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Record #15925

Name :: : William DONOVAN (1882 - )
aka : Willie Donovan
Father: :
Mother: :

BMD and other details

Date of Birth: : 1882 (approx.)
Marriage (1): :
Marriage (2): :
Date of Death: :

Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland

Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial

Sailing Information

Date of Arrival: : 7 Aug 1897
Country: : Canada
Ship: : Vancouver
Placement Family: :

Homes / Agencys

Institution (GB): :
Agency: : Barnardos

NotesIn 1897, W. J. Donovan, 14, arrived at Quebec, Canada, along with a group of 137 Barnardo children en route to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Toronto Star
Wednesday, October 30, 1929

CONVICT ON TICKET SEEKS DEPORTATION

Spent Twenty-Two Years in Prisons--Saw Action in Two Wars

Special to the Star by Staff Reporter

Hamilton, Ont., Oct. 29.--Willie O. Donovan, who claims to be an English "ticket-of-leave" with the record of having spent 22 of his 47 years in prison, is not too pleased with the prospect of a rigorous Canadian winter and he appealed to Inspector of Detectives J. R. Crocker to-day for deportation. He is being held pending communication with Scotland Yard for a check-up.

He told the Inspector of an adventurous career which began when he was sent as a Barnardo boy to a farm near Dunnville and has since progressed through two wars, three penitentiaries and "bush-bound" Northern Ontario.

"I served 22 months with the 14th Hussars in South Africa, and was honorably discharged," Donovan said. "Then I got in bad in England and was sentenced to five years in Dartmoor in 1905 for burglary. I was there when the only successful break was made from the Moor by two convicts, who jumped aboard a freight train, but found it going the wrong way and were caught at Land's End."

A week's leave from the horrors of war brought him back to England an old pal, Donovan related, and the subsequent conviction for 22 burglaries during the week took him back to the solitude of a prison for thirteen years. A titled English social service worker became interested in him when eleven yeas of his sentence was served, he said, and he once more gained freedom on "license." The lady went further and got him work as a coal trimmer on the Laurentic, but while he was still on parole he claims he deserted the ship at Montreal. "I broke my arm when I jumped from the boat," Donovan said, "and I had to nurse it myself for fear I would be caught. I worked my way to Northern Ontario and for the last fourteen months have been working in railway and lumber camps near Sudbury."

"I have been going straight," he said. "The game isn't worth the candle. I have been in tight places and 22 years in jail has taught me to go straight. If I can get back to England I will go to [illegible] for the rest of my days."

Donovan jibed the inspector on Canadian police methods, claiming that if he were wandering the streets in England carrying a pack he would be questioned by every "Bobby."

ContributorsCreated : 2012-01-22 20:07:15 / From original database

Last Updated : 2012-01-22 20:09:14 /

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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

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ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links
3004	AARON, Alfred Robert	1899	ENG, LAN, West Derby, Liverpool	Mar 1911 : Sicilian	CAN	Barnardos
3003	AARON, John Richard	1895	ENG, LAN, West Derby, Liverpool	Mar 1911 : Sicilian	CAN	Barnardos
3007	ABBEY, Bertha	1890	ENG, DUR, Stockton on Tees	Jul 1904 : Southwark	CAN	Barnardos
3006	ABBEY, John	1887	ENG, DUR, Stockton on Tees	Oct 1904 : Southwark	CAN	Barnardos
3161	ABBEY, Thomas	1892	ENG, DUR, Stockton on Tees	Oct 1904 : Southwark	CAN	Barnardos
3020	ABBOT, Alice	1877	ENG, MDX, Islington	Oct 1893 : Labrador	CAN	Barnardos
3047	ABBOT, William	1878	ENG,	Apr 1895 : Parisian	CAN	Barnardos
3019	ABBOTT, Alfred	1869	ENG,	Aug 1887 : Parisian	CAN	Barnardos
23669	ABBOTT, Alice	1877	ENG,	Oct 1893 : Labrador	CAN	Barnardos
3022	ABBOTT, Bertie	1894	ENG, SFK, Ipswich	May 1909 : Corsican	CAN	Barnardos	sharonmx5 , patty_in_ms
3025	ABBOTT, David Henry	1891	ENG, ESS, Grays	Mar 1901 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3055	ABBOTT, Douglas Groves	1910	ENG, HAM, Hartley Wintney	Apr 1924 : Montclare	CAN	Barnardos
3858	ABBOTT, Emily Jane	1886	ENG, YKS, Guisborough	Jul 1903 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
8354	ABBOTT, Frederick Albert Prosper	1885	ENG, LND, Homerton	Apr 1895 : Parisian	CAN	Barnardos
3036	ABBOTT, George	1894	ENG, MDX, London	Jul 1904 : Southwark	CAN	Barnardos
3038	ABBOTT, Herman Henry	1882	ENG, MDX, Hoxton, London	Apr 1895 : Parisian	CAN	Barnardos
10624	ABBOTT, John	1913	ENG,	Apr 1929 : Duchess of York	CAN	Barnardos
3045	ABBOTT, Leslie	1883	ENG,	Mar 1893 : Labrador	CAN	Barnardos
3060	ABBOTT, Lilian	1903	ENG,	Jun 1912 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3026	ABBOTT, Mary	1888	ENG, ESS, Maldon	Oct 1902 : Colonian	CAN	Barnardos
3049	ABBOTT, Penelope	1901	ENG, KEN, Sidcup	Jun 1912 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
5046	ABBS, Bertie Cecil John	1914	ENG, LND, St. Pancras	Mar 1930 : Duchess of Richmond	CAN	Barnardos
3061	ABDALE, John George	1873	ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne	Mar 1891 : Norwegian	CAN	Barnardos
3063	ABEL, Albert Edward G.	1901	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Aug 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3066	ABEL, Charles	1891	ENG,	Mar 1906 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
3065	ABEL, Florence	1902	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Aug 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3067	ABEL, Frederick	1889	ENG,	Jul 1900 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3068	ABEL, George	1887	ENG,	Aug 1905 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
3069	ABEL, George	1897	ENG,	Mar 1907 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
3071	ABEL, John	1886	ENG,	Jun 1897 : Labrador	CAN	Barnardos
ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links

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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