James Birchall was my grandfather. His occupation was greens keeper at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, where he lived with his wife, Margaret Thomson (married in 1927) and his three children, Janet (Nettie), Maitland and Robert. Janet was named after her maternal grandmother, Robert and Maitland were both named after close friends of my grandfather. Maitland's middle name comes from a member of the Campbell family who was a second cousin to my great grandmother.
The family returned to Dunlop and James died in May of 1941 and is buried (with my grandmother and great grandmother) in the village cemetery. His death certificate lists Margaret Thomson as his wife as well as Joseph Birchall, his father and Rosetta Birchall (nee Smith), his mother.
Neil MacKenzie emigrated to Canada in 1952 and Janet Birchall followed in 1954. They were married in Toronto in 1954. There was never a change of family name. Neil's mother was Annie MacKenzie (nee Richie) his father was Kenneth MacKenzie.
Margaret Birchall married William Gauld in 1947, who died in 1962. Four years later she emigrated to Canada and lived with Janet and Neil and their daughter. One year after this, Maitland moved in with the family.
When Maitland Birchall emigrated to Canada he worked as a 2nd and 1st mate on ships on the Great Lakes. He then became a Master Mariner and was captain of the Canadian science ships "Bayfield" and "Limnos". Following his death in 2017, I took his ashes back to Dunlop where he is buried in the same village cemetery as his parents and grandmother.
Members of the family have no information regarding a "first wife".
After my visit Scotland and doing searches in Edinburgh, I quickly came to the conclusion that it's very easy to get bogged down in records. When researching my grandfather's military record, I found no less that four James Birchalls, all from the same area of England. Apparently Birchall and Burchill are common names.
