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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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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 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 1756 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3025 ABBOTT, David Henry1891ENG, ESS, Grays Mar 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3030 ABBOTT, Ellen1893ENG,     Aug 1906 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
3040 ABBOTT, James1893IRL,    , Carlew May 1906 : Tunisian CAN Smyly Homes of Dublin  
3060 ABBOTT, Lilian1903ENG,     Jun 1912 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3049 ABBOTT, Penelope1901ENG, KEN, Sidcup Jun 1912 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3063 ABEL, Albert Edward G.1901ENG, ESS, West Ham Aug 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3065 ABEL, Florence1902ENG, ESS, West Ham Aug 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3067 ABEL, Frederick1889ENG,     Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
3064 ABEL, Queenie Victoria1900ENG, ESS, West Ham Aug 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
5599 ABERNETHY, Henry1897ENG, CUL, Whitehaven Aug 1914 : Tunisian CAN Sailing Alone  
3101 ABRAMS, Ada1894ENG, ESS, West Ham May 1912 : Tunisian CAN Unknown  
6354 ABREY, William Roger1901ENG,    , Croydon Aug 1911 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
3130 ACKERS, Frederick1893ENG,     Mar 1911 : Tunisian CAN Labourers & Domestics  
6859 ADAMS, George1889ENG,     Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
8886 ADAMS, Henry1889ENG,     Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
9229 ADAMS, Maud1885ENG, LND, Kingsland Sep 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
15500 ADAMS, Reuben Stanley1893ENG,     May 1907 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
20734 ADAMS, William1893ENG,     Aug 1908 : Tunisian CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
22562 ADAMS, William1895ENG,     Mar 1910 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
23862 AGAR, Horace1888ENG,     Sep 1901 : Tunisian CAN Waifs & Strays  
4319 AIKEN, William1891ENG,     Mar 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
22143 AIKIN, David1892IRL, ANT, Belfast Mar 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
6550 AINGER, Florence1886ENG, WOR Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
6477 AINGER, Pollie1889ENG, WOR Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
23743 AINSWORTH, Muriel1889ENG,     Oct 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
2852 AIRD, Arthur1895ENG, LAN Apr 1911 : Tunisian CAN MacPherson Homes  
17056 AITKIN, David1892ENG,     Mar 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
17057 AITKIN, William1891ENG,     Mar 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
5391 AKERMAN, Martha Rosina1891ENG, MDX, St. Giles Sep 1901 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
9843 ALBON, Frank Baldwin1889ENG, MDX, Staines Jul 1900 : Tunisian 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 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 1756 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