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

[LemonMallie]

Gadget!

I wanted to tie up a few loose ends so I went up to Mountain View to check out the family plot and I think I found Mary Elizabeth!

On the other side of the memorial for Samuel and Rosa was one for the Lumsden family - which I thought was a bit odd.  I checked the inscription and the first dedication was "In affectionate memory of Mary Elizabeth Burgess, beloved wife of James D. Lumsden.  Died Dec 9 1911."  Well, knock me over with a feather!

I found her death registration on the index and it shows that she was only 35yrs old when she died (birth date abt 1876) so it must be her.  I'll check the reg as soon as I can but I thought I would get this posted so our friends in Ontario can see if they can find a marriage for James Drysdale Lumsden and Mary Elizabeth as I couldn't find one in BC.

I did find a marriage for James in 1917 - his second wife was Agnes Beatrice Paterson.  I've got a few other bits and pieces which I will scan and send later (I am at work and so obviously not working  ) along with photos of the headstones if you want them.  The people at the cemetery were very nice and told me to leave my name and they would contact the next of kin listed on Donald Ralph's burial record and pass on my details.  I explained the whole story and told them I am not a Burgess so they asked for your name and I almost said:  GADGET!!!  

So if the next of kin contact me, I'll pass them on to you.

Lynwen

[Gadget]

Lywen

That is fanatastic   

I was about to come in to the thread and put a 'completed 'on it so that Karen could move it and I find your message. This is great info. So it looks as if Mary went over to BC with her siblings.

I'd love all the photos and other documents that you have - what an amazing family they were. When I think that I found poor old Tom on the 1841 as an Ag Labourer living in an outhouse in Kirkcudbrightshire and then via my 3x grt granddad he moved to Bala, Merionethshire, then to Ontario and Bala and then his children seemed to get everywhere - Wow 

Thank you so much

Gadget


PS - I'll go check the 1911 now 

[Gadget]

Here they are in 1911:

Yale and Cariboo- 14,  Similkameen (?) Princeton - 55 Page 15
James D Lumsden, 37, b. Scotland, General store manager
Mary E Lumsden, 35 or 32, b. Ontario

no children

It states that James came over in 1897.


Gadget

[Gadget]

Mary Elizabeth is on the BC death index 9 Dec 1911, Vancouver BCA # B13098  Registration # 1927126

Can't find a marriage so far though 


Gadget


PS - think the Benylin's getting to me - I see that you've found the death refs  of both James and Mary 

[Gadget]

Found a likely death for James Drysdale Lumsden 22 Jun 1956, Vancouver, aged 84

Reg # 1956-09-007004  BCA # B13228

[Gadget]

I think that they most likely married in BC. I've found a very likely James Lumsden in Burrard - Bennett and Atlin on the 1901:

District #1 sub-d # A-2 page 5
James Lumsden, b. 28 Oct. 1872, Scotland, 28,  bookkeeper . Came over in 1897


Gadget


Added - can only find the second marriage of James Drysdale Lumsden to Agnes Beatrice Paterson in 1917, Vancouver.  I don't see the marriage with Mary Elizabeth yet though 

[LemonMallie]

There is an immigration record on findmypast for James Lumsden, age 26, travelling from Liverpool to Saint John on board the Gallia.  His inbound record lists his occupation as labourer.  But on the Canadian list, he is listed as a prospector heading for Wrangel, BC.

You can view the Canadian passenger list here:
http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/e/e177/e004411283.jpg

This could be him as he was in Atlin in 1901.  It sounds like he was headed for the Klondike Gold Rush.  Many of the men who tried their hand at prospecting gave up and took up the more lucrative occupation of supplying the miners.  Maybe that is how he ended up as a store keeper.  If so, it is an interesting story but when and where did he marry Mary Elizabeth?  Wrangel is on the Alaskan Panhandle and the border was under dispute at the time so it could have been considered part of America.  But the gold rush was no place for a lady so I can't imagine Mary would have travelled north to marry him!  If so, it becomes an even better story!

[dollylee]

The Similkameen Valley was also a gold rush center.  Perhaps he didn't have luck further north and worked his way back down through the valley.

See:  http://hedleybc.com/  just 38km. from Princeton.

dollylee

[Gadget]

I saw the entry on FindMyPast, Lynwen, and wondered about the prospector bit. So far I've narrowed him down to 3 possibles on SP but none have the Drysdale middle name. He might have 'acquired' it on arrival in Canada!  I'll check the 1891 UK census as well. He was a bookeeper on the 1901.

Are there any places where marriages aren't recorded or not online for the 1901-1911 period?

Thanks for the link, Dolly 

Thanks for all the additional info and gravestone pictures, Lynwen