William Morrison and Kate Macleod

[marionq]

My great uncle William (brother of my granny Mary Morrison) born in 1871 and emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1907 with his wife Kate, had a family there and worked on the railways.  He lied about his age in order to enlist in the First World War with the Canadian Expeditionary Force making himself 38 instead of the actual 45.  He was killed in 1916.

His son Alex b 1897 survived the war and in addition he had Joan (Johan), Donald, Angus and Nina or Williamina in 1907.  I have visited the memorial with his name on it to the dead railwaymen of Toronto in the Old City Hall.

However, I have never been able to track down any of his descendants and know nothing about how they coped after his death or what happened to his wife Kate. 

We do have other cousins in Toronto from William's youngest brother Adam and they too knew nothing of William and his family.  I would love if anyone of his descendants could get in touch and tell us their story. 

[*Sandra*]

Family lived Ward 3. Toronto North. Ontario on the 1911 Census of Canada. Slightly mistranscribed as Marrison. The youngest daughter was listed as Mira but it looks like Nina on the image.

William Marrison aged 36 Immigrated 1908  - Kate Marrison aged 30
Alex  aged 14  -  Angus  aged 8  - Donald  aged 9
Joan aged  12  -  Mira  aged 4
Alexander Losh aged 28 Roomer. Born Scotland. Immigrated 1906
Mary Losh aged 27
Alex Losh   aged 1

Sandra

Added:- Oops , sorry - can see you posted before and already have that info.  Did you try the library link suggested by Debbie ?

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,420184.msg2855819.html

http://cosuthtribute.blogspot.com/2010/04/pte-william-morrison-cef_15.html

[marionq]

Thanks Sandra.  I always add anything new to my family history record and so if the descendants of William and Kate ever get in touch I will have a lot to tell them.  It is sad to think of them leaving Scotland and then disappearing into the ether.  I did meet the granddaughters of William's brother Adam last year while passing through Toronto and it was great to meet up with them.  They had no idea that there were relatives living in Toronto at some part of their young lives.

Marion

[jorose]

https://www.familysearch.org/
does show also a William (b. Toronto 8th Feb d. 9th Feb 1910) and a Catherine (b. 1911)

You should probably look to see if they'd returned to Scotland (to Kate's family) or if there was a remarriage for Kate in Toronto soon after the war. Do you know if she had relatives in Canada or the US at this time?

Also here: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=toronto%20directory although unfortunately there are a lot of Morrisons: in 1918 there are two Catherine Morrisons (wid. Wm) listed, and a Kate and a Katherine as well, but if you know an address say from 1916 you might be able to see if they stayed there for a few years at least (1917,1918,1921 and 1922 directories are online).

[J.J.]

His address isn't available online as the gifs aren't posted... http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=205573  although this person seemed to have acessed it, unless they sent for the full military file.
http://cosuthtribute.blogspot.com/2010/04/pte-william-morrison-cef_15.html

[JDC]

Hi Sandra,

If the family stayed in Toronto, they may be listed in the phone books which would give you a location after the war. These you can probably get through in the Toronto public library (http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/) - and if not close by, contact them to do a lookup:-) Just a thought,

JDC