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Record #4446
Name :
: Thomas Gordon BROCKLEBANK (1897 - 1983)
  aka : Gordon Brocklebank


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 10 Oct 1897

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 29 Oct 1983
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Middlesex, Shoreditch, London
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialUnited States of America, Wayne, Detroit
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 5 Aug 1909
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Empress of Britain

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Ellinor Close
NotesThomas Gordon) Brockelbank was born Oct. 10, 1897, at the infirmary of the Shoreditch Workhouse (Shoreditch, Middlesex, London, UK) to Thomas Robert Leonard Brockelbank and Sarah Annie Kirk. His birth certificate gives his d.o.b.as Oct. 9, 1897, but his baptismal record gives it as Oct. 10, 1897, which is the same as given in the workhouse infirmary records and is most likely the correct date. However our family always celebrated his birthday on Dec. 25, which we changed in the early 1960's, probably because he had obtained a copy of his birth certificate in order to apply for Social Security as he approached retirement. I believe, besides learning his correct date of birth, he probably also learned he was at least two years older than he has thought he was! Besides having three birthdays, Dad was also proboably baptized three times: first as an infant as Church of England; second, as a Baptist, which he probably converted to because it was probably the faith of the people he was placed with in New Brunswick; third, as a Catholic, which he converted to within the last year before he died (an interesting story in itself!).

The family name was originally spelled BROCKELBANK but was changed to BROCKLEBANK, probably by his father some time in the early 1900's. Though he was Thomas Gordon by birth and came over to Canada on the Empress of Britain as "Tom" on the passenger list, we had also only known him as "Gordon", which all his records since his arrival in Canada identified him as (or Gordon Thomas), so it must have been the home that change his given name.

Thomas came over to Canada on the Empress of Britain in August of 1909. The passenger list gave his destination as Nauwigewauk, NB--it was very hard to read and not spelled correctly (just kind of scrawled on the page like the person writing it didn't really know how to spell it and was just faking it; I'd since learned most people didn't know how it was spelled!). It was one of only two clues on the passenger list as to the organization that was sending him. The other clue was another passenger on the ship whose destination was also Nauwigewauk--Elinor Close--who was travelling in first class. There were no other home children travelling with him and was likely being supervised by the purser. There was a notation on the passenger list that stated "going to live with sister," which looked like it applied to Tom, but probably applied to the person on the line above him. He definitely had no sister in Canada! It was probably because of that notation along with nothing identifying him as a home child and no sending organization being given that he was not picked up or included in the Home Children Index.

Thomas, now identified as Gordon, was placed on the Elinor Home Farm in Nauwigewauk, New Brunswick. (Elinor Close was granted 200 acres of land by the New Brunswick government to operate Elinor Farm Home. Her plan was that 20 children be raised at her farm and sent to local schools. After leaving school they would be placed on local farms to gain experience.)

The Home Farm records on Gordon reported:
Gordon Brocklebank, 1909
Age 9 years
Brought by Mrs. Close to the Elinor Home Farm August, 1909
Has no parents
Delicate looking boy; deafness caused by adenoids
March, 1910 - Had adenoids removed in St. John Hospital
May 10, 1911 - went to Mr. McCain (or Mr. McCann), Rolling Dam, N.B.

This is not an accurate history. He was actually 11 years old (would turn 12 in Oct.). Also, he did have a father, with whom he was probably living a year previous (in fact, was probably living with his father right up to the time he was turned over to Mrs. Close), and who was employed as a shipbroker. His father died more than 30 years later in 1941, in Liverpool. It is not know what, if any contact Gordon had with his father after going to Canada, but he definitely was in contact with his siblings in England at least until the 1960's.

Gordon joined his brother, Harold, in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in 1923. (Harold had been sent by the National Childrens Home to Hamilton, Ontario, in 1914.) On his entry to the United States in 1923, he named St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, as his last place of residence, and named M. Hewitt as a friend there. Both Gordon and Harold Brocklebank made Detroit, Michigan their permanent homes.

Gordon Brocklebank married a Marion (surname unknown) in 1928. They had divorced by the time of his naturalization in 1930.

Gordon was remarried in 1935 to Edith LANGLOIS and raised a family of four children.

Thomas Gordon Brocklebank died on October 29, 1983 in Detroit, Michigan. 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-10-22 20:34:35 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-02-03 18:50:03 /

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3036 ABBOTT, George1894ENG, MDX, London Jul 1904 : Southwark CAN Barnardos  
27033 ABBOTT, Harry Franz1917ENG, MDX, Hendon Oct 1928 : Beltana AUS Fairbridge Homes  
3038 ABBOTT, Herman Henry1882ENG, MDX, Hoxton, London Apr 1895 : Parisian CAN Barnardos  
3082 ABEL, Walter John1869ENG, MDX, London Aug 1884 : Sarmatian CAN Board of Guardians (Various)  
3133 ACLAND, Arthur Edward1874ENG, MDX, Holloway Apr 1886 : Parisian CAN Barnardos  
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4649 ALBON, Mildred Margaret1891ENG, MDX, Teddington Jun 1905 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
16328 ALLMAN, Sophia Mary Ann1875ENG, MDX, St. George in the East Jun 1885 : Lake WWnnipeg CAN Middlemore  
3517 ALLUM, Jessie Maud1899ENG, MDX, Hillingdon Heath May 1908 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
10946 ALLWRIGHT, Bertha Isabella1869ENG, MDX, Mile End Old Town Jun 1879 : Sardinian CAN Maria Rye  
10947 ALLWRIGHT, Phoebe1871ENG, MDX, Poplar Jun 1879 : Sardinian CAN Maria Rye  
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3800 APPLEBY, Nelson F.1910ENG, MDX, Lewisham, London Jun 1924 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
2934 ARMINGER, Eleanor Florence1886ENG, MDX, Mile End Old Town Mar 1895 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
22113 ATKINS, Valentine1915ENG, MDX, Edmonton May 1931 : Duchess of Bedford CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
3080 AUBURN, John George1855ENG, MDX, London May 1872 : Varuna CAN Shoe Black Brigade  
3680 AYRE, Arthur1896ENG, MDX, Stoke Newington, London Jul 1909 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
3681 AYRE, Elsie1892ENG, MDX, Islington, London Mar 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3682 AYRE, Maud1893ENG, MDX, Stoke Newington, London Mar 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3687 BAILEY, Emily May1897ENG, MDX, Edgeware Aug 1906 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
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14741 BALL, Frederick Phillip1878ENG, MDX, London May 1892 : Numidian CAN Childrens Aid Society  
22014 BAMFORD, George Joseph1897ENG, MDX Jul 1907 : Kensington CAN Barnardos  
10259 BANKS, Constance1899ENG, MDX, Hendon Aug 1913 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
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