Was a sort-of now a DEFINITE success!

[Pam Downes]

To supplement Mona's post above - I can glean from FMP newspapers that a T W Empson left Trevarrak ? Gulval Penzance for Canada 1923 as above shipping list. It says he served in the Royal Navy in WW1 - it also has his birth as 1878 so probably not your man. Especially as he shows up on Electoral Rolls in 1929 and 1930. So this chap was still in Canada.

I've checked FMP newspapers and although I've found some stuff relating to the family I can't find the one about him serving in the Navy in WW1. But as my Thomas lived at Trevarrack it has to be him (in spite of the electoral rolls!) so could you please tell me the newspaper and the relevant date for that 1923 report?

Pam

[Pam Downes]

Hi Pam

Canada's free online digitised newspapers have a small notice here https://www.cangenealogy.com/newspapers.html

scroll down to Prince George

then the Prince George Citizen of 29th November 1931. (page 6)

The funeral of the late T Empston (sic) took place under the auspicies of the British Legion. He was found dead presumed of heart disease. He was employed on the C N R section.

Doesn't mention family in this notice

No wonder I couldn't find him when I looked in the Prince George papers!

Thank you again.

Pam

[Wilkes_ml]

T

I think this has to be my Thomas William, though there are still a few things which don't quite add up. Such as why he's on the electoral rolls for 1922 to 1930 and listed as being able to vote on residence qualification if he was (allegedly) in British Columbia.

I wonder if the electoral registers at the time were like directories, where a person could die after it was compiled, yet changes were not shown until a year or two after publication. What were the requirements to have someone removed from a register at the time?

[Wilkes_ml]

Do Canadian death certificates give family information like Scotland? But then again, I would guess the information supplied is only going to be what the informant knew, and if there was no family in Canada, there is no guarantee that the information on the death certificate would be accurate.....hence ages that could be way out ( 15 years out for my great great grandfather whose death was registered by his step-son!)

[MrsPoppy]

Just to clarify

The Prince George Citizen had the report about his funeral.

FMP

07 January 1932 - Cornishman - Penzance, Cornwall, England - Gulval man's death in Canada - mentions his WW1 Naval Service

24 November 1932 - Cornishman - Penzance, Cornwall, England - Memoriam notice

[Wilkes_ml]

It does make me wonder, did sudden job opportunities abroad that seem too good to be true suddenly appear for our ancestors? Was there advertisements around the time of his departure in the local newspapers? How else would someone find out, or did they just decide to try their luck in another country?

Does it imply that there were difficulties in the marriage? Or did the wife just decide that she didn't wan't to leave England? These thoughts crossed my mind for my ancestor's brother who left his wife and kids in the workhouse to travel to the US, serve in the Civil war, bigamously marry another woman within a year of arrival and father 3 children in the US before returning to his true wife 30 years later!

Certainly a puzzle and questions that will never be answered!

[Pam Downes]

Michelle,

The rules for removal would surely be the same as today - name is probably removed from the main database, but it can't be removed from a printed document such as the electoral books shown on FMP and Ancestry. I say 'probably' because I don't think you usually advise the electoral roll people of a death, but they may well get to know because the name would be removed from the Council Tax database.

All that happens nowadays is that a person is shown listed at an address in the register published in, say, November 2014. They die in May 2015, so their name doesn't appear in the register published in November 2015.

Pam

[Pam Downes]

Do Canadian death certificates give family information like Scotland? But then again, I would guess the information supplied is only going to be what the informant knew, and if there was no family in Canada, there is no guarantee that the information on the death certificate would be accurate.....hence ages that could be way out ( 15 years out for my great great grandfather whose death was registered by his step-son!)

Michelle,
Hopefully the link will work.
This is Thomas' death registration. Note that it is British Columbia. Other Canadian states may have slightly different forms.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLKL-8Z8

As you say, death registrations are only ever as accurate as what the informant knew about the deceased.

Pam

[Pam Downes]

Just to clarify

The Prince George Citizen had the report about his funeral.

FMP

07 January 1932 - Cornishman - Penzance, Cornwall, England - Gulval man's death in Canada - mentions his WW1 Naval Service

24 November 1932 - Cornishman - Penzance, Cornwall, England - Memoriam notice

Thank you again, Mrs Poppy.
Once I changed the search term from Cornwall to Gulval I found it straightaway.
Definitely him though the Quetta bit threw me, but one of his sons was in the army. (Info from son's marriage certificate.)

I might have gulped a bit when I first forked out for those BMD certificates but they've proved their worth over the last twenty-four hours as they've been able to confirm so much.

Pam

[MrsPoppy]

On the subject of working overseas and recruitment again FMP has articles - 7,876 WINTER JOBS OPEN IN CANADA.- this is in 1923 when Mr Empson went to Canada. The immigration minister announcing winter jobs for British Harvesters. I wonder if he answered this call (occupation Harvester on the shipping list) and then reverted to his work on the railways with the CNR and decided to stay.

There are literally hundreds of advertisements for jobs in Canada in the 1920's and 1930's.

As a British Citizen he would still have been on the Electoral Roll with a right to vote wouldn't he (sorry if I've missed some posts - trying to keep up...)