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Record #3889
Name :
: William Thomas THORNTON (1898 - 1938)
  aka : William Thornton THOMAS


Father
: Thomas Henry Thornton
Mother
: Elizabeth Branson-Slater
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 10 Nov 1898

Marriage (1)
: 10 Apr 1929   Spouse/Notes : Sadie Jane Nixon - Regina, Saskatchewan
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 30 Mar 1938   Notes : Complications during operation
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Middlesex, London
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, Ontario, Toronto
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 18 Mar 1910
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Tunisian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesHis grandaughter, Fawn Laffin, related (on Pier 21 - Canada's Immigration Museum {website}pier21.ca/research/collections/the-story-collection/online-story-collection/british-home-children/):

William Thomas Thornton Was born November 10, 1898 in St Mary London in Queen Charlotte Hospital Maryleborn Road, London, England. He was the son of Thomas Henry Thornton and Elizabeth Branson-Slater. William was the third child from his parents. His sister and brothers name were: Lillian Ivy ( Lily) Thornton and Thomas Harold Thornton.

William, for reasons unknown, was put out for foster care at three weeks old. He was put in the care of Mrs. Jane Bave of 58 Rusell Street, Battersea while his family lived at 35 Battersea, St. Wandsworth, England.

His mother would visit him often, but the visits stop altogether and the family disappeared with no trace left to find them after 1905.

William was first enrolled in the Battersea Park Road Infants Department on August 24, 1903, by his father. He then enrolled on August 27, 1908 at the Barnardo School for boys as Mrs. Bave could not mind him anymore as he was turning into a street lad.

Finally Barnardo's admitted William on November 2, 1909, but he was sent to her Majesties Hospital from November 3, 1909 until November 13, 1909. After getting out of Her Majesties Hospital William was then sent to a home in Felixtown Suffold, England, and stayed there until December 15, 1909 when he was then Sent to Clapham's Home for boys.

On March 10, 1910 form Liverpool, England William was sent on the S.S. Tunisian to Canada with the Barnardo' s party. They arrived in Canada on March 19, 1910 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

William was then sent on a train heading for Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was accompanied by a Mr Rogers. They stopped at the Winnipeg Branch Home for boys, arriving there on March 21, 1910.

In 1913 William was sent to QuAppelle Edgelery in Saskatchewan, Canada to work on the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Garourt. He stayed there for only a year then was sent to a Mr. and Mrs. Stickle to work for them from 1914-1916. After that he worked for his last and finally family, that of a Mr Graigs in 1917.

Finally William was a young man and able to go on his own. You see Barnardo' s was not a nice place back in the 1800s and early 1900s. It was like a slave camp for children and not all children where treated well, as there was abuse going on.

William had great achievements in Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1925 he played on the radio for one hour and was in a newspaper article entitled, "CONCERTS ARE EAST FOR FANS WHO LISTEN IN". Rosson's Trio, Edgeley Quartet and Norwegian Will on CKCK Program. There is a section where he is mentioned and his band. It reads, "Sam Swayze Sings." Then under it, is as follows , "With old time numbers, the Edgeley Quartet went on the air for an hour from 8 to 9 pm. The Quartet consisted of Miss L Tate, Piano; N. Goldwin, Violin; Paul Okerstrom mandolin; William Thornton, accordion. The following are items they gave to fans: Jingle Bells, Yankee Doodle, Hinky Dinkey Parley Voo, When the Clouds are Vanished and Skies are Blue, Turkey in the Straw, Nellie Gray; accordion solo, Over the Waves, Red Wing, Golden Slipper, Peek a Boo, Coming threw the Rye, My Wild Irish Rose, St. Patrick's Day, Mellow Moon, Sally, Show Me the Way."

From 1925 - 1926 he played the accordion and drums for dances and was asked to bring others to play with him as well.

William then met a girl by the name of Sadie Jane Nixon and they were married on April 10, 1929 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. They had three children all together, a son that was still born and two daughters, Mabel Pearl born in 1931 and Margaret June Thornton Born in 1935, both girls were born in Regina, Saskatchewan.

The family later moved to Ontario, Canada , and I am sad to say that was William' s final resting place as he died on March 30, 1938 in Toronto, Ontario Canada, do to a complication during an operation.

William didn't like to talk much about his past as he was always being shipped around as a young child, and probably lived an unhappy life as a young child. He was the kind of man that lived for the day, and made his life a happy one. He was a great men and will be sadly missed by those who remember him or knew him.

You can find out more about William Thornton on the Sask Web Page URL:
{website}rootsweb.com/~cansk/surnames/Thornton.html

Edited (from two near identical records dated 2008):15.07.15 alanmack  
ContributorsCreated : 2008-07-14 09:50:41 / From original database

Last Updated : 2015-07-15 13:00:25 / alanmack

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IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3036 ABBOTT, George1894ENG, MDX, London Jul 1904 : Southwark CAN Barnardos  
3082 ABEL, Walter John1869ENG, MDX, London Aug 1884 : Sarmatian CAN Board of Guardians (Various)  
4994 ADAMS, Edward1915ENG, LDN, London Sep 1930 : Duchess of Bedford CAN Barnardos  
8695 ADAMS, James1884ENG, LDN, London Sep 1896 : Mongolian CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
8751 ALDGATE, Esther1880ENG, LDN, London Jun 1891 : Circassian CAN Maria Rye  
23343 ALDRIDGE, Charles Henry1888ENG, LDN, London Jun 1901 : Parisian CAN Waifs & Strays lostgirl19  
6531 ALEXANDER, Edward1913ENG, LDN, London Apr 1930 : Duchess of Bedford CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
16732 ALEXANDER, Frederick1899ENG, LDN, London Mar 1907 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
6640 ALEXANDER, John1913ENG, LDN, London Mar 1927 : Montrose CAN Barnardos  
8529 ALLEN, Daniel1898ENG, LDN, London Jul 1913 : Corsican CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
12790 ALLEN, Ernest1916ENG, LDN, London May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford CAN Crusade of Rescue  
6259 AMEY, Elizabeth1904ENG, LDN, London Oct 1913 : Corinthian CAN Barnardos  
6594 ANDERSON, Leslie1913ENG, LDN, London Jul 1927 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
10452 ANDERSON, William1906ENG, LDN, London Jul 1921 : Megantic CAN National Childrens Home  
8858 ANNESS, James Edward1901ENG, LDN, London Jul 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
5360 APOW, Leslie1911ENG, LDN, London Aug 1925 : Montnairn CAN National Childrens Home  
5468 ARBOURNE, Frederick A1890ENG, LDN, London Jul 1902 : New England CAN Barnardos  
5073 ARMSTRONG, John 1912ENG, LDN, London Aug 1926 : Montrose CAN Barnardos  
11881 ASH, Charles1885ENG, LDN, London Apr 1894 : Sarnia CAN Barnardos  
8755 ASH, Chris1883ENG, LDN, London Apr 1894 : Sarnia CAN Barnardos  
17119 ATKINS, Percy1895ENG, LDN, London Aug 1907 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
3080 AUBURN, John George1855ENG, MDX, London May 1872 : Varuna CAN Shoe Black Brigade  
6643 AUSTIN, John1913ENG, LDN, London Mar 1927 : Montrose CAN Barnardos  
6585 AVES, Rose1912ENG, LDN, London Jul 1927 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
5321 AXFORD, John1913ENG, LDN, London Aug 1930 : Duchess of York CAN Salvation Army  
10504 AYOUB, Richard1908ENG, LDN, London May 1922 : Montcalm CAN Catholic Childrens Emigration Service of London  
5322 BACKLER, John1914ENG, LDN, London Aug 1930 : Duchess of York CAN Salvation Army  
15784 BAKER, Edgar Frank1896ENG, LDN, London Jul 1909 : Scotian CAN Barnardos  
4896 BAKER, Ernest F1913ENG, LDN, London Mar 1925 : Aurania CAN Liverpool Sheltering Home  
4899 BAKER, Lilian E1911ENG, LDN, London Mar 1925 : Aurania CAN Liverpool Sheltering Home  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 596 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