Burgess, Bala, Ontario 1901 onwards - Completed but still ongoing

[Gadget]

Page 3


I could fill many letters telling you what I have seen since I left Wales, but for the present I must wind up. Tell me was Peggy friendly with Mary. Peggy, although very friendly with me begged me not to leave Wales but should I ever visit England I should try to see you. During summer I am tied to Bala, and in England it is not so nice traveling in winter. During winter by putting an assistant in the P.O. I could get away as the government work does not need my care in winter. I would have to get leave from the P.M General. Our postal law allows only 1 oz for 5 coppers and I think I am very near that limit now, and should I dare to send you another 5 coppers’ worth I fear you would think me crazy. I do not understand how it is I take so much, perhaps it is on Mary’s account but by all means i.e. if I am bothering you too much, just say so. In conclusion as a great favour I beg you to write as soon as possible, and I write to a friend not a common one at that.

With best wishes

Your Affectionate and Loving Cousin believe me

Wee Tom

as Mary used to say

My letter is light to allow it, so I will enclose a 5 cent piece so that when you see it you will think of Wee Tom. Write as soon as you can. Tom






Gadget 

[JMO]

A note about John Burgess b. 18 Apr. 1873 d; 10 Apr. 1951

The story goes that John had no second name. When questioned about the initial "W" on the awning of J. W. Burgess General Store in Bala, Ont., John replied that he had no middle name and inserted the "W" because he liked the way it looked.

JMO

[Gadget]

He's certainly only John on his birth entry - and he's greedy. The family tended to use John and William for separate sons and he decided to have both 

I think that they did something strange with the Stewart and Elliot(t) females - no other marriages or deaths for them ! 

Are there any annulment/divorce records that far back?


Gadget

[JMO]

Just curious about the date and place for the marriage of Katherine Isabel BURGESS (2 Nov. 1905-?1935) to Harold Samuel WHITE (9 Dec. 1900).
Also a birth record for Lorna Isabel WHITE (9 Sept. 1923 - 18 Jun. 1989)
They were married some time in 1923 and Katherine "...absented herself from his [H. S. WHITE] habitation...from the 16th day of September, 1923"- transcript from court of common Pleas, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Thanks,
JMO

[Gadget]

10th April 1923 - York

[JMO]

No idea, Gadget. Beginnining to think "dirty little secret". Maybe sent over the Bala Falls in a barrel.
Apparently, Euphemia and Jennie Stewart didn't get along - to put it mildly, Wee Tom was unhappy and the boys "paid her to leave". Quick, check the closets! I
s it strange to you that Isabella's second name, Spence, is a "family" name whereas some of her siblings have "christian" second names?

[Gadget]

Maybe someone should drain the Lakes up there 

Is it strange to you that Isabella's second name, Spence, is a "family" name whereas some of her siblings have "christian" second names?

Not really. The family were of Scots extraction and the insertion of a surname as a middle name was often used to keep a previous surname (particulary female)  'alive'.

I've got a John Carson Wilson and a Jean Carson Wilson (son and daughter of Jean Burgess) and a couple of generations later the Burgess name was given to a second cousin of mine. Lots of other examples as well - look how Spalding seems to have been used a fair amount.

I've also got a Gordon in two or three cases. I'm not sure if we are connected to the Gordons of Kenmure at the moment. I've done some thorough research but nothing substantial is showing. It could be that they used it for the local laird 

Gadget

[JMO]

I know what you mean...Coultart, Wilkinson, Kennedy, etc. It's just that she was the only one so named among her siblings. But we've already seen similar that before. As, Debbie said, Isabella Elliott is even referenced in the Burgess cemetery in Bala. I'll keep digging. 

[JMO]

sorry...mixing threads