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  1. #1
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Sutton
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    727

    Default The Desmond Sisters

    I have made postings about my Desmond girls and their family before. I have had a lot of help and that took me to their arrival in Canada as Home Children in 1909. They appear to have settled in or near Blenheim. The threads are now long and convoluted but a moderator may want to link them.

    The three girls

    Mary Ann born 1896 in Hoxton
    Harriet Elizabeth born 1897 in Hoxton
    Elizabeth born 1899 in Hoxton

    My previous threads have picked up the departure of the girls in 1909 and the 1911 census in Canada. This is where the information for Mary Ann and Harriet ends.
    For Elizabeth I have her marriage and some further details of a return trip to England in 1921/1922.

    I have now been given some further information on Mary Ann and Harriet and it is these in particular I am trying to find out more, if possible.

    Harriet was sent to Merlin, a hamlet outside of Blenheim and she passed away in Sep 1956. She was with a family who had a store as well as a disabled child. Her job was to take care of the store and the child. She never married. I am told by someone who grew up in Merlin that Hattie as she was known was much loved in the community and that everyone knew she was a home child.

    Maryann was sent to Kitchener area where she married and had two sons. Her married name was Sutton. All are deceased. I believe Maryann passed away in 1959 and her son's had. no children.

    Can anyone suggest anything more I can do to find out any more details about these girls. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. With thanks
    ELMA

  2. #2
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    4,594

    Default

    I guess you have by now a copy of her Marriage If not I can send you same.
    Some of these places may help with older Obits:

    https://www.
    kitchenercemeteries.ca/
    https://www.canadianobituaries.com/waterloo.html

    https://www.city.waterloo.on.ca/Deskt...aspx?tabid=338
    This one has a Cemetery Services section, in which you can click on Genealogy requests & send an email request to see if your Mary ann is interred there. They may even have volunteers who can look up obits which often have more info. You May have to ask for Desmond tho' not sutton.

    If you can find the correct cemetery often there are volunteers who work from those sites & find & provide quite a bir of information, including funeral service notices & mourners.
    Happy Families
    Wendy
    Count your Blessings, they'll all add up in the end.

  3. #3
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Sutton
    Posts
    727

    Default

    Looking into that right now, not waiting a bit, thank you.
    Elma

  4. #4
    Mary Anne
    Guest

    Default

    Elma

    I would suggest contacting the local branches of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Their volunteers often do cemetery transcriptions and collect local obituaries. They have lots of other resources that could help you.

    Kitchener is in Waterloo County, Ontario, so the local branch you want would be the Waterloo Region Branch, whose website is here: https://www.
    waterlooogs.ca/

    Blenheim is in what is now known as Chatham-Kent County, Ontario (used to be just Kent County), and it is covered by the Kent Branch, whose website is here: https://ogs.on.ca/
    kent/

    Good luck.


    Mary Anne

  5. #5
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Sutton
    Posts
    727

    Default

    Within an hour of Waitabit's post. I have managed to track Mary Ann's grave and that of five of her family interred with her. The lady at the cemetery services has been so helpful and seems fascinated by the story of Home Children. She is now trying to see if there is a headstone.
    Thanks Mary Ann for your suggestions too.
    ELMA

  6. #6
    Name well known on Brit-Gen
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    South Australia
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    4,594

    Default


    Excellent news ELMA, the helpers over there are gems aren't they?
    Now to see you do same for her Sister

    You must have given me luck as well as I've just found the Probate records for my Mothers only Brother with his actual date of death which I could never find before!.
    Happy Families
    Wendy
    Count your Blessings, they'll all add up in the end.

  7. #7
    Knowledgeable and helpful
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Sutton
    Posts
    727

    Default

    I thought I must tell everyone of my success. I knew little about these three sisters sent as home children to Canada but gradually I put together a picture, we found some records and dates. The three sisters are still talked about in the family and there is still a half sister still alive wondering what happened to them. To help with closure I thought I would look at the deaths and as a long shot I made this post.
    Well there is more to dates and records and as I said within an hour of taking Waitabit's advice I had a response from a funeral home and that has continued with help of further information.
    I now have photo's of the graves, know where the girls lived and what really became of them. Who they lived with including the details of what daily newspaper was delivered. The paper boy also delivered sausages once a week! Hattie who never married and stayed with her family until her death used to push around her disabled charge in a basket wheelchair. The local community were aware she was a Home Child and thought a lot about her. So many facts I would never imagine I would know.
    So my advice would be follow Waitabit's advice, check the funeral homes if possible and maybe you will be lucky too.
    ELMA
    Last edited by Elma; 13-09-2012 at 8:20 AM. Reason: Spelling

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