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Record #3923
Name :
: Lavinia Ellen WILLIAMS (1896 - )


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 1896

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthWales, Monmouthshire, Newport
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 11 Jul 1911
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Sicilian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesA birth registration was found for Lavinia Ellen Williams: Year of Registration: 1896; Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec; District: Cardiff (1837-1974); County: Glamorgan, Monmouthshire; Volume: 11a; Page: 463. (Parents: Robert and Lewsia Williams.)

Her father, Robert Williams, was a dockworker, not a wealthy man, but from photos it is apparent the family was clean, well fed and well housed. They lived in one of the many stone row houses that still line the streets of Newport, near Cardiff, Wales. They were Church of England. The children attended school.

On the second of March, 1906, Lavinia's father was struck by a piece of timber at the docks and killed. Her mother was 31 at the time and pregnant with her ninth child. The eldest girls were 11 and 12. There was a year-old baby girl and a little boy of maybe three. Lavinia would have been 10.

In the official report, the Barnardo `relieving officer' spoke of Lewsia Williams as "a striving, respectable woman who elicited much sympathy." The ten shillings a week in relief she got from the parish was paid away in rent. Her attempt at setting up a business with one of her brothers trading in fruits and vegetables failed. Still, she managed to keep the family together for a whole year. It was somebody from the parish who said, `I'm going to see if I can get help for you.' That's when Lewsia was approached by the orphanage.

The lady from Barnardo's must have been as convincing as Lewisa Williams was desperate. Lewsia had no intention of giving up her four middle children permanently; the arrangement was to last only until she could get back on her feet. The two older girls would look after the younger three while she worked.

The family would never be whole again. Someone somewhere in the Barnardo organization made the decision that the four Williams children, ages six to ten, should be included with a group of orphans scheduled to emigrate to Canada.

In 1911, Lavina Williams, 14 (along with sister, Hilda Williams, 13), arrived at Quebec, Canada, with a group of 176 children en route to Peterborough and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In 1990, her grandniece, Barb Perkins, went to Wales to do more research, people who knew the family described the way it had been ripped apart. They said Lewisa Williams never got over it. Even in her old age, after she had remarried and had a tenth child, she still wept for her four lost children.

In Canada the children were separated. One boy was shot (but survived) trying to run away. One sister seemed to have fared fairly well. The other did not. Barb learned that her grandmother was treated roughly, passing through four different homes.

Eventually the Canadian siblings were reunited and for a time they all lived together as young adults. Relatives in Wales remember receiving packages from them. 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-07-24 20:24:02 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-02-16 15:04:22 /

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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 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 1238 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3004 AARON, Alfred Robert1899ENG, LAN, West Derby, Liverpool Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
3003 AARON, John Richard1895ENG, LAN, West Derby, Liverpool Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
3131 ACKERS, Victor Roy1904ENG, DEV, Plymouth Sep 1915 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
3159 ADAIR, Henry Bower1895SCT,    , Dumfries Apr 1906 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
3173 ADAM, Robert Goulay1895ENG,     Apr 1911 : Sicilian CAN Labourers & Domestics  
23724 ADAMS, Lizzie1898ENG,     Jul 1909 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
17045 ADAMS, Mary 1896ENG,     Oct 1910 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
6389 ADAMSON, Christina Alison1894SCT, LKS, Glasgow Jun 1907 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
6256 ADDIS, Herbert1897WAL, MON, Newport Jul 1909 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
12583 AIRY, Frederick1900ENG,     Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
4595 AITCHESON, Edith1906ENG,     Mar 1920 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
3156 AITON, William Lyle1888SCT, LKS, Glasgow Apr 1907 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
19366 AKEHURST, Wilfred John Kelly1896ENG, SRY, Chertsey Sep 1912 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
23738 ALBURN, Doris1903ENG,     Sep 1915 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
9622 ALDERSON, John Robert1899ENG,     Oct 1910 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
8683 ALDERTON, Frederick1902ENG, SFK, Thingoe Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
9626 ALDERTON, Walter Isaac1904ENG, SFK, Thingoe Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
8813 ALDERTON, William1900ENG, SFK, Thingoe Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
16550 ALDRIDGE, Ada Florence1900ENG, LND, Clapham Jul 1911 : Sicilian  Barnardos Niksmum  
6358 ALEXANDER, William1893SCT,     Apr 1906 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
12600 ALFORD, Stephen1900ENG,     Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
23226 ALLAN, Jane1891SCT,    , Larbert Jun 1907 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
23225 ALLAN, Joan1895SCT,    , Larbert Jun 1907 : Sicilian CAN Quarriers  
19153 ALLDER, Alec William Alfred1902ENG, LND, Marylebone Sep 1912 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
10893 ALLEN, Albert Edward1904ENG,     Sep 1915 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
5694 ALLEN, Albert Ernest1904ENG,     Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
5695 ALLEN, George1903ENG,     Mar 1911 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
26755 ALLEN, Herbert1899 Oct 1910 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
23047 ALLEN, Lily1897ENG,     Oct 1910 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
23762 ALLMARK, Florence1901ENG,     Oct 1910 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
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 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 1238 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