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Research in Other Countries => Canada => Canada Lookup Request => Topic started by: silicondale on Saturday 10 May 25 21:52 BST (UK)
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Percy John Henley (born Catford, Kent 1885) and his wife Sybil (born Sybil Atkinson, Lewisham, Kent, 1881) emigrated to Saskatchewan in about 1910-1912. Both were artists, and after Percy died young (in 1917), Sybil made a name for herself as a professional painter Sybil Henley-Jacobson (after a second marriage) in western Canada. Her biography by Mary Alexander was published in 1984. Unfortunately this contains a number of factual errors and is particularly vague about her early life.
I have found an immigration entry for Percy John Henley travelling to Springside, SK, in 1910, but in the England 1911 census he is recorded with Sybil living in North Studio, Marlow, Bucks. I am a little dubious about this census entry, but it is certain that Sybil emigrated to Canada sometime in 1911 or 1912, either alone or with her husband, and they then settled in Elfros (near Wynyard), Saskatchewan. They are both recorded there in the Saskatchewan 1916 census.
So to my lookup request: I would very much like to trace them in passenger lists or immigration records. Did Percy return to England before the 1911 census, and they then travelled together to Canada - or did Sybil travel alone in 1911 or 1912 after falsifying the 1911 census entry by adding Percy's name when he was no longer in England?
Other questions about them will probably forever remain unanswered. If they were penniless young artists how did they pay their way? Percy had an uncle already in BC, who owned a thriving soda water factory in New Westminster - and Sybil's father was a director of a shipping company. Either could have funded them. Percy's 1919 probate papers show an estate value of $5536 - which is equivalent to over $116,000 in today's terms. Not exactly penniless! He was reported to be hopeless at farming, and it's most unlikely they could survive by selling paintings in the thinly populated Saskatchewan prairie.
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Hi,
I can find this passenger list at Ancestry,
Ship Name: Empress of Ireland
Date of Departure: 28 Jun 1912
Departure Port: Liverpool
Destination: Quebec
Contract ticket number: 37352
HENLEY Mr P J
" Mrs
Oddly when I find this refence at familysearch or Library and Archives Canada the passenger list is much more detailed but for 37352 it only says HENLEY, very odd.
https://www.rootschat.com/links/01trz/
https://www.rootschat.com/links/01ts0/
I haven't found Percy returning to England yet.
Regards,
Daisy
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Deleted -
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Many thanks, Daisy -I found the Familysearch entry before, but as you say, it's not very helpful! I don't have an Ancestry subscription, but that does at least give the full information, and confirms the statement in the published biography that they both went to Canada in 1912. So Percy must have returned to England after his 1910 trip and the 1911 census entry is most likely to be correct.
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Hi,
Looking at the Ancestry image again there is a little more information. Firstly they are travelling first class which doesn't fit with them being penniless, then under "Country of last Permanent Residence" it is marked under the "British Possessions" column rather than England. I don't know what this means.
Daisy
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Hi Daisy - Many thanks indeed for this. It does cast new light! I already suspected that they weren't doing this from their own resources. The 1911 census listed their occupation as "private means" which could have meant self-employed artists - but equally could have meant bank of mum & dad. I think that is exactly what it meant! Funded by Sybil's father or Percy's uncle, or both.
Last permanent residence as "British possessions" is strange. Sybil's published biography said (without providing any evidence) that they met while studying in Paris, but that was neither a permanent residence or a British possession. Both were born and bred in London and before going to Canada there's no evidence that I've found to suggest either of them lived anywhere else, including Paris. Indeed, both studied at the Lambeth School of Art, and I am sure that is where they met!
However, just possible that Percy acquired a homestead in Saskatchewan on his previous visit in 2010 and they already considered this their permanent home.
Thanks again!
-Steve
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Hi,
I don't know if you've seen the Wiki page about Sybil,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Henley_Jacobson
I says that she married Percy John HENLEY in 1914 which is incorrect, they married in 1907, so maybe the Paris story is wrong as well.
Daisy
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Yes, the wiki page is wrong !
I'm in touch with a Saskatchewan art historian who is trying to correct a lot of errors in the published biographies. They even got Percy's name wrong - calling him Peter.
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I have deleted & changed entries in the past from fable to fact for some entries on wikipedia.org. Perhaps you can still do this for her entry, as long as you enter valid reasons for the change. J.J.
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Thanks for the suggestion, JJ. Yes, I have also corrected Wikipedia items. But this one is not Wikipedia. However, the historian is now writing a whole new article for publication in the Canadian art world, with updated and corrected data, so there's no need to do anything. There are still some unanswered questions, of course, but we're confident that the facts we have are now correct.
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FindMyPast has a passenger record transcript for ticket no. 40609
P Henley, age 25, single, occpn - Frm, sailing on the Empress of Britain from Liverpool to St John's, Newfoundland on 14 Jan 1909.
Looking at the original the initials appear to be "P G"?
However, Canadian Archives manifest for the Empress of Britain arriving St Johns on 23 Jan 1909 records a Percy Henley, age 19 against ticket no. 40609
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/passenger-lists/passenger-lists-1865-1922/Pages/image.aspx?Image=e003623999&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fcentral.bac-lac.gc.ca%2f.item%2f%3fid%3de003623999%26op%3dimg%26app%3dpassengerlist&Ecopy=e003623999
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Thanks for that. Weird. If correct, it means he made not one but two trips to Canada before returning to England, where he was recorded, with his wife, in the 1911 census, and they then travelled to Canada together in 1912.
His age in 1909 was 24, so 25 is probably close enough. Age 19 is clearly an error, as the ticket number matches. One correction, by the way - it was St John, New Brunswick, not St John's Newfoundland (which would have made his onward travel to western Canada much more difficult!). He gave his destination as High Bluff, Manitoba.
In March 1910, Percy travelled as a steerage passenger on ss Lake Champlain, arriving in New Brunswick but stating his intention to travel onward to Springside, Saskatchewan. He gave his occupation before departure from England as 'farmer' despite there being no recent farming history in the family.
These destinations are obscure, and I think must have been pre-arranged for him, probably by his wealthy uncle Joseph Henley in New Westminster, BC.
On 28th June 1912, Percy and Sybil embarked on the Empress of Ireland, travelling first class, from Liverpool to Quebec. This time their destination was initially Saskatoon, from which they travelled onwards to Elfros, Saskatchewan - and their subsequent lives are quite well documented.