so if you think this could match up with information that you already have, you may want to pursue it. The passenger list may give you a destination in Canada.

[ZarasGran]

Thank you for your replies, so quick.

Thomas Dawson was born in 1922, so that looks helpful, could you let me have the link to the site you mentioned so I can pursue it.

Brenda

[ZarasGran]

Think Thomas married june in Ontario, but not really sure.  I am doing this for his sister, who was 20 years younger than Tom so did not know too much about him, but getting his RAF records might be a good idea.  He did return to UK before he settled in Canada, so will check the Passenger Lists.

Thanks a lot

[ZarasGran]

Thomas parents Were Thomas and Charlotte, he had 5 brothers and sisters, Betty, Ivor, Ron, John and Margaret (she is the sister I am trying to help) she is a f riend of mine and not coputer literate in any way. An address of Robinson Street, Hamilton, Ontario is something that the other sister has, and Saskatuan (sp) seems to ring a bell with her.

That's about all they know about him.  Margaret was born in 1941 at the time her brother Tom was in the RAF and never really got to know him and now she is wondering what happened to him and thinking there is a possibility he might even still be alive.

Thanks for all your help.
Brenda

[valeriec]

Passenger information available at the site I gave. Many people traveled back to England to visit relatives by ship during the late 1940's until the mid 1960's.  So this could be the return trip from visiting relatives in England. As you have an address in Hamilton, ON it may be worthwhile to spend the money to view the passenger list to see if the destination is Hamilton.
I put in Thomas Dawson, years 1946-1950 traveling with June Dawson, country of entry Canada, and the information came up. Then I put in Thomas Dawson traveling with unnamed Dawson and the other Thomas came up. Hope that it works for you.
www.ancestorsonboard.com

There are 7 T. Dawson's listed for Hamilton, Ontario and 1 T. Dawson listed for Saskatchewan. Most have addresses as well as phone numbers. I would write to each address to see if there is a connection. It is time consuming but may be your only way to try to make contact.

www.myhamilton.ca/articles/ask-librarian
Hopefully, this site will get you to the Hamilton Public Library. They have an Ask a Librarian section and if you contact them and give as much information as possible including the address of Robinson Street and an approximate time frame, they may be able to help. It is possible that either Thomas or June are still alive and definitely possible that you can find the child if I have the correct family.

If all else fails, I would contact the Hamilton newspapers through Letter to Editor and hope for a response in that way. The other option would be the Royal Canadian Legion or Hamilton cemeteries (15 cemeteries) and ask them to search their records.

[ZarasGran]

Wow, such a lot of information, thank you so much, I have lots of avenues to explore now.

kind regards,
Brenda