Charlotte. Do you know what William’s occupation was?
which william, it seems as if my family like to recycle names as last and middle names just to keep it interesting lol ? this is all i have on grandad william:
William J (James?) Thompson was born on 09/04/1910 (or potentially 04/09/1910) in North Bay , Nipissing Canada. I can’t find a copy of his birth certificate at this time, According to his fathers obituary his nickname was ‘Willie’.
He is recorded in the 1911 Census as residing in North Bay, Nipissing , he was living with his father , mother and two brothers, there was also two females there Irese (18) and Mary (12) Laughman but Irese is listed as a maid.
In the 1921 census he is still residing in Northbay at 35 Sherbrook, google maps have a Sherbrooke street in North Bay, at this point he is listed as a scholar, he would be 11 so in school at the time , by these point Irese and Mary are no longer with them
His father passed away when he 14/15 .
From this point (1921-1953) I’ve lost track of grandad however we know at some point during this period that he returned to the UK , he potentially worked as a printer.
A letter was issued from Pierre Elliot Trudeau (15th prime minister of Canada) surrounding Williams hopes to return to Canada , this letter is dated 12/06/1970 and I will touch on this in a bit , but in this letter it states that William came to the UK during the second world war (approx. 1939-1945) and remained here.
He was initially married to another woman (name unknown at this point and they had a son who would have been born around 1949
He then re- married Ellen Grace Bland in January 1953 in Islington. The index card states January but would need to order a marriage certificate. They had 4 children, Brett, Selina, Denise and Glen.
In 1954 he moved in to Elmore Street and lived with Ellen and his mother in law Rose.
In 1957 they were potentially living at 102 Naish Court, Pembrok Street , Islington (LEFT), also living here were violent and ernest Thompson (relation unknown and need to verify to ensure correct record as a little bit of an anomaly although correct area and coupling )
Approximately 9 years later in 1962 their son Glen was born, his wife died in 1967 when glen was around 5/6 .
Going back to the letter by Prime Minister Trudea, he speaks of williams hopes to return to Canada with the children however this was dependant on the immigration pools, at the time Glen was working as a machinist and bulldozer operator
According to family letters from social services she passed away due to bronchial issues, Ellen unfortunately passed away on 15th December 1967 when your dad was roughly 5 years old and William ( his father ) passed when he was around 11 .
Their eldest son Brett was admitted to Stamford House remand Home on 07/06/1968 due to appearing at Juvenille court on 21/06/1968, the report from the home speaks fondly of home , describing him as small in nature and low intelligence (that of a 7 year old), he was not doing well at school but this was the oppositie in the home (RIGHT- Stamford House remand home)
His psychiatric report reiterates mucht the same, giving the image of a young, anxious physically but not emotionally deprived boy who was kicking out at school and in life due to grief and missing his mother
Social services reports on 6/6/1968 show that the family were receiving home help to assist as William was having to work such long hours and that they increased this to help the family along
Social services report on 03/10/1968 discloses that the family were living in poor conditions , commenting on the residence having no hot water, being damp and poky and the property was visited by the Public health department. The report from the department on 19/07/1968 also confirmed that their son brett had asthmas and bronchitis aggravated by the living conditions
The report on 3/10/1968 outlines the hardship the family faced and that William was working long hours in a bid to keep the family together and comments on the strong family feeling, it was previously suggested about the children being received into care but opposed due to the fact that it would result in losing both their mother and father in a very short time. It is noted in all reports that William was a loving caring hard working father who was just struggling to cope with the children after his wifes death , albeit desperate to keep them together.
William passed away approx 6 years after his wife, He passed away 29/05/1974 at St Batholemews hospital in Smithfeld in London, he was living at 24 watersville mansions , islington at the time of his death and employed as a telephonist (death certificate) death was informed by son brett james thompson, cause of death was a coronary occlusion,atherosclerosis and hypertension, the death was registered on 31/05/1974
