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Record #2909

Name :: : Arthur EDWARDS (1896 - 1976)
Father: : William EDWARDS
Mother: : Mary Emma CLAYTON

BMD and other details

Date of Birth: : 3 Oct 1896
Marriage (1): : 2 May 1922 Spouse/Notes : Mary BATE (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia)
Marriage (2): :
Date of Death: : 4 Sep 1976 Notes : Natural Causes

Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Warwickshire, Birmingham

Dec qtr, 6d 134 (FreeBMD), 14 Court 2 House Unett St

Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, Nova Scotia, Halifax

Sailing Information

Date of Arrival: : 23 Jun 1906
Country: : Canada
Ship: : Siberian
Placement Family: :

Homes / Agencys

Institution (GB): :
Agency: : Middlemore

NotesOn the 3rd October 1904, Mary Emma's son, Arthur Edwards was placed in the Middlemore Home in Birmingham. Arthur's son, Ralph Edwards, told his father's story:

"From the Middlemore records that I have been able to view, it appears that William and Emma and their children had fallen on 'hard times' and were having trouble providing for their children and themselves. When my father went into the Middlemore Home on 3rd/4th October 1904, this is what was on the application:

Name and address of Parent: William Edwards, 3 House 10 Court Lower Tower Street.
Members of family: Mother and father and five children eldest 10 years the youngest 8 months.

It goes on to say that the father (William) has been out of regular employment for fourteen months but has done odd jobs for his nephew who is a shoe finisher. Then it states that my father was "sleeping out' and also has been in trouble at the markets for apparently stealing things. It also states that when the mother was interviewed she said her husband had spent time in jail for assaulting people and being drunk. She also told the interviewer that they moved often to avoid paying rent so that they would have money for food. It also said that one of the children had spent time in the Shustoke Industrial School.

The report on admittance does not give names of any of my fathers siblings and only uses his name (Arthur) and the father's name (William). Nor does it give any name of the mother. She is referred to as "mother". I know that life was hard in Birmingham in the late 1800s and early 1900s. My father's family was much better off than a lot of the family admittance reports that I have seen in the Middlemore records. There were a lot of "horror stories" in that era.

In June of 1906 my father was sent to Canada with many other children from the Middlemore Home. He came to Canada on a ship called Siberian in 1906.

I don't know if you are aware of the child care agencies that were operating in England in the late 1800s and up until about 1930 but there were quite a number bringing children to Canada to work on farms. Dr Barnadoes organization was probably the largest. He worked primarily in London, saving destitute children. Middlemore Homes of Birmingham brought approximately 5000 children to Canada. Many of the children after they were placed on farms here were mistreated and treated like slaves. In fairness there were many who were placed in good homes and treated as their own children.

My father was placed on a farm here in the province of New Brunswick, with a farmer who did not treat him very well. In 1915 he left the farm and joined the Canadian Army which was known as the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He went back to England and served in France during World War 1."

"William Edwards senior died on the 15th August 1917 aged 51. He died from (1) Phthisis (Pulmonary Tuberculosis) and (2) Haemoptysis (coughing up blood) at 63 Benson Road in Winson Green, which may have been a hospital for TB patients, being in close proximity to the City Fever Hospital. His home address was given as 1 Back of 172 Farm Street (Newtown) and his 'rank or profession' given as Ex 4003 Private 6th Royal Warwick Regiment. His wife Mary Emma was present at William's death and her address was also 1 Back 172 Farm Street."

Ralph Edwards explained that his father must have had direct contact with his parents during this period as on his army records he gives the family's home address at 1 Back 172 Farm Street as a contact address. It was also where his pay assignment went to during the time he was in England and France:

"My father arrived in England on 6th October 1916 and was in England and France until April 1919, when he was returned to Canada. He was not far away when his father died in Birmingham.

After returning from the war he married my mother in 1922. My mother was also immigrated here with Middlemore Homes of Birmingham. She arrived here in 1910. My mother, whose name was Daisy Bate, was born in Woodsetton, Staffordshire. They settled in Nova Scotia, about one hour drive from Halifax and raised five children, three boys and two girls."

On May 2, 1922, at Presbyterian Manse, Louisburg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, a marriage was registered between Arthur Edwards, 24, labourer, born in Birmingham, England, to William Edwards and Emma Clayton; and Daisy Bates, 21, servant, born in Staffordshire, England, to Samuel Bates and Elizabeth Fones.

(More can be found on this and the family genealogy here {website}bignbostin.com/clayton2.html -- all copyright remains with the owner of this website)

ContributorsCreated : 2008-01-23 15:18:24 / From original database

Additional Contributions from : mollipops1

Last Updated : 2009-03-29 20:34:04 /

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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 13 363 Entries

ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links
3011	ABBOTT, Frederick	1896	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1906 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
3012	ABBOTT, George	1893	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1906 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
3157	ACTON, Alice	1909	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jul 1923 : Montcalm	CAN	Catholic Emigration Society
3759	ADDERLEY, David Gerard	1897	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	May 1908 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
3758	ADDERLEY, Harry	1899	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	May 1908 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
8128	ADIE, Dorothy May	1914	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jul 1928 : Newfoundland	CAN	Middlemore
8129	AGER, Arthur Charles	1915	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jul 1928 : Newfoundland	CAN	Middlemore
4645	ALLDRIDGE, Arthur	1897	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1904 : Carthaginian	CAN	Middlemore
4640	ALLDRIDGE, Francis	1889	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1896 : Corean	CAN	Middlemore
4644	ALLDRIDGE, Harry	1892	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1904 : Carthaginian	CAN	Middlemore
4639	ALLDRIDGE, John Leonard	1884	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1896 : Corean	CAN	Middlemore
4641	ALLDRIDGE, Ruth Rebecca	1890	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1896 : Corean	CAN	Middlemore
4643	ALLDRIDGE, Violet	1893	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1904 : Carthaginian	CAN	Middlemore
4642	ALLDRIDGE, William Henry	1886	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1896 : Corean	CAN	Middlemore
3860	ALLEN, Florence Elizabeth	1891	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1902 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
10954	ALLPORT, Daisy Dot	1879	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1890 : Sardinian	CAN	Maria Rye
6926	ALLSUPP, John	1875	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1878 : Sarmatian	CAN	Middlemore
8821	AMISON, Alfred	1894	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Aug 1907 : Tunisian	CAN	Unknown Catholic Group
25138	ANKCORN, Dennis George	1925	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jan 1937 : Oronsay	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
8883	ASTLEY, Albert ERNEST	1894	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Oct 1903 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
11066	ASTLEY, Emma	1891	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1903 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
3592	ASTLEY, May	1899	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Mar 1911 : Sicilian	CAN	Barnardos
11065	ASTLEY, Rosina	1887	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1903 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
22012	ASTON, ROLAND THOMAS	1895	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Oct 1902 : Colonian	CAN	Barnardos
5311	ATKINS, Fred	1914	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Aug 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	British Immigration and Colonisation Association
9827	ATKINS, Selina	1880	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1890 : Circassian	CAN	Middlemore
2880	AUSTIN, Frederick George	1883	ENG, WAR, Aston, Birmingham	Jun 1894 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
2881	AUSTIN, James	1879	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Jun 1894 : Siberian	CAN	Middlemore
17314	BAGGOTT, Harold Cecil	1893	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Oct 1902 : Colonian	CAN	Barnardos
17316	BAGGOTT, Horace Edgar	1895	ENG, WAR, Birmingham	Oct 1902 : Colonian	CAN	Barnardos
ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links

Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 363 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

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