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Record #23665
Name :
: Leslie MAIR (1909 - 1992)
  aka : Les


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 7 Feb 1909

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 8 Jun 1992   Notes : Old age/hear failure
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, , London
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, Regina
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 15 Apr 1923
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Melita

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
: Barnardo's

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesLes and his brother, Bill, were surrendered to Barnardo's by their mother. Later, their sister, Ivy, would also be in care. Les was 11 years old, Bill was just over a year. After three years, Les was sent to Canada. He didn't want to go. He never forgave his mother for not rescuing him. He never returned to England.

His mother, May Maud Bush (also went alternately by Day (perhaps Les's father's name), Mair (her mother's maiden name) and Waller. She seems to have been christened Mair, but went by Bush as a child - we are not sure why. There are several mysteries around the family and their relationships. Sometimes the children and May Maud lived with her father, other times not.

In Canada, he was placed on a farm where he was physically abused - he told me that he was beaten on his first day there and it continued for his stay. The records from Barnardo's are sketchy on how long he was there, and his story and Barnardo's records don't entirely jibe. I'm still trying to figure them out.

As an adult, he drifted around Canada, finding work where he could and learning the trade of painting. He was highly skilled in techniques like gold leaf and "wood graining" (where you paint the pattern of wood grain on plaster). He was a gifted autodidact, and once said that when he was painting "fancy houses" as an apprentice, he'd see what books were on the shelves and then go to the library and read them. Even with his limited education, he was an incredibly well-read person with a keen, dry wit. Working in Saskatchewan, he met my grandmother's brothers and eventually my grandmother, Edith Anticknap. They married and he started his own business. They had two sons, Bill (after his younger brother) and Bob. My father was the eldest, Bill.

Les was fiercely devoted to his family. I think that having lost his siblings left a mark on him that never left him. He didn't tell anyone about his time in care or how he came to Canada - mostly he told us stories that made it sound like he came as a young adventurer. He was an incredible raconteur and had connections with many of the city's most prominent citizens in Regina, and was a life elder at Knox Metropolitan United Church. He was very involved in fundraising activities and was a popular and well respected man.

The Barnardo's story came out when his brother, Bill, came to Canada with his son and daughter in law. Les found himself unable to keep it under wraps, so shortly before Bill came, he sat my father and I down and told us. He didn't want anyone to know, and he never talked about it again. We were very close and I tried several times to get more information out of him, but he'd spent his whole life trying to rise above the feeling that he'd been poor and powerless and he wasn't going there ever again. I can't say I blame him.

As he aged, his health started to fail. He had emphysema, which made it difficult to get around and his eyesight started to fail. This was very hard on such an independent person with such an active mind. We went through several recording machines from the CNIB and we had to start ordering books on tape from outside the city. We could hardly keep up with him.

He died in 1992, at 83 years old. 
ContributorsCreated : 2014-01-20 16:31:02 / From original database

Last Updated :

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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  2 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
18611 MAIR, Eliza1879ENG,     Apr 1895 : Sardinian CAN Liverpool Sheltering Home  
23665 MAIR, Leslie1909ENG, LDN, London Apr 1923 : Melita CAN Barnardos