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Record #2885
Name :
: James BOLTON (1902 - 1953)


Father
: John BOLTON
Mother
: Elizabeth Hannah WINSTANLEY
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 22 Dec 1902

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 15 Oct 1953   Notes : Bleeding Ulcer
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Warwickshire, Aston, Birmingham
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, New Brunswick, St John
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 9 Jun 1913
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Mongolian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Middlemore
NotesJames was the second child born to John BOLTON (c.1878-1909) & Elizabeth Hannah WINSTANLEY (1879-1959). He was born on 22 December 1902 at 53 Artillery Street, Derit End, Aston, Birmingham, England.

His first experience with death came at the tender age of 5 years, when James' brother George, older than James by one year and a week, died of acute laryngitis.

In 1909 James' father John died, aged 31, of acute regurgitation and heart failure, leaving his wife to look after four young children, the youngest just 16 months. James was not yet seven.

Three years after the death of her husband, still living in the poverty stricken times of industrial Birmingham, James' mother Elizabeth and her young family were not doing well. The following text is that of a report dated 22 August 1912 made out by the Middlemore Homes of Birmingham regarding James. (The Middlemore Homes were one of the many homes at the time set up to take in orphaned and/or homeless children.)

Description of Child: Very ragged, no boots or stockings, cast in left eye, appears well nourished.

Circumstances: Father been dead 3 years. Mother has struggled on with the 4 children since then. She has sold up her house over 2 years. and has been in lodgings since. She is a jappaner by trade and earned 12/- per week but was thrown out of work about 5 weeks ago as the firm she worked for (Dunnetts Loveday St) have now machinery to do the work she used to do. Mother & children literally starving, neighbours help them with a little food now & again. Mother has earned 1/- or 2/- a week lately by washing & cleaning.

Report of Visitor: Called at above address 9/8/12 and found statement correct - quite destitute - a case for us to receive. Accepted.

By February 1913 James, now a little over 10 years old, was still at the Home. He was unaware that on the other side of the world, in a small place called Gagetown, New Brunswick, a farmer named Andrew Boyd needed a farmhand. On 17 February 1913, farmer Boyd put in an "Application for and Settlement of Mr Middlemore's Boys". He wanted a boy 12-13 years.

The application was accepted and James was selected.

On 27 May 1913 James set sail aboard the 3087 tonne "SS Mongolian". It left from Liverpool with 286 adult passengers and 162 children under 14 years old, final destination Canada.

The ship arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia at 9am, 9 June 1913. James was one of a party of 110 children being sent c/- Middlemore House Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Boyd household had eight rooms and the farm was a 200 acre holding. The Boyds moved to the farm somewhere between 1891 and 1901. When James was sent to the farm Andrew Boyd (b.24 March 1852) was 61 years old, his wife Cassie J Boyd (b.17 February 1851) was 62, and there was a daughter Leslie E Boyd (b. 21 January 1897) aged 16. Andrew was of English ethnicity and could read and write. They were apparently a church going family as the congregational records of the Gagetown Anglican Church contains a reference to "Andrew Boyd, wife and child, and James Bolton".

Andrew died 9 June 1918 at aged 65, and his wife Cassie died in 1920 aged 69, both interred at the local Gagetown cemetery.

A requirement of the Middlemore Homes was that a periodic visit be conducted to monitor the child's welfare.

Five Visiting Reports for James were completed in 1915, 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1921 by William S. Ray, a representative of The Middlemore Home, Fairview Station, Halifax. The reports indicate that James was in good health but was troubled with defective eye sight. He attended Church, Sunday school and day school. He did not earn a wage but was provided with board, education and clothing - one comment was "treated as a son".

The 1921 report stated that Mrs Boyd "passed away during the early part of year - since that time boy has hired out among the neighbours - is a steady lad, and doing quite well."

Lloyd Nickerson of Fredericton remembered James in his earlier days. He recalled that James had suffered a period of depression in middle age, and at one stage went missing. The community searched for him and someone found him curled up in a barn. He later recovered from his depression. James' depression could have had a genetic association. His younger sister committed suicide, as did a younger half-sister at 48 years old and a younger half-brother aged 41.

James had later moved to Saint John.

***

"Police Believe Body Found Near Park That of Man Missing 3 Weeks"

An article with the above headline appeared in The Telegraph-Journal, St John, New Brunswick on Friday, 16 October 1953.

Description of Clothing Tallies With Police Records.

A body, believed by Police to be that of James Bolton, aged about 50, and said to be a former resident of 25 St Paul Street, was found Wednesday afternoon in a path on the property of the Saint John Horticultural Association, approximately a mile and a half from the Federal quarantine station near Rockwood Park. The body, in a badly decomposed state and fully clothed, was found by Gordon Love, 23, of 96 Sydney Street.

Love was hunting in the area and came across the body, which was in a sitting position and resting against a tree. City detectives, immediately notified, went to the scene. Inspector of Detectives George E. Stubbs stated be believed the body to be that of Bolton. The Officer had known the man for some years. In addition his clothing tallied to that of Bolton who was reported missing to detectives on Sept. 28.

Dr. R. M. Pendrigh, Coroner, was called to the scene and ordered the body removed to the morgue at the General Hospital where an autopsy will be performed this morning. Detectives carried the body from the pathway for a mile to the roadway, from where it was removed by Brenan's Funeral Home to the morgue.

Detectives said that there were no visible marks of violence on the body. Positive identification is expected today.

Bolton was reported missing by John Zinck, 106 Rothesay Avenue, owner of the St. Paul's Street house. At the time he was reported missing to police, he had been absent three weeks. The description of Bolton's clothing was identical to that on the body found yesterday.

***

Body of Man is Identified

An article with the above headline appeared in The Telegraph-Journal, St John, New Brunswick on Saturday, 17 October 1953.

The body found on Saint John Horticultural Association property about one and one half miles from the federal quarantine station Thursday afternoon has been definitely identified as that of James Bolton, about 50, of 25 St. Paul Street, Saint John. An autopsy performed in the Saint John General Hospital morgue Friday showed Bolton died as a result of a bleeding ulcer. No inquest will be held.

Bolton was born in England and had been a resident of Saint John for some years. A hunter found the body.

The funeral was held Friday afternoon from Brenan's Funeral Home with service conducted by Rev. W. C. V. Martin, Rector of St. Mary's Church. Interment was in Fernhill Cemetery.

James had maintained contact with his mother after being sent to Canada. 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-01-19 20:31:09 / From original database

Additional Contributions from : mollipops1

Last Updated : 2009-01-17 14:29:34 /

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Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries        
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 509 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3011 ABBOTT, Frederick1896ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1906 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
3012 ABBOTT, George1893ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1906 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
3058 ABBOTT, Herbert William1893ENG, WAR, Aston, Erdington Jun 1906 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
3157 ACTON, Alice1909ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jul 1923 : Montcalm CAN Catholic Emigration Society  
3155 ACTON, Laura1892ENG, WAR, Aston May 1911 : Corsican CAN Labourers & Domestics  
21189 ADAMS, William1916ENG, WAR, Aston Jan 1927 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
3759 ADDERLEY, David Gerard1897ENG, WAR, Birmingham May 1908 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
3758 ADDERLEY, Harry1899ENG, WAR, Birmingham May 1908 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
8128 ADIE, Dorothy May1914ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jul 1928 : Newfoundland CAN Middlemore  
10057 ADIE, Henry1896ENG, WAR, Aston Jun 1906 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
5834 ADKINS, Edith May1907ENG, WAR, Alcester Jun 1910 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
8129 AGER, Arthur Charles1915ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jul 1928 : Newfoundland CAN Middlemore  
4645 ALLDRIDGE, Arthur1897ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1904 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
4640 ALLDRIDGE, Francis1889ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1896 : Corean CAN Middlemore  
4644 ALLDRIDGE, Harry1892ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1904 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
4639 ALLDRIDGE, John Leonard1884ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1896 : Corean CAN Middlemore  
4641 ALLDRIDGE, Ruth Rebecca1890ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1896 : Corean CAN Middlemore  
4643 ALLDRIDGE, Violet1893ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1904 : Carthaginian CAN Middlemore  
4642 ALLDRIDGE, William Henry1886ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1896 : Corean CAN Middlemore  
3860 ALLEN, Florence Elizabeth1891ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1902 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
10954 ALLPORT, Daisy Dot1879ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1890 : Sardinian CAN Maria Rye  
6926 ALLSUPP, John1875ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1878 : Sarmatian CAN Middlemore  
6927 ALLSUPP, Mary Ann1872ENG, WAR Jun 1878 : Sarmatian CAN Middlemore  
8821 AMISON, Alfred1894ENG, WAR, Birmingham Aug 1907 : Tunisian CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
25138 ANKCORN, Dennis George1925ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jan 1937 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
25139 ANKCORN, Emma Dorothy1922ENG, WAR, Birmingham Feb 1934 : Jervis Bay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
4426 ARCHER, Ida Mary1909ENG, WAR, Solihull Jun 1926 : Montclare CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
18623 ASHBY, David Anthony1900ENG, WAR, Coles Hill Sep 1911 : Lake Manitoba CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
8883 ASTLEY, Albert ERNEST1894ENG, WAR, Birmingham Oct 1903 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
11066 ASTLEY, Emma1891ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1903 : Siberian CAN Middlemore  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 509 Entries        
Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  30 Entries