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Record #6667
Name :
: Cyril William George KINSELLA (1896 - 1960)
  aka : Cyril Kincille


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

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 27 Dec 1960
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, London, Marylebone

Royal Hospital
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialUnited States of America, SLO French Hopital, San Luis Obispo
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 20 Apr 1908
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Lake Champlain

Placement Family
: Moore
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Fegan Homes for Boys
NotesA birth registration was found for Cyril William G Kinsella: Date: Jan-Feb-Mar 1897; District: Marylebone; County: London; Volume: 1a; Page: 579. Parents: William Edward Kinsella and Martha Avery, married 1893, Shoreditch, London, England.

Martha Kinsella, wife of William Edward Kinsella, private in the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, of 16 Leffern Road, Shepherds Bush, died on Marh 4, 1902, at Samaritan Free Hospital, Marylebone Road, Marylebone, London, England. Present in the home was Mabel, 6, and Cyril, 4, Kinsella.

William Edward Kinsella remarried Lillian Maud Hollingum on April 1, 1902, at All Saints, Haggeston, Shoreditch, London, England.

William Edward Kinsella, gate keeper of motor factory, army pensioner, died on February 28, 1905, at Acton, London, England.

In 1907, Charles Kinsella, 9, arrived at Quebec, Canada, in a group of 262 Barnardo children en route to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

On July 31 1916, Cyril William George Kinsellar born March 3 1896, re-enlisted into the Canadian Army [he had originally enlisted in the CEF in 1914]. He stated he was born in Acton, he gave his next of kin as Friend-Miss M Sinclair, 1 New Terrace, Low Beveridge, Dunfermline, Scotland, and that he was a farmer.

The Bell Telephone Memorial, also known as the Bell Memorial, is a monument commemorating the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in July 1874 at his parent's home, Melville House, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

Georgina Sales added Cyril to the database; he is the actual model for the main figure on the monument, seen in this photograph. Cyril arrived in 1908 via Fegan's.

from WikiPedia:

"The model for 'Man, discovering his power to transmit sound through space', was Cyril William George Kinsella (1897?1960), a wounded war veteran and a former resident of Brantford. Kinsella served as Allward?s nude model representing Man after being severely injured in the European conflict. Born in the UK he had become one of approximately 100,000 disadvantaged British children and orphans, a "Home Child", sent to Canada and other Commonwealth countries to find better lives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After arriving in Ontario in 1908 he resided in a series of Fegan Homes (named after James William Condell Fegan of Britain), including one in Toronto where he likely later met Allward. Kinsella eventually settled in Brantford County to perform farmwork. Underaged, but a healthy 178 cm (5', 10") in height in 1914, he enlisted in Brantford's Dufferin Rifles Battalion for service overseas where he fought in Belgium and France with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I.

Kinsella was wounded and shell-shocked at the Second Battle of Ypres, France and, after being invalided and discharged back to Canada in 1916, worked as Allward's model. He subsequently became bored with civilian life and reenlisted with the Canadian Army. He was serving with the 1st Canadian Division, Fourth Battalion near the northern French village of St. Marie Chappell at the time of the memorial's unveiling in Brantford, and later returned to Canada at the end of the war."

In 1938, Cyril W. G. Kinsella was shown as a farmer residing at Route 1, Box 220, Tipton, Tulare, California, USA.

In 1960, Cyril and his wife, Elsie Margaret Mitchell Kinsella, were residing at 1167 Baden Street, Grover City, California.

The Pacific Union Record (Seventh Day Adventist), January 30, 1961, reported the death of Cyril Kinsella:

KINSELLA--Cyril William George Kinsella was born March 14, 1897, in England; and died Dec. 27, 1960. He was a rancher for many years and in 1938 he came to Gover City, Calif., where he resided until his death. He was active in civic affairs, being the first honorary mayor of Grover City. He was also active in church work and was a deacon of the Arroyo Grande church at the time of his death. Surviving are his wife, Margaret; a son, Robert S. Cox; and a sister, Mable Lyon.

Cyril is buried in Arroyo Grande District Cemetery, San Luis Obispo, California, USA (Section D. Lot N1/3 Blk. 3 Plt.5)


The industrialist, the architect and the home boy
By Vincent Ball, Brantford Expositor
Sunday, December 27, 2009

He was the home boy, who grew up to represent humanity. Born a street urchin in London, England, Cyril Kinsella was wounded and gassed in battle during the First World War.

He later survived the fighting at Passchendaele and, in between all of that, posed for renowned architect Walter Allward.

"His story, is the story of the architect, the industrialist and the home boy," Geoffrey Moyer, a Brantford historian who has research Kinsella's life. "The industrialist was William F. Cockshutt, the inventor was Alexander Graham Bell and Kinsella was the home boy.

"Most people in Brantford know about the Cockshutts and everybody has heard of Bell. Not many people know about Kinsella."

Moyer has set out to change that and his efforts received a boost when Brant MP Phil McColeman's private member's bill to declare 2010 the year of the British home child won unanimous support in the House of Commons.

It's a little-known phenomenon of Canadian history but about 100,000 children aged six to 18 came to Canada from Britain between 1869 and 1930. They were either orphans or children of families that were too poor to care for them. Upon arrival in Canada, they were indentured labourers until 18.

They were brought to Canada by various organizations to work as farm labourers or domestic help.

Kinsella was born in 1897 in London, England. By 1901, his mother, Martha Kinsella, was a widow with two children: Cyril, four and his sister Mabel, six.

He was a Fegan boy, brought to Canada by Fegan's Homes in April 1908. Named after James William Condell Fegan, the organization had homes in England and Canada, including one in Toronto and Brandon. Fegan spent his life helping disadvantaged children move from Britain to Canada.

Records uncovered by Moyer show Kinsella moved around after arriving in Canada. Kinsella spent time in Oakville, Cedarville and St. Ann's, which is south of Grimsby near Silverdale.

"I'm not sure why he moved around so much," Moyer said. "I can only speculate that there may have been some abuse at those homes.

"I can say that Fegan's sent people around to check up on the boys and perhaps they saw something they didn't like and had him moved."

Whatever the reason for the moves, Kinsella ended up in Brant County some time Memorial Association to establish a memorial to Brantford's most famous son. The association also would purchase the Bell Homestead at Tutela Heights.

Members of the committee included some of Brantford's leading citizens: William F. Cockshutt, the MP at the time, Lloyd Harris, Mayor J. W. BowlbyandT. H. Preston, to name just a few.

A couple of years later, the association incorporated and began fundraising efforts to purchase land for the memorial as well as the homestead. Five years later, the association invited sculptors to submit their designs for the memorial. The association received nine designs, which were turned over to a committee headed by Sir Edmund Walker, a Canadian banker and patron of the arts.

"They chose a bid from Walter Allward," Moyer said. "The committee felt his design was 'strikingly original, effective and appropriate.'

"They also knew of Allward's other work. Plans called for the memorial to be completed within three years but that didn't happen for a variety of reasons.

The French government had slapped an embargo on the exporting of sculpting sand because it was needed to make war materials in France.

In 1916, while working on the Bell Memorial, Allward connected with Kinsella in Toronto.

"I don't know how they met," Moyer said. "I can tell you they were living in the same area, the same neighbourhood and Allward asked Kinsella to be a model.

"Kinsella posed nude for Allward, something that was unheard of back then. It was something considered to be quite scandalous."

At that time, Kinsella also had worked as a forest ranger. Apparently however, he became bored with that and decided to re-enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force Overseas, Moyer said.

Kinsella re-enlisted with the [CEF] around 1913, when he was 16. Records indicate that he voluntarily repaid 10 pounds to Fegan Homes to cover the cost of sending him to Canada. This enabled Fegan Homes to send another disadvantaged boy to Canada.

On Aug. 12, 1914, Kinsella enlisted with the Dufferin Rifles in Brantford and 10 days later left the city for Valcartier, Que. He was one of 176 men from Brantford and Brant County to head off to war.

"He lied about his age to enlist, but he was five foot 10 inches and weighed 160 pounds. So it was probably pretty easy for him to get away with it," Moyer said. "He was among the first contingent to leave Brantford and was wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres."

Kinsella was treated at a hospital in Bristol, England, and in November 1915, he was considered unfit for service and discharged in February 1916.

He was declared unfit due to a nervous condition or shell-shock. After being discharged Kinsella moved to Toronto and was living at 66 Balmoral Ave. in 1916.

In 1904, Brantford was a growing city with an industrial manufacturing centre and a skilled workforce. Made-in-Brantford products were being sold all over the world and at that time, it was third among Canadian cities as an exporting centre. Cockshutt, Massey-Harris and Waterous Engine Works were the most prominent manufacturers in the city at that time.

But the city had something else to boast about as well.

In 1876, it was here that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, which was one of the most important events of the 19th century.

To commemorate the invention, citizens formed the Bell 124th Battalion in Toronto at the end of July 1916 and was examined and considered fit for service at Camp Borden on Aug. 1, 1916.

He was heading to England a week later and was in France by November 1916. He was wounded and gassed on Dec. 6, 1916, and sent to the No. 2 Canadian Field Ambulance. But he returned to his unit a couple of weeks later.

Less than a year later, in October 1917, Kinsella was with the 1st Canadian Division, Fourth Battalion in Northern France, near a village called St. Marie Chappell. The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions were sitting in reserve, while the 3rd and 4th divisions were fighting to secure a defensible position on the Passchendaele Ridge.

Kinsella spent his days practising his bayonet fighting, leapfrogging drills and participating in gas helmet exercises.

In his adopted home town meanwhile, people were getting ready for the unveiling of the Bell Memorial. The unveiling took place on Oct. 24, 1917.

"From the pictures I've seen, it was a damp and dreary day," Moyer said. "Much like it was at Passchendaele, where our Canadian troops and a lot of Brantford boys were fighting and dying."

Kinsella was half a world away from Brantford on the big day but he wasn't forgotten.

Walker, who was chairman of the Advisory Arts Committee of the Dominion Government, made mention of Kinsella in his remarks during the unveiling.

"We have in the statue an attempt in a veiled and greatly dignified way to commemorate what the telephone subjectively means. There is a figure of humanity -a man's figure -in the great relief. That figure is modeled from a man named Cyril Kinsella, who cultivated the ground around Brantford, who went to war was wounded and sent home," Walker said. "He sat as a model for Mr. Allward, he got work as a fire ranger but could not stand it, and he has gone back to the war again.

"It is a delightful fact that the man who stands for humanity should be such a man as Cyril Kinsella."

Military records show Kinsella was attached to the Assistant Provost Marshall 1st Canadian Division as of March 12, 1918, and in June that same year, he joined the military police and appointed acting corporal.

He left France for England on March 29, 1919, after hostilities had ended.

Kinsella then sailed home on the Empress of Britain arriving in May 1919. He was discharged on May 22, 1919 in Toronto and listed a friend who lived in Victoria as his next of kin. Kinsella indicated at the time he was going to be residing there but ended up in Tipton, Calif.

Kinsella married twice and had a stepson but no natural children of his own. He died on Dec. 27, 1960, at San Lui Obispo French Hospital after a two-week stay.

He had been a California resident for more than 40 years and his occupation was listed as rancher.

"I can only speculate on Cyril going to California but I believe after spending the first 11 years of his life in dire poverty in the streets of London, combined with six years of indentured servitude on farms in Canada, mixed with four bloody years in the trenches of Belgium and France, he was looking for a change," Moyer said. "The idea of going to a sunnier and drier climate must have appealed greatly to him."

After conducting extensive research Moyer knows a lot about Kinsella. But he doesn't know what he looked like because he has never seen a picture of him.

And there's one other question that nags at him: Did Kinsella ever see the Bell Memorial and Allward's depiction of him representing humanity?

"He was discharged in Toronto, not Brantford and there's no indication that I've been able to find that he ever came back here to see it," Moyer said. "It's quite possible he never saw the Bell Memorial." 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-04-10 11:39:01 / From original database

Last Updated : 2012-09-13 12:31:43 /

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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  5 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
4511 KINSELLA, Charles Bartholomew1899ENG, HAM, Portsea Island May 1907 : Dominion CAN Barnardos  
23113 KINSELLA, Cyril1895ENG,     Apr 1908 : Lake Champlain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
6667 KINSELLA, Cyril William George1896ENG, LND, Marylebone Apr 1908 : Lake Champlain CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
4776 KINSELLA, Francis1909ENG,     May 1925 : Montclare CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
10671 KINSELLA, Rose1896ENG, LAN, Liverpool Jun 1910 : Corsican CAN Unknown Catholic Group