Death and/or Burial Records - Montreal

[hoops]

Hi.
I recently discovered that my grandmother left England in 1946 to live in Montreal, Canada.  Her name is Winifred Bessie Laughlin (nee Copping) and she travelled with her new husband Pte James Laughlin.  The passenger list gives her destination address in Canada as 2646 Ryde St, Pointe St Charles, Montreal.

My father was adopted and this is his natural mother.  He (and I) are desperate to know what became of her but I have absolutely no experience of researching Canadian records and we live in England.  I'd be really grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction for death or burial records in this part of Canada.  Or if anyone has any information they would like to share I would be extremely grateful.
Many thanks.

[lilybell]

I checked through Montreal City Directories website http:bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/lovell  and found a Robert Laughlin living at 2646 Ryde St

from 1936-1962 in 1963 there is a James Laughlin at that address. After 1963 there is no Laughlin living there.

I searched through a few cemetery records and found a few James Laughlin's buried at Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges  Cemetery.Did not find a Robert or Winnifred.

Was your grandmother by chance a war bride? Was James born in Canada? I found their marriage in England ,married  2nd quarter 1945, Surrey .

There should be a fellow Rootschatter who can help you more with Quebec records, I am a prairie girl with with rather limited french.

I wonder if Robert Laughlin could be a father or a brother to James. Might take another look around.

Do you have a birth record for your father did Winnifred and James ever go back to England sorry to ask so many questions .



Lilybell

[hoops]

Hi Lilybell

Thanks so much for your reply.  It is a rather sad story that I'm hoping we can bring to a conclusion.

My grandmother, Winifred Bessie Copping was born in 1902 in Warminster, Wiltshire.  She fell pregnant in 1933 but was forced to give my father up for adoption as she was unmarried.  The father is not named on my father's birth certificate so we accept that will probably remain a mystery.  As you rightly point out, Winifred subsequently married James Laughlin in 1945 and left for Canada in 1946. I have looked again at the passenger list record and it says that Robert Laughlin was James' father.

I have always assumed that James was Canadian but am not completely sure.  I know that Winifred died in Canada a few years after arriving there. I don't know what happened to James after her death.

Do you know if it is possible to search Quebec death records just after the war? I wondered also if there was another Rootschat board that might be more appropriate to post to.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to investigate.
Craig

[cosmac]

A large cemetery in Montreal is Mont Royal
http://www.mountroyalcem.com/index.php/en/our-services/genealogy.html
You can contact them to see if Winnifred is buried there.

http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/lovell/
link to the Montreal directories.  It appears that James' father was Robert but he also had a brother Robert at the same address.  In the early 1950s Robert Sr dies and his widow is shown at that address - Annie.  There was also a Stewart at that address.  Another brother or James' middle name?

There is no central BMD registry in Canada.  It is solely a provincial responsibility and in Quebec parish records are the source.  Ancestry has a collection of Quebec parish records (Drouin collection) online but nothing for your family that I can find.


Debbie

[lilybell]

Hello again,

Google the Director de l'etal civil Quebec for information on obtaining a death certificate.

When you go onto their site click on Forms and Publications ; Application for a certificate or copy of an Act.
Be sure to read the box that says Important.You can apply online and save yourself $20.00 Canadian. Follow all instructions carefully.

Lilybell

[hoops]

Thank you so much for the replies.  I have investigated obtaining a death certificate through the Director de l'etal civil Quebec.  That seems to be my best hope.  Thanks again.