Gladys May Sanderson - Montreal

[senteacher]

I'm looking for information about Gladys May Sanderson, born Dec 1909 in Barrow in Furness, England. She emigrated to Canada on 22 Jun 1923 aboard the Regina with her mother, Eva May nee Richardson. They joined her father, William Henry Sanderson, an electrical engineer, at 394 Valois Ave, Montreal. William died around about 1933. At the time they were living at 1808 Aird Ave, Montreal. My great grandmother went out to nurse her brother but we have no information about what happened to Gladys or her mother following his death.
I would really appreciate any help whatsoever to further my search.

[polarbear]

Hi there  .

Are you sure it is William who died in 1933? The Drouin Collection (parish records on line through Ancestry) has a burial record for Gladys May Sanderson of 1808 Aird Av. She died 05 May 1933. She was buried in Mount Royal Cemetery 10 May 1933. Trinity United Church Montreal.

William appears in the Montreal Directory at the same address until 1943. In 1944 we have Mrs Eva Sanderson Wid Wm at this address and then she disappears from the directory.

http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/lovell/

Here is a link to Mount Royal cemetery. Scroll to the bottom and click on Genealogy. You can then locate burials for Gladys (1933), William (1944), and Eva (1953). These burial records can be ordered for a small fee. You don't need to put a date in, just the names.

http://mountroyalcem.com/index.php/en/our-cemeteries/mount-royal-cemetery.html

The Drouin Collection is only available up to about 1941, although there are a few records beyond that date. Thus, there do not appear to be burial records on line for William and Eva. Civil records of such events did not begin in Quebec until the 1990s so there will only be a parish record or a cemetery record.

If your local public library subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition you would have access to the Drouin Collection and the original image of Gladys' burial record.

PB 

[senteacher]

Thank you so much. I always wondered why we never heard anything about the family. My great grandmother returned home to England on 20th July 1933 so she must have nursed Gladys. I now have to find out why the story changed. Is there any way I can find out what Gladys died of or if there are any obituaries?

[polarbear]

I don't believe you would find a cause of death unless it was mentioned in an obit. There is nothing in the parish record. Mount Royal Cemetery burial records apparently do not include cause of death.

Montreal newspapers at the time would have been the Montreal Star and the Montreal Gazette. I don't remember off hand if they have online archives but I don't think so. A google should find that info for you, however. The Montreal Star is no longer published. Library and Archives Canada (LAC) would have copies but I'm not sure if they would do a lookup. The library at McGill University in Montreal may also have newspaper copies but again I don't know whether they would consider lookups.

Sorry to not be of more specific help in this regard but a bit of googling around may turn up something for you and given you have a specific death date for Gladys you might just get some help through LAC, although from their website it doesn't look promising other than through interlibrary loan.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/newspapers-at-lac/index-e.html

PB

[LindaGW]

Archives of the Montreal Gazette are available online at http://news.google.ca/newspapers. 
There is a brief death notice for Gladys May on page 7 of the 8 May 1933 edition:
http://news.google.ca/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19330508&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

[polarbear]

Thank you very much for the info about the Gazette archives, LindaGW. I have bookmarked it for future reference.

PB

[senteacher]

Thank you from me too. Sorry for the late response but have just found your post.

[chinakay]

I see from the parish register burial record that Gladys died at the Grace Dart Hospital, now part of another hospital but it was founded as a TB sanatorium and remained one for decades as far as I know.....when I lived in Montreal it was still a sanatorium.

Cheers,
China

[senteacher]

That would make a lot of sense. It had to be something life threatening for my great grandmother to make the journey from Wallsend, Northumberland to Montreal, Canada. Could Gladys' father have been suffering from TB too, but survived for another ten years?