Minnie Forsythe - what happened to her?

[fifer1947]

This conundrum has beset several of my family's researchers (including the Canadians) for many years and I would love to be able to finally lay Minnie to rest. 

Minnie was born around 1884 in Ireland to John White Forsythe and Isabella (Boyd) Forsythe her birth cannot be traced possibly due to the fact that the name Minnie may not be her birth name!    However she was always known as Minnie.

She appears with her family on the census for 1901 in Carrickfergus. 

1901 Census of Ireland
4 West Street - Carrickfergus - Co Antrim
Forsythe   John   47   M   Head   Congreg   Antrim   Draper      R&W   M
Forsythe   Isabella   46   F   Wife   Congreg   Antrim   -      R&W   M
Forsythe   Agnes   22   F   Dau   Congreg   Antrim   -      R&W   S   
Forsythe   Minnie   17   F   Dau   Congreg   Antrim   Dressmaker     R&W    S
Forsythe   Isabella   14   F   Dau   Congreg   Antrim   Drapers Assistant   R&W    S
Forsythe   Edith May  3   F   Dau   Congreg   Antrim   -      Cant read    S

The family emigrated to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada
Ship:  IONIAN
Departure Port and Date:  Liverpool, England - 1903-06-04  Londonderry, Ireland - 1903-06-05
Port and Date of Arrival:  Montreal, Que. - 1903-06-13
List Number: 27
Reference:  RG 76
Microfilm:  T-481
The family consisting of John (48) and Isabella (47), Edith May (4) Minnie (19) and young Isabella (16) embarked Londonderry 5 June 1903 arriving in Montreal 13 June 1903.  Page 17 of the passenger manifest lists the family near the bottom of the page.  William travelled earlier.

Minnie appears on the 1906 Census of Saskatchewan
sub district 34
entry 190

Forsythe Wm   Head   M   Single   26   Ireland   1903
Forsythe Minnie   Sister   F   Single   23   Ireland   1903
Forsythe Isabella   Sister   F   Single   21   Ireland   1903

At that time her parents and younger sibling Edith had returned to Ireland.  There is a possibility that Isabella jnr and Minnie came back to the UK at some point after 1906 returning to Vancouver with their parents in 1907.  However Minnie is missing from the census of 1911.

1911 Census of Canada
British Columbia - Vancouver City - District 12 - Page 48
No 2631
Forsythe John              M     Head     M     Mar     1854  Painter
Forsythe Beatrice (sic) Isabella    F    Wife    M    Mar    1855    
Forsythe Wm.            M    Son    S    May    1880 Salmoner???
Forsythe Isabella            F    Daughter    S    May    1888 Stenographer
Forsythe Edith            F    Daughter    S    May    1897

Family history has it that Minnie married in Alberta and died in childbirth soon after, but of her marriage and subsequent death no trace has ever been found.

Can you help??

[aghadowey]

Can't help with finding Minnie in Canada but in Ulster Minnie is usually a nickname for Mary. There's a birth registration for a Mary Anne Forsythe Apr./June 1883 Larne registration district volume 1 page 571 which could be her.
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,433041.0.html

[fifer1947]

Thanks aghadowey - it could well be her, my own gran was always known as Minnie but was christened Mary Ann!! 

[fifer1947]

Can't help with finding Minnie in Canada but in Ulster Minnie is usually a nickname for Mary. There's a birth registration for a Mary Anne Forsythe Apr./June 1883 Larne registration district volume 1 page 571 which could be her.
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,433041.0.html

Bingo!!  Certificate is for Mary Anne Forsythe aka Minnie - correct parents!  Thanks aghadowey.    That's a few more bricks out of the wall.

[valeriec]

http://www.deathindexes.com/canada.html

This will give you links to soem on line death records for different provinces. It does appear that you can find some marriages and deaths for the family in BC. Alberta and Saskatchewan could prove challenging as not much on-line. Now that you have her correct name though that may help with your search. I would look for a marriage in Saskatchewan in the area they were living in 1906 as there is no proof the family was in Alberta. The public libary is a wonderful source of information. Most have genealogy sections and also "Ask a Librarian".

If you can find an obituary for one of the siblings, you may find some info on Mary (Minnie).

[fifer1947]

We now know ALL the family except William returned to Ireland at some point in either 1905/1906, then headed back to Montreal via the "Tunisian" which arrived on 11th May 1907.    The family are listed on the following link and also leaving the UK from Findmy past.co.uk outward passenger lists

http://members.shaw.ca/nfhslibrary/W103.pdf

Minnie's marriage must be after 1907, but it's not to be found in BC.    We really need to find that marriage so we know her name at time of death.  Family history has it only Minnie went to Alberta.

[fifer1947]

John White Forsythe died 22 Feb 1948 aged 95 in Haney BC
Isabella (Boyd) Forsythe died 11 July 1921 aged 65 in Vancouver BC
William Forsythe died 29 Aug 1977 aged 98 in Port Coquitlam BC without issue
Isabel (jnr) never married she died 14 Jan 1981 aged 94 in Victoria BC

Edith May married Frederick Stacey Buck 10 Dec 1925 in Vancouver BC

A very small but long lived family so it's unlikely there is much if anything in the way of obits. 

[cntrygrl]

In Vancouver BC in 1911, Mary Ann Forsyth, 28, b Ireland Feb 1883, lodger, stenographer, living with a Robert and Jennie Forsyth and family.  She states she immigrated in 1911.  Minnie's sister Isabella is also a stenographer in 1911 and so is Margret Forsyth (d/o Robert and Jennie Forsyth).

Doubtful, but there's a Minnie Forsythe who married Peter Wilson, Smithers, BC  21 Oct 1930.    http://www.bcarchives.bc.ca/bcarchives/default.aspx

[susano]

The Minnie Forsythe who married Peter Wilson is the d/o John Forsythe and Annie Bell according to the record on the pilot family search site.  She was born in Ireland in 1912.

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails&c=fs%3A1307718

Susan