UPDATE: Originally posted on June 22, 2017 (that post has since been deleted)

It’s a soggy, dreary and wet one out there as I write today …
Ever so fitting, as today’s blog focuses on my English roots and follows my paternal grandmother’s, father’s side.

I haven’t written exclusively about them, but I have mentioned my Gramma Sally in preceding posts.
This blog follows the Lee family line in Yorkshire, England.

The Lees of Yorkshire

The LEEs were a hardworking, blue-collar bunch.  They lived primarily in the little towns and hamlets of Yorkshire and worked mainly in factory jobs.

Meltham Mills (now simply referred to as Meltham) was known for its many textile mills back in those days.  It was the former site of Jonas Brook and Brothers, a silk mill complex that employed over 1,000 workers during the late 19th century.

The large majority of the Lees lived on Shady Row.  

Shady Row: Life by the Mills

Shady Row was a co-op community built next to the mills for the employees of the Jonas Brook Bros. mills (which I have confirmed is where most of the males worked based on census results).

Census returns indicate that there was a total of 60 houses. Until a boundary change in the 1890s, the row was classified as being part of the Honley district.

At the time of the 1841 Census, 57 of the houses were occupied, with a total of 339 people residing there (averaging nearly 6 people per property).

Shady Row was still in existence in the late 1940s but had been demolished by 1965.

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SARAH ANN LEE

My gramma, Sarah Ann Lee, affectionately known as Sally, was born on December 7, 1922.  Her father, Joseph, was 26, and her mother, Ellen (née Plant), was 30.

She was born in Meltham-Mills (now simply called Meltham), Yorkshire, England. The town and civil parish are within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, approximately four and a half miles south-west of Huddersfield, on the edge of the Peak District National Park.

I’ve located her birth registration in England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, for births registered in the first quarter of 1923.

I have not been able to locate her actual birth record yet.

Orphaned Young

Her father, Joseph Edward, passed away in 1930 in England at the age of 34, and her mother, Ellen Ann, passed away on May 9, 1936, at the age of 44.

She appears to have been orphaned at the tender age of 13.

Where did she go?
What did she do?
Did she live with her sister, Mary?
What did she do from 13 to 22?
Who did she live with?
Did she have another boyfriend before Grampa?
Did she work?

I cannot locate any records of her for this period …

Marriage During the War

She married Benjamin “Benny” Richards on June 20, 1945, in Agbrigg, Yorkshire, England, at the age of 22, while he was there on military service during WWII.

Transcribed excerpt from Grampa’s military record:

“June 20, 1945:  Married with permission to Miss Sarah Ann Lee in Agbrigg, Yorkshire, England.“

Agbrigg is a suburb of the city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.

Per Grampa Benny’s military records, her address as next of kin is noted as 4 Pick Hiss Rd (likely meant Pick Hill Rd), Meltham, Yorkshire, England.

War Bride to Canada

As we know, Grandma Sally was a war bride.

She arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax in 1946, which is Canada’s equivalent of the United States’ Ellis Island in New York. I was able to locate her in the Canadian Wives Bureau records. I will need to write to the Department of Immigration for a true copy of her arrival documents, which will likely contain the passenger log and her Canadian naturalization documentation.

Sarah sailed to her new home on the RMS Aquitania, a Cunard Line Ocean liner built in Clydebank, Scotland. The ship was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on hermaiden voyage to New York on 30 May 1914. Aquitania was the third in Cunard Line’s “grand trio” of express liners, including the RMS Mauritania and RMS Lusitania, and she was the last surviving four-funnelled ocean liner. Widely considered one of the most attractive ships of her time, Aquitania earned the nickname Ship Beautiful.  In her 36 years of service, Aquitania survived military duty in both world wars. After completing troopship service, the vessel was handed back to Cunard in 1946 and was used to transport war brides and their children to Canada under charter from the Canadian government. This final service created a special fondness for Aquitania in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the port of disembarkation for these immigration voyages

Arrival & Settlement

I understand that Gramma Sally took the train from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Mattawa, Ontario, where Grampa met her. They then continued by train to Témiscaming, Québec, since there were no roads leading into town at that time. There, they went to live with Lina (Angelina) – Benny’s mother – in Lumsden.

This journey and arrangement are documented in two sources:

1. Benny’s military discharge papers:

“…Richards married in England and expects his wife to join him in a few months. They can live with his mother until they secure a house through the paper company, who are building homes for returning service personnel.”

2. Sally’s documentation from the Canadian Archives, obtained earlier from the National Archives in Ottawa

Family Life

Sally and Benny had seven children during their marriage: Christine, Malcolm, Ralph, Gwendolyn, Rosemary, Patrick, and Kenneth. She had seven children in nine years.

She was an avid knitter and puzzler (no, she didn’t like to puzzle people; she enjoyed working on puzzles 😉). I remember she would make them whenever I visited her in Verdun, Québec.

I’m told that she was also a teetotaler; I had no idea what that term even meant until 2:05 PM today. The definition, as per Wikipedia:

Teetotalers (or teetotallers) either abstain from drinking completely, or consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, virgin drinks, mocktails, and alcohol-free beer.

So, she didn’t drink. She apparently stopped drinking alcohol after getting a little too tipsy one evening on rye. (It’s ok, Gramma, haven’t we all?)

The House on Anvik Avenue

In connecting with my uncle Kenny and my aunt Gwen (I wish my dad were still alive so I could ask him some of this), they moved into 102 Anvik Avenue in Témiscaming in or about 1955.

At that time, Témiscaming was a company town run by the Canadian International Paper Company (CIP), and the company owned everything, including the homes. CIP sold the houses in or about 1972, and Sally and Benny bought theirs.

The row house was tiny: four rooms total — living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and one washroom. It was two stories, with no basement. Aunty Gwen remembers them digging out the basement until they hit a big rock; they were able to move the furnace down there.

Only the front bedroom had closet space. Grampa built one in the back room for the three girls — that, and a double bed, had to accommodate all three of them. The bathroom had a toilet and a bathtub, but no sink. Nine people were living there: seven kids and two adults. The row house also had an enclosed, unheated back porch, and the whole space was about 600 sq ft.

The address was originally 502 Elm Ave, but Dutch Elm disease killed all the Elm trees, and the town renamed it Anvik Ave and renumbered the houses. The number became 102 instead of 502.

FYI: CIP was a Montréal-based forest products company. The mill in Témiscaming was originally built by the Riordon Pulp and Paper Company, later bought by CIP. When CIP wanted to close its mill in this one-industry town, the employees formed Tembec to take over the operation. Tembec was sold in May 2017, agreeing to a takeover offer from Rayonier Advanced Materials in an $807 million (U.S.) deal.

Loss, Later Years, and Memory

Sally’s husband, Benjamin George, passed away on June 17, 1977, in Verdun, Québec, while visiting. They had just visited their other children in Kitchener, Ontario. He was 61 years old, and they had been married 31 years.

Gramma Sally sold the house to Lucien Bernard for $6,000 in 1978 and moved to Verdun, Québec, to live with her daughter Gwen, son-in-law Serge, and her grandchildren Marc and Caroline. Gramma never lost her English accent during all her years in Canada, specifically in Québec. I always found it remarkable that she moved from England to a French-speaking province and managed so well.

She wrote often; my letters were always addressed to Miss Tina, and my brother’s to Master Darrel. She always spelled Darryl incorrectly, but it was cute. We would receive $10–$20 for our birthdays and Christmas.

Gramma passed away on March 29, 1993, in Verdun, Québec, at the age of 70, due to cardiac and renal failure resulting from complications of Diabetes Mellitus.

At the time of her death, she had 20 grandchildren and had just missed the birth of her first great-grandchild by two months. Auntie Gwen told Gramma she had to keep alive until June, when she would officially become a great-grandmother.

Aunt Gwen also shared:

“She always mentioned that she wasn’t a great grandmother yet, and her sister Mary had so many … before she died, she did say that she would never get to see her first great-grandchild or be a great grandmother.”

I was pregnant with my oldest at the time Gramma passed. It was a tough weekend, as my Grand Mémère on my mom’s side and Gramma Sally on my dad’s side passed away two days apart. At seven months pregnant, I had to travel north to attend both funerals on the same day, in different provinces. Thankfully, Témiscaming and Bonfield are only about 1 hour and 10 minutes apart.

Sally is buried alongside her husband in Témiscaming, Québec. How fitting is the tombstone footer:

“A small corner in a foreign land, that is forever England.”

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*I HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP THE BIOS OF HER LINEAGE TO A MINIMUM.  I JUST HAVE TOO MUCH INFORMATION AND PHOTOS TO ADD TO THIS TO MAKE IT EASY TO FOLLOW*

JOSEPH EDWARD LEE AND ELLEN ANN PLANT

When he was born, his father, Tom, was 27, as was his mother, Hannah.

His brother George Victor was killed in action on November 4, 1915, in France and Flanders in WWI.

He married Ellen Ann Plant in December 1918 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, when he was 22 years old.

He died as a young father in 1930 in England at the age of 34.  I am looking for a cause of death – I suspect he was ill because the census records indicate that they moved from 33 Shady Row, where they had lived for many years, to 6 Shady Row, in 1930 – the same year he died.

She was baptized on Dec 10, 1892, at St Mary with Brockholes, St George, Yorkshire, England (Honley).

April 2, 1911 – the census notes that her family lives at 4 Oldsfield in Honley. She is single & 19 y/o. She works as a Cotton Frame Tenter at a cotton factory. A frame tenter works in the Spinning Room & looks after spinning frames. Her father must have died, as her mom is noted as being the head of the household.

She died on May 9, 1936, at the age of 43. It is said that she passed from Dropsy. We know that the term Dropsy is no longer used in today’s medical terms – it’s an old-fashioned term to describe the presence of generalized swelling, but you just get or die from edema without some etiology, usually due to acute decompensated heart failure. Before the twentieth century, heart failure was known as Dropsy.  I’ve seen this diagnosis come up in a few other death certificates throughout my family tree journey.

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TOM LEE & HANNAH CRABTREE

When Tom Lee was born in 1869 in Liversedge, Yorkshire, England, his father, Samuel, was 43 and his mother, Martha, was 45. He married Hannah Crabtree on January 26, 1889, in Batley, Yorkshire, England.

In the April 2, 1911, census, he is noted as Married, Head of House. 9 people were living in a 4-room dwelling at 3 Shady Row, Meltham Mills, Meltham. He was working as a Bobbin Maker. MIL Sarah Crabtree lived with them as she is widowed (72). The census notes of 8 children; 6 were alive & 2 dead.

Hannah Crabtree was born in 1869 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, to Sarah Ann Pickles, age 30, and William Crabtree, age 40.

She was imprisoned on Aug 25, 1890, for obscene language at HMP Wakefield. Sentence Imprisonment or Servitude Released on August 29, 1890.  She was jailed along with Mother Sarah Ann Crabtree.  I am making the assumption they got into an argument and threw in a few F bombs lol

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SAMUEL LEE & MARTHA LEE

When Samuel Lee was born in January 1826 in Holmfirth, Yorkshire, England, his father, William Lee, was 26 and his mother, Mary Raine, was 22.

He was baptized on 26 Mar 1826 at Holmfirth, Holy Trinity, Yorkshire, England.

Samuel Lee married Martha Lee in Almondbury, Yorkshire, England, on February 9, 1845, when he was 19 years old.  Marriage records indicate that Samuel was a is a Bachelor, employed as a Spinner and that Martha was a Spinster. They marked their signatures with X’s, which tells me that they were unable to write.

They lived in Honley, Yorkshire, England, in 1851 and resided at 65 Dean House. He, Martha, Harriett and Sarah Ann are all living here.  He was employed as a Spooner.  As a Spinner, he would work in the Spinning Room and would operate one or more, usually two, facing each other, spinning machines, each with many spindles, to make thread. Because the floor beneath spinning machines was soaked in the oil from the cotton, spinners usually worked barefoot. Spinners normally employed their own piecers and paid them directly. A spinning mule might have up to 1200 spindles from end to end and be nearly 100 yards long. A spinner would be paid according to the amount of thread produced.

On the 1881 census, they lived in Batley, Yorkshire, England.  They were living at Temperance House at 175 Wilton St. He is living with Martha, William (who is working as a Clogger – i.e., made wooden shoes “clogs”, in England they were usually leather with thick wooden soles) and Tom, who is in school. They also have a boarder staying with them. Sam is working as an Eating Housekeeper (would an eating housekeeper mean someone who owned a cafe or was just managing it?)

He died in 1901 at the age of 75.

Martha Lee was born in 1824 in Honley.  The marriage record indicates that Martha’s dad’s name is John Lee. He and William both worked as Weavers.  So, her maiden name is Lee as well?

Martha is absent from the 1901 census, leading me to believe that she passed away between 1891 and the 1901 census. In this census, Sam is listed as widowed and is living with William Brown (75) and Martha Brown (75).

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WILLIAM LEE & MARY RAINE

William Lee was born in 1800 in Newbiggin, Durham, England. He married Mary Raine on March 4, 1821, in Middleton in Teesdale, Durham, England. They had ten children in 21 years. He died on May 17, 1883, having lived a long life of 83 years.

In the 1851 census, they are living in Holwick, Yorkshire, England. He is listed as Head of Household. He is working as a Lead Miner. He has some of his grandchildren living with them (not sure whose, two have the last name Lee and the other Longmire).

In the 1871 census, we find them in Wooldale, Yorkshire, England, they are residing at 6 Muslim Hall. They have a visitor, Joseph Broadbent, age 26, who is a Grocer’s Assistant. William is still working at 70 as a Wool Weaver.

In 1881, we find him living in the Hamlet of Holwick, Yorkshire, England.  Marital Status: Widower. He is a retired lead miner and farmer.

Mary Raine was born in abt 1800 in Yorkshire, England, and died in October 1874 when she was 74 years old.

I haven’t been able to trace the line back any further than this for the time being.  I’ll keep on searching.

Namaste

T xo

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POST NAVIGATION