For How Long

did a man

Live in North Bay, Ontario?

Emigrated from England in 1903

Died in North Bay in 1965

The facts as presented:

This was a follow-up project, from some work done initially in 2021. A woman from England reached out to me again in mid-February, 2023. Her great uncle's Last Will & Testament had been found in Surrogate Court records of the Nipissing District, Ontario, in 2021, and through the midst of COVID restrictions, a copy of the Estate File was obtained. Significant new facts about the great uncle were discovered as a result.

The date and place of the great uncle's birth in England in 1883 was known. It was also known that he had emigrated from England to Canada in 1903. A 1921 Census of Canada record revealed that the great uncle was residing at that time in North Bay, Ontario. And he died, and was buried there in 1965. There was some speculation that he had lived in Hamilton, Ontario, for a short while in the 1903-1911 period. Otherwise, nothing was known about where he worked and lived between 1903 and 1965.

The challenge:

Could I possibly determine where the great uncle was on Census Day in 1911? Could I also determine where he had lived and worked between 1903 and 1921, and 1921 and 1965?

The results:

This was a very complex case, made all the more difficult due to two facts - the great uncle appears to have changed his surname by at least 1913; and he gave inconsistently incorrect representations of his age and year of birth on many subsequent occasions.

City Directories from Hamilton, North Bay, and other locales were consulted. Lists of Electors for federal elections from many locales in Canada were consulted. And a host of other source documents were sought out and examined. A set of 'employment record cards' from North Bay were sought and obtained.

It was determined that the man was most likely not a resident in Hamilton in the 1903 - 1911 period, although just where he might have been has not been positively discovered. A very plausible 1911 Census of Canada record was found, although considerable work would be required subsequently to confirm and verify the speculation. The 'employment record cards' revealed that the great uncle had been employed rather consistently but somewhat intermittently by a railroad company running out of North Bay, from 1913 until his retirement around 1948 (mandatory retirement age in Canada at that time was 65 years). He also appears to have continued to live in North Bay during his retirement until his death there in 1965, although his residential locations were found to be somewhat erratic throughout the 1913-1965 period. No attempt was made to dive in to purchase and sale records associated with a number of real estate properties he said he was possessed of when he wrote his Last Will and Testament in 1945. 

- - - - Project No. 230221 (Completed 27 March 2023)