Brick wall in Montreal

[MJP]

Hey Rootschatters - long time no see. 

I'm facing a brick wall in Montreal and would love some help.  Here's what we have to start with:

Earl Charles Taylor (may have gone by "Charles" - not sure)
b. 24 Apr 1905 (according to family - haven't found birth cert yet)
Place of birth unknown (somewhere in Canada)

Father Charles, mother Rachel (maiden name unknown)

Charles senior was apparently from Glengarry County, Ontario (near Dunvegan), but later moved to Montreal
Rachel was apparently from Nova Scotia.

Charles and Rachel are supposedly buried in Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal.  Rachel died circa 1941.

I don't know when Charles moved to Montreal and so don't know where the marriage and Earl Charles' birth took place.

Earl Charles apparently worked at Eaton's in Montreal.

What I've tried:


I can't find any sign of them in the 1911 census (when Earl Charles should be age 6), or any earlier census for that matter.  There are only a few Taylor families in Glengarry County, and none named Charles.

I've had a look through Lovell's Montreal Directories, but there are too many Charles Taylors to be sure of anything.  There was an Earl Taylor, salesman at Eaton's, in 1938, 1939, and 1946, but that doesn't really get us anywhere - no Charles living at the same address that might be his father. 

There are no appropriate BMDs in the Ontario records or in the Drouin collection on Ancestry.

There is a Rachel Taylor in the database at Mount Royal Cemetery who died in 1940, but the year of birth given would make her 53 when Earl Charles was born in 1905.  There is a Charles Taylor also, who died in the 70s at age 99. 

I think my next step will have to be to order up those records from Mount Royal Cemetery and see what they say.  I suppose it would also help to get Earl Charles' marriage certificate - but I will have to ask the family I am doing this for if they have it or if they want to order it.  I'm not up to speed on the privacy rules for Quebec vital records.

Any other ideas???

[polarbear]

Hi there.

Very elusive family.

Do you have at least approximate birth years for Charles senior and Rachel? And do you have names of any siblings for Earl?

Have you looked in the Nova Scotia vital stats website for a possible marriage for Charles and Rachel, and birth of Earl in case these events occurred there? 1905 births seem to be absent but there may be a record under the 'delayed reg'n' part.

https://novascotiagenealogy.com/

Sorry there are more questions than answers but a bit more info may help in turning up something.

Also, you likely noticed that you need to search much of the Drouin Collection by surname alone but I thought I would mention it in case you hadn't.

PB

Added: The 1921 Canada census is due to be released next year and this may shed some light on things for you.

[MJP]

Hi Polarbear,

Thanks for your thoughts.  I did do a pretty thorough search through the Drouin collection, but now that I think about it I may not have done the surname-only search for all the possible events (Earl's birth, Charles and Rachel's death, Charles and Rachel's marriage).  I'll have to try again to make sure I've covered all possibilities. 

And I did check the NS records - forgot to mention that in the original post.  Nothing obvious there.

I also don't know of any siblings for Earl.  The friend I'm doing this for is going back to her family with a list of questions to see if there are any other clues that can be dug up.  People often say "that's all I know", but if you actually start asking specific questions, more stuff comes to light. 

I hadn't heard about the 1921 census release - that exciting news!

Cheers,

MJP

[polarbear]

Hi again,

Yes, the pending 1921 census release is quite exciting!

Hopefully you will be able to get some more info from your friend to post. It's too bad Taylor is such a common name. BTW, have you also looked under the variant Tailor?

Oh, something else for you to consider for the 1911 census for Quebec: Try looking for the surname as Charles and Taylor as first name, surname Charles with Rachel as first name, etc. I had something like this happen with one of my lines, possibly b/c the English party didn't understand the French enumerator wrt to terminology. Although you don't even know whether in fact they were in Quebec at the time, it gives you another stone to turn over.

If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know.

PB

[JDC]

Hi MJP,

You might want to check the American states close to Quebec as well - NY, VT, etc., they may have crossed the border? Perhaps this is a remote chance, but something to consider. Hopethat helps,

JDC