Birth of James Arthur Smith, 1915/16 Saskatchewan

[valeriec]

You have found a lot of info in a short period of time. Keep an eye on the vital stats for Saskatchewan as the birth may show up in a few years. Good luck,

You could check the 1911 Census of England and Wales at ancestry to see if you can find Evelyn/Eleanor and her parents on the census.
Val

[valeriec]

You can also check for baptism for James Arthur at Holy Trinity where Evelyn's funeral was held. Depending on where Arthur and Evelyn were actually living, the time of year that James was born and access to a local church could mean he may not have been baptized until returning to England.

The two churches on family search that would be closest to Shellbrook would be those in Prince Albert and Battleford.

[lilybell]

Here is another site to view for military information on Arthur Smith.
Saskatchewan War Memorial
www.svwm.ca
Just key in Smith in the search box he is about 3 or 4 on the list,

Lilybell

[jeffster]

Hey ladies and gents,

I was going to put my contributions in last night, but we had a power outage here to storm...

There are two Arthur Smiths on the Saskatchewan homestead records here: http://www.saskhomesteads.com (for meridian put in W3), it should be the ones that are either 48-50 on the list. Arthur Albert Smith farm is located nearer Shell Lake (a small community 15 minutes west of Shellbrook).

My grandparents retired to Shellbrook in 1967, both passed away between last year and this year, so I am a bit familiar with the area.

There may be a death notice in the local newspaper there (Shellbrook Chronicle), they are microfilmed at the archives on the university so could take a look if you have a firm date to look.

Jeff

P.S. Oh and if you need a close up look at the centeoph in Shellbrook, my mom lives up there so may be able to get you a better picture of it.

[Jacquie in Canada]

You have found a lot of info in a short period of time. Keep an eye on the vital stats for Saskatchewan as the birth may show up in a few years. Good luck,

I wouldn't count on that anytime soon unfortunately. Currently births only go to 1908. I think it's been a few years since they last updated their database.

Jacquie

[Jacquie in Canada]

The 1891 England census has a family headed by Benjamin and Hannah James that has an Ellen James born in Ledbury that is the right age. This Ellen appears to be on the 1901 England census as Ellen E. James, servant in the Jones household in Colwall (Piece 2470, Folio 61, Page 11).

The 1891 census has children for Benjamin and Hannah listed as Blanche (13), Frederick (12), Frank (10), Agnes (8 ), Ellen (6), Jack (4), Lilly (3) and Dora (1) (Piece 2052, Folio 25, Page 43). The 1901 England census adds more children - Benjamin (9), Gladys (7) and Harry (5) (Piece 2471, Folio 35, Page 22).

The Free BMD has a marriage in the 4th quarter of 1910 in Ledbury for Agnes M.L. James which also has a Herbert Lawrence/Laurence on the same page (vol 6a, page 1041). There is an Agnes Lawrence born Ledbury with a husband named Hubert in Birmingham, Warwickshire on the 1911 England census which matches with the obituary you found. Also Gladys James is with the couple on this census. There is a death in Ledbury in the 4th quarter of 1962 for Agnes M.L. Lawrence who was the right age to be this Agnes.

Jacquie

[Jacquie in Canada]

Found another connection. There is a marriage for Edith Blanche James in Ledbury in the 2nd quarter of 1898 that has a Thomas William Stephens on the same page. The 1901 England census has Thomas, Blanche with daughter Violet (1) in Pontshill. Agnes James is also in the household.

In 1911, Blanche with sons William and Jack living in the household of her parents (Violet isn't with her).

Then there is an entry on the 1916 census for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta which has Thomas (47), Edith (37), Violet (17), William (15), Jack (8 ) and Francis (3) in the district of North Battleford. I can't make out the name of the place they were living (Royiles? Rogiles?) but it was in the same subdistrict as Shellbrook. The census gives their immigration date as 1910 but that would be for Thomas. There is a passenger list for the Royal Edward which arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 20 Mar 1912 which had Edith Stephens with Violet, William and Jack heading for Shellbrook. There are a number of public family trees at Ancestry which indicate she died in Shellbrook on 14 Sep 1929.

Jacquie

[Jacquie in Canada]

Forgot to mention that you can order a copy of Arthur Smith's military file from Library and Archives Canada. Here's a link to his attestation papers:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0vu2/

There is a link on that page that gives instructions on how to order a copy of the file online. The charge is per page but it isn't usually too expensive.

With respect to Arthur, the 1901 England census has a Joseph and Sarah Smith in Otley, Yorkshire with children May (18), Beatrice (16), Lily (15), Elias (13), Frank (11), Arthur (9) and
Flossie (7) (Piece 4063, Folio 95, Page 1). Joseph and Sarah are in Otley with three of their children on the 1911 England census (Piece 26013).

There is a passenger list for the Virginian which departed from Liverpool and arrived in Quebec on 1 Jul 1910 which has an 18 year old Arthur Smith who was destined for North Battleford, Saskatchewan. His occupation is listed as clerk which matches the attestation papers for Arthur. Here's a link to the image at Library and Archives Canada (line 13):
http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/e/e143/e003563599.jpg

Jacquie

[lilybell]

Jacquie the spelling for the place name  on1916 census for Thomas Stephens is spelled Rozilee.
 
The name was changed to Shellbrook Oct 20,1923.Rozilee formed Jan 1,1913.

Lilybell