Help Emigration to Canada - HUNT family

[1000xlch]

Hi all

Desperately seeking a date of emigration to Canada for Edward HUNT and his wife Florence Ethel HUNT (nee NETHERCLIFT).  She was born 1899 in Sandhurst, Berkshire and I think emigrated sometime around WW1 latest 1918.  They were living in Windsor, County of Essex in Ontario Canada, as their son Earl Albert was born there in 1919.  Had an older brother called Harold so family must be there in 1918.  Where would they have sailed from in UK assuming they were in Sandhurst, Berkshire?  I guess they married here and that the HUNT family was local but cannot find marriage of them yet.  Any help appreciated.
Many thanks

John Rowley

[MJP]

Hi John,

You may have already gone down this road, but is it possible that Florence was a war bride?  Do you know anything else about Edward (could he have been Canadian)?  There were at least a dozen Edward HUNTs who served in the Canadian Forces in WWI (although none of them were from Windsor, from what I can see) - you can view their attestation papers by searching for them here http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02010602_e.html
If you find him you can order a copy of his service file from the National Archives, which would tell you his date of discharge and would probably name the ship he returned on.  This still wouldn't tell you how Florence got here, but it would be one more piece of the puzzle...

Martha

[1000xlch]

Hi Martha

Thanks for the info.  One more bit I do have is that they were married but do not know whether it was in UK or Canada as first child was 1917 when she was 18 (born 1899).  I know Edward died 14 Aug but no year, probably around 1935/6 as she sailed back in 1936 and remarried not very long after!  Any more suggestions?

[MJP]

Hmmm...  you have a tricky one.  Do you know anything at all about Edward? (birthdate, parents, siblings, place of birth?)  How do you know about him in the first place?  Do you have Earl Albert's birth certificate?  How do you know the day of Edward's death?

I would say it is more likely that they married in England - I don't think an unmarried couple would emigrate together, which makes it possible that she was a war bride.  In the middle of the war, what other possible reason could they have for coming to Canada? 

I have hunted around some of the on-line BMD indexes for Ontario that I know of, but have not been able to find them. Transcriptions are scarce after about 1910.  These are all volunteer projects, so none of them are complete.  You may be able to get some info from Edward's death, but it may be too recent. Ontario death registrations are available up to 1933 - another year of records is released each year.  If the death happened after that you have to be next-of-kin to get the certificate.   I will try to check the complete index for you next time I am at my Family History Centre, but it does not seem likely that he would have died before 1933.  You may have to wait three years for the 1936 series to be released! 

I'm just off tomorrow for two weeks holiday, so I won't be heading to the FHC until next month.  If you could post all details you have about the children who were born in Canada it might spark some more ideas.  Also here are some Essex County Links:

Essex County GenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~onessex/ (There is a look-up service here where someone will check the cemetery transcriptions - you might be able to get a year for Edward's death)

Essex County Branch of Ontario Genealogical Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~onsxogs/ogs1.htm

Good luck and keep me posted!

Martha

[1000xlch]

Hi MJP

Thanks for the reply.  Have some new today and a photo of the grave of Edward Hunt which says 14 Aug and no date!  He did sometime between 1931 and 1936 as his wife came back to UK in 1936 as per the photo of her on the ship.  I have the short birth cert of son Earl Albert born 1919 in Windsor, Essex County, Ontario.  I know that there was older twins born about 1917 and one died (do not know name) the other was called Harold.  Edward also had a daugther about 1919 called Kathleen.  I think Edward was Canadian as his grandaughter had applied for Canadian citizenship and the authorities had to check that Edward was presumably Canadian in order for it to be granted.  That is all I know at the moment.

Thanks a lot

John Rowley

[eillo]

Hello John

You have quite a few clues, don't despair!

Martha has mentioned the Vital Stats Registrations. That would be a good place to start. You can check for the births of children to Edward and wife - use the indexes first, then get the full registration. That will give you more details where the family was living in the Windsor area. You can get these into a nearby Family History Centre if you have one, or you can get them from the Ontario Archives via InterLibraryLoan. See http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/ and click on Vital Statistics for details how to go about this.

There are online Birth Reg at the Ontario Vital Stats Project at http://www.rootsweb.com/~onvsr/

Also there's the Canadian BDM Exchange at http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/bdm/

You might have a look just in case!

Next, you mention Edward might be Canadian as his granddaughter applied for Canadian citizenship. Does this mean you don't know where he was born? Perhaps he was from the USA and he naturalized once in Canada. If this is the case, you might want to send off to see if he has naturalization records. (if he was born in Canada or United Kingdom this doesn't apply)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada holds records of naturalization and citizenship from 1854. The originals of records dated between 1854 and 1917 have been destroyed. However a nominal card index survives. Records created after 1917 are more detailed, indicating the surname, given name, date and place of birth, entry into Canada, and in some cases, the names of spouses and children.

See http://naturalizationrecords.com/canada/  for details how to order an index search from Citizenship & Immigration Canada

Remember tho' that if he was born in UK he will not be there. From 1763 to 1947, people born in the provinces and colonies of British North America were all British subjects. Iimmigrants from Great Britain and the Commonwealth (England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland) did not have to be naturalized.

Third suggestion - check city directories for the time period, see if you can narrow down where Edward was living.

You say Edward died 1931-1936 - have you hunted for his grave on the online OFCA? That is the ONtario Cemetery Finding Aid, it isn't complete but it has millions of names! See http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/

Lastly, do you think he may have joined the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) in WW1? You might want to search the online database at Library & Archives Canada. I don't have the URL handy, but you can get there from the Canadian Military Heritage Project site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~canmil/

Most of the front and back of the Attestation Paper for each soldier has been scanned and is online, but if you find your Edward, don't stop there! YOu can get the full file which might be chock full of info, but you must order it offline either by FAX or by SNAIL MAIL. You can't order the full file by email. Instructions are given at LAC, be sure to read them carefully if you find your Edward in the index.

Good luck

[MJP]

Hi John,

Just a quick addendum to eillo's response.  Unfortunately, only birth registrations up to 1908 are currently in public domain.  (Works the same way as the death regs I explained earlier, just cut-off year is different).  So you won't be able to find your Hunts yet in any index (on-line or microfilm).      But, as eillo says, you have lots of clues and I'm sure you'll find them.  The WWI attestation papers are important, since that is probably the reason he was in England in the first place.  I don't know if you'll be able to identify him from those papers if you don't know anything else about him, but it's worth a try.  The City Directories is also a great suggestion (good one, eillo - I hadn't thought!).  Here's the Essex County Library http://www.essex.county.library.on.ca/
 
I know, I said I was going on holiday - I'm going, I'm going     Just had to take one more look at good ol' rootschat...

Martha

[eillo]

Hi Martha,

Glad you delayed going on your holiday and caught my mistake! :-) Quite right, the vital stats indexes are not available  to the public for the years John needs them (sorry John!), but he could order a search from Office of the Registrar General.

http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/4U4V5Z.htm

[J.J.]

Martha was quite right, as not only was this attestation paper from Birlington Ont, but also this fellow was born in Berkshire, England...so some dates and next of kin, etc, should be here...if this is your man...

http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gpc007/406838a.gif

actually, this one says born in Berkshire, England, also...

http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gpc007/406839a.gif

but now that I have read the beginning questions one more time...
I suppose these don't really apply after all...unless he received an early discharge, for an injury, or whatever...