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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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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 12 355 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3056 ABBOTT, Ernest James1897ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
3035 ABBOTT, Geoffrey Robinson1898ENG, MDX, Paddington Mar 1912 : Empress of Britain CAN Sailing Alone  
3095 ABRAHAMS, Lily1896ENG,     Aug 1913 : Empress of Britain CAN Sailing Alone  
3104 ABRAMS, Frederick1892ENG, LND, Battersea May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys Diblet  
22986 ABRAMS, Frederick1893ENG,     May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys Diblet  
3105 ABRAMS, Reginald Edwin1896ENG, LND, Battersea Apr 1909 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys Diblet  
9111 ADDYMAN, Edward Harold1893ENG, KEN, Plumstead May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
3619 AGAR, George1900ENG,     Apr 1909 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
19518 ALDER, John 1894ENG,     May 1907 : Empress of Britain CAN Hurst House Training Home  
22771 ALDERS, George1898ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
23148 ANDREWS, George1898ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
8858 ANNESS, James Edward1901ENG, LDN, London Jul 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
23091 APPLETON, Alfred1898ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
22684 ARCHER, Jesse1892ENG,     May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
22896 ARNOLD, Edward1889ENG,     May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
19855 ASHMAN, Frederick1892ENG,     May 1907 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
27617 ATKINS, George Frederick1905ENG, ESS, Rochford Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
27618 ATKINS, Jane Ellen1900ENG, ESS, Rochford Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
17305 ATKINS, William1894ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
27619 ATKINS, William Richard1903ENG, ESS, Rochford Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
27598 AVERY, Edith Mary1901ENG, KEN, Cranbrook, Hawkhurst Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain CAN Salvation Army  
23092 AYLES, Frederick Arthur1896ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
11139 BACON, Edwin J1896ENG,     May 1907 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
22554 BACON, Ernest P1901ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
3859 BAILEY, Joseph1898ENG,    , Hastings Jul 1907 : Empress of Britain CAN Catholic Emigration Society  
23032 BAKER, Frederick1898ENG,     Apr 1909 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
11129 BALDWIN, Alfred1896ENG,     May 1907 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
2957 BALDWIN, Colin1899ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
16574 BALDWIN, Leslie1900ENG,     Apr 1911 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
22837 BARBER, Charles1893ENG,     May 1906 : Empress of Britain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 355 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