I am going through family tree notes written by William Augustus Humfrey in the 1930s, and am struggling to find anything reliable on his brother Frank Granville Humfrey, who apparently emigrated to Canada sometime after 1901 when he last appears in the UK census. I'm starting to think the notes on Frank may be a wind-up or a family joke!
I know the following:
- Frank Granville Humfrey, born 1870 in Broughton, Flintshire, Wales
- In 1896 he married: Elizabeth Draycott
- Together they had a son: Charles Francis Humfrey, born 30 May 1897 in St Oswald, Chester, England.
Several things seem odd or suspicious though:
- His brother's notes describe an illustrious career in WWI, but I have found nothing about either him or his son in the Canadian military (I posted originally to the WWI board, link below):
"Frank... finally settled at Vancouver. He had married about 1896 Elizabeth Draycott of Chester and had one son, Charles Francis, born 1897, and this son afterwards came over from Canada with his father, both in the Timber Battalion, during the War. The father, with his technical knowledge, soon rose to the rank of Captain, and the son saw active service in France. They returned to Vancouver..." - I have found a notice in a Welsh newspaper saying that Frank Granville Humfrey drowned on 3rd August 1908 at Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, but can find no official record of this.
- The notes suggest he was a bit of a black sheep or drifter:
"Frank had a varied career as a wine merchant's assistant, PO sorter, schoolmaster, bank clerk, West African goldmine storekeeper, Banana firm's clerk and other trades, and eventually emigrated to Canada, where he had just as varied a time." - There are postings from about 1900 in Chester saying that creditors will be paid a one off dividend to settle the Frank Granville Humfrey matter. He may have been bankrupted, but I don't know why.
- The 1930s notes say that the son (Charles Francis) was calling himself Graham.
- I can't find either Charles Francis or his mother Elizabeth Draycott / Humfrey on the 1911 Canadian census, even with wildcard spellings.
I would be very grateful for any ideas.
Thanks, Simon
FYI, my original post to the WWI board:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=776295.0