Quick Search : British Home Children : The RootsChat.Com Reference Library

HOME FORUM HELP SEARCH

News : The Surname Interests Table (SIT), the Database for Special Interests Groups (DBSIG) and Ancestral Anniversaries
are now "mobile friendlier" more here ...

The RootsChat Reference Library

RootsChat.Com » RootsChat Reference Library » Database for Special Interest Groups (DBSIG) » British Home Children : Quick Search

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

Family History ResearchersRootsChatters with family connections to William Thomas THORNTON:

Readers Comments

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 10 Entries

ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency
4297	THORNTON, Ernest	1907	ENG, YKS, Huddersfield	Jun 1924 : Demosthenes	AUS	Dreadnought Scheme
24612	THORNTON, Ernest	1897		Jun 1906 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
14085	THORNTON, Francis	1888	ENG,	Jul 1900 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
24193	THORNTON, Henry	1854	ENG,	May 1870 : Scandinavian	CAN	Boy's Home Great Queen Street, London
16034	THORNTON, John	1870	ENG,	Sep 1883 : Sardinian	CAN	Cardinal Manning (now Nugent Care)
19059	THORNTON, John	1911	ENG,	Mar 1927 : Melita	CAN	Salvation Army
19079	THORNTON, Joseph Henry	1908	ENG,	Sep 1912 : Sicilian	CAN	Barnardos
27442	THORNTON, Thomas	1860		Aug 1872 : Sarmatian	CAN	Macpherson Homes
13690	THORNTON, William	1877	ENG,	Sep 1887 : Circassian	CAN	Liverpool Catholic Childrens Protective Society (now Nugent Care)
3889	THORNTON, William Thomas	1898	ENG, MDX, London	Mar 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos

The Database for Special Interest Groups (DBSIG) is a RootsChat Reference Library project.

[Copyright] [Shrink Link] [Terms of Use] [About RootsChat]