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St Andrew's Church, Whittlesey cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Tiger - geograph.org.uk/p/924937 |
In 1908, George Daniel Tompson (22), only surviving son of Dan Tompson and his 2nd wife, Sarah Jane Baker - making George my half-great-grand-uncle - sailed from Liverpool to New York on the Lusitania, although in 1910 he was back in Whittlesey for his marriage in the parish of Whittlesey St Andrew, to Alice Oldfield, daughter of George Oldfield (1847-1913), former Licenced Victualler and Blacksmith and Caroline Hemmaway (m. 1868) of East Delph, Whittlesey. Pubs in East Delph were the Anchor and The Three Fishes with the Hare and Hounds on the corner of Bassenhally Road. Records don't show which George Oldfield kept, but in 1881, he's not at the Hare and Hounds, nor The Three Fishes, as those have different occupiers listed.
George Oldfield's parents were George Oldfield and Mary Haddon. In 1851, Mary is listed as having been born in Yaxley, then Huntingdonshire. This family connection may well explain why George Daniel's three younger sisters were living in Yaxley in 1939 after they returned to the UK from Canada.
George Daniel Tompson left Liverpool on 7 March 1908 and arrived in New York, to Ellis Island, on 13 March 1908. It appears from the passenger manifest that the 22 year old bricklayer's intended destination had been Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, there's a line through his name, so was he refused entry to the United States perhaps? Quite when, how and why he ended up in Toronto, Canada instead I've yet to discover, if I ever do.
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House on the right 133 Morrison Avenue, Toronto, Canada |
After their marriage in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire on 29 Mar 1910, in 1911, George, with wife Alice, were back in Canada, where, on 25 Apr 1911, Alice gave birth to a stillborn son at 133 Morrison Avenue, Toronto, Canada.
On the 1911 Canadian Census on 1 Jun 1911, living at 133 Morrison Avenue, Toronto, were George Tompson (27), Alice Tompson (32), Richard Oldfield (26), Walter Oldfield (22), Charles Oldfield (19), William Tinkler (26) and Fred Tinkler (26), the last two being boarders. Richard, Walter and Charles Oldfield were all Alice's younger brothers. Richard and Walter were Bricklayers Labourers and Charles a labourer. They hadn't been in Canada long, as they had been listed on the 1911 United Kingdom census on 2 Apr 1911 in their father's household. Pure speculation, of course, but it would make sense that, having arrived in Toronto around 1908, George Daniel acquired the plot in Earlscourt and built the house at number 133 Morrison Avenue in the intervening years before going back to England to claim his wife once he'd prepared a home for them. The workforce of brickies' labourers turns up a year later and they build the house at 131 Morrison Avenue ready for Dad to move into in 1912. Possibly, maybe.
George and Alice go on to have at least five children:
- Daniel George Tompson born 23 May 1912 at 133 Morrison Avenue
- Ruth Tompson born 1915 (d. 2008)
- Richard Tompson born 1919
- Charles Gordon Tompson born 1919
- Walter Tompson born 1921
On the 1921 Canadian Census, George Daniel Tompson (36) is listed as living at 124 Hatherley Road, Toronto with wife Alice (41), Daniel George Tompson (9), Ruth Tompson (6), Richard and Charles Gordon Tompson both 2, were they twins? And Walter Tompson, 2 months.
George Daniel Tompson was still listed at 124 Hatherley Road, in the Toronto Centennial City Directory in 1934. His son, Daniel George, was listed in that directory as a teacher at a York Public School. In 1938, Daniel George Tompson married Dorothy Adeline Bryant, who died in 2009, at the ripe old age of 96. There aren't many Canadian records I can access online to research this branch further, but it seems obvious there will be family still in Canada.