Amos from Tring

In spite of being over ninety years old, Amos Crockett's granddaughter still has vivid recollections of her grandfather. She remembers him as being crippled, stooped over, and needing two canes to walk across the room. She thought of him as a very old man, yet he was only sixty-eight when he died.

At one time he ran three outdoor ice rinks in Edmonton and Ev remembers at the end of the evening when it was time to close the rink his voice would come over the loud speaker: "Get hoff the hice". Ev worked for her grandfather at the arena when she was twelve years old, starting at fifty cents per evening but soon she was earning the same as the rest of the concession staff:  $1.00 per evening.

Amos was born at Tring, Hertfordshire, England on May 19, 1865. He was born to James Crockett, a jobbing labourer, and Annie Fitkin, a straw plaiter. He was born at home on Harrow Yard on Akeman Street. At the time of his birth, his siblings James 7, Amelia 5, Rebekah 3, and David 1, were at home.

Akeman Street runs north/south through Tring and is one of the original Roman roads that run through Britain. Tring is about 35 miles north of London.

The Crockett family were among the illiterate working class in Victorian times. The men had to find jobs labouring on the farms or in the textile mills. Women often had more income than the men by plaiting straw for the hat industry. Straw plaiting was done at home and the women took their finished work to market on Wednesday mornings to sell to the buyers from the hat factories nearby. The picture below depicts women working at home plaiting straw while watching their young children. Children as young as seven were put to work, adding to the family income.

Fearless Females: A family document

March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.

I have chosen a page from the manifest for the ship SS Lake Manitoba on its sailing from Liverpool to Quebec from 31 August to 12 September, 1911.  My grandmother, Lucy Millicent Crockett, her sister, Alice, and her sister-in-law, Jessie are listed on this ship's list.

The following picture is of the Crockett family in England before they left for North America.  My grandmother, Lucy Millicent Crockett is shown seated on the right.

Back: James, Richard (Bert), Jessie (wife of Bert), Thomas, Alice, George
Front: Ada, Amos (holding grandson George) Alice, Lucy

This picture was taken about 1910, and by October 1911, all eleven people in the picture had immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta but they departed on eight separate sailings!  I have underlined the family members who were in the picture in the following list of ships.

The father of the family, Amos, was the first to leave, sailing aboard the "Merion" from Liverpool to Philadelphia in February 1911.  He was accompanied by his brother, George Crockett, who returned to England two months later.  It appears that Amos made his way to Alberta and set up a sawmill on the shores of Lake George near Busby, Alberta.

Bert, the oldest son, was the next of the Crockett family to leave, sailing from Liverpool to Quebec aboard the Laurentic, arriving July 15, 1911.  He was sponsored by the Salvation Army and took the CPR train directly to Edmonton.

The manifest shown at the top of this page shows the next group to cross the Atlantic: Bert's wife, Jessie, and her two sisters-in-law, Alice and Lucy. They listed their destination as Edmonton and Jessie was joining her husband.

Bert and Jessie's little boy, George Albert, came with his grandmother, Alice, and his aunt, Ada in October 1911 aboard the Royal George which sailed from Avonmouth.  All previous sailings were from Liverpool, in the northern part of England but Alice, Ada, and young George traveled south to catch their ship in Avonmouth.  They were listed with a Salvation Army party and Alice was listed as a wife - lumberyard 9 months.  Does that mean Amos arrived 9 months previous?

At the end of 1911 there were still three Crockett brothers in England as well as Alice's sister and family, Rebecca and Bagot Arnold.  The Arnold and Crockett families had been close since they lived in Wales, and Ada Arnold married her first cousin, George Bunnagar Crockett a few years after the emigrated.

Bagot Arnold and his son, Harry sailed aboard the Canada in February 1912; Bagot claimed to be joining his brother A. Crockett.

George Crockett, brother to Amos, left from Bristol with his family and his nephew, Thomas Crockett, aboard the Royal Edward in April 1912.

James Crockett and his new wife, Emily, boarded the Empress of Ireland in Liverpool on September 20, 1912, just one day after they were married in Staffordshire.

In October 1912  the rest of the Arnold family left Liverpool aboard the Lake Manitoba.  George Bunnagar Crockett accompanied the Arnold family, his future in-laws, on this voyage.

At last the family was reunited in Edmonton where many descendants still reside.

Fearless Females: Grandparents' marriages

March 4 — Do you have marriage records for your grandparents or great-grandparents? Write a post about where they were married and when. Any family stories about the wedding day? Post a photo too if you have one.

Both sets of my grandparents were married in Edmonton, Alberta.  I had a few hours to spend at the Alberta Archives the last time I was in Edmonton in 1998 and I found it very difficult to search their records at that time.  I have no pictures of the weddings. The marriages were written up in a large register and I could not take copies.  I did find the following for my paternal grandparents:



Register of Marriages, Edmonton 87.385 510 Wm. D. Davies Lucey M. Crockete 10-11-13 691 - 23rd St. (Manse) Clergy -P. G. Stewart.

The picture is of my grandmother, Lucy Millicent Crockett, with my Dad, William Herbert Davies. My father was born April 11, 1914.  My grandfather was at war in Europe when this photograph was taken.  The first picture of my grandparents together is a family portrait taken about 1921.

William, Evelyn, Herbert (Bert) Lucy Davies

I do have a marriage Certificate for my maternal grandparents, transcribed below:

This is to Certify that on the 29th day of June in the year of our Lord 1912
John Bellamy and Vinetta Tremaine Butchart
were by me united in Marriage at the city of Edmonton according to the laws of Alberta.
Witnesses: W. D. Gardner, M. Moore
J. E. Hughson

 The clipping on the left is from the Edmonton Daily Bulletin dated July 3, 1912.  Granny's parents, Edward Neil Butchart and Maria Moyer, moved with their family from Bruce County, Ontario to Edmonton just about the same time Alberta became a province of the Dominion of Canada in 1905.

Edward Butchart, his brother, Peter E Butchart, and his cousin, Peter T Butchart were principals in The Great West Land Company which held many properties for development in the growing city.

The article states that the couple would be making their home in Vancouver, but to my knowledge they never lived there.  Their oldest child was born in Calgary on February 4, 1913.

Both of my grandparents' weddings were quiet affairs rather hastily planned, probably in view of the fact that the morals of the day required marriage before the birth of the first child.  My Dad came along five months after his parents were married and Uncle Bill was born seven months after the Bellamy wedding.  Both marriages lasted until the death of a spouse.

The Puzzle of Genealogy

Many many years ago a fellow genealogist said that family history is like a huge jigsaw puzzle without any edge pieces. I have always enjoyed puzzles and can't leave them alone until they are finished, yet miss the challenge once they are completed. In genealogy, we start with ourselves in the middle and work out from there.

My puzzle was started for me with the help of John Hopkins on the Butchart side and Vera Becklake on the Crockett side but I had very little to go on with the ancestors of my two grandfathers, William Davies and John Bellamy. I have gradually been able to add ancestors on all sides to the early 1800s but there are many missing pieces of aunts, uncles, and cousins missing near the middle and, of course, the edges will never be completed.

Last night my cousin on the Bellamy side, Hugh Nichols, forwarded an email from Ruairidh Greig in England. His uncle, David Miller, has some letters that were sent from Canada from the Bellamy family and Ruairidh has put the letters (28 pages) on Picasa. The album is called Bellamy Letters and can be found at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/argee07/BellamyLetters#

I have printed, cut, and arranged the pages into seven letters dated from March 4, 1903 until September 26, 1910 and I will deal with letters in detail in separate blogs to follow. The letters were addressed to Gertrude (Gertie) Taylor in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Gertie and her sister, Dorothy, were nieces of my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Rason.

From these letters I have been able to add some missing pieces to my family tree, and more importantly to me, I now have some idea of the people behind the letters.

Winter Sports in the Great White North

You can't get a much colder example of a Canadian winter than Edmonton, Alberta.

The picture is of my parents, Bert Davies and Ruth Bellamy, skating on the North Saskatchewan River about 1937. My Dad was wearing speed skates and my Mom was wearing men's tube skates. People in Edmonton were not restricted to skating on the river but when conditions were right it was fun to be able to skate in one direction for a long stretch, especially with the long-bladed speed skates. There were several open-air ice rinks in the city parks with a heated building to change into skates and my father's grandfather and uncles managed many of these rinks. When the first artificial ice plant was installed at the Edmonton arena, my great-grandfather, Amos Crockett, was manager of the arena and had the rights to the concession. My Dad worked there sharpening skates.

My parents also went skiing down the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. Edmonton is situated in the prairies and the only sizable hills were on the riverbank. For every trip down the hill there was the long trek back up carrying the skis because there were no lifts or rope tows.

Although not a sport, another winter activity was the horse-drawn sleigh ride. My parents met on a sleigh ride put on by a young-peoples group of Norwood United Church in 1935. Mom was only sixteen and Dad was twenty-one. Times were simpler then but it sounded like they had a lot of fun in spite of the cold Edmonton winters.

An Act of Kindness

I am not a religious person but I do believe in the Golden Rule: "Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you."

The world of genealogy is filled with people who have been helped and are willing to help others by sharing their knowledge and time without asking for anything in return. I have benefited from many acts of kindness from family historians, the following is just one that comes to mind.

I was just starting out on my genealogical journey on the internet in January, 1998. I had a small amount of information about my CROCKETT ancestors before writing to a mailing list on Rootsweb with a query about the families of William Crockett and his son, James Crockett.

Two days later I received an answer from Elena Nairn giving names of Williams parents and the particulars of both marriages. She ended her letter by saying "I hope this is of some help. If you want to know anything else let me know. Good hunting, and kind regards, Elena Nairn"

Thinking that I had discovered a long-lost cousin, I responded with my line of Crocketts down to myself and asked how she was related. One day later, after explaining that she was not related to the Crocketts directly, she gave me the christening dates of all the Children of William and James who were born in Tring. Wow, the pieces of the puzzle were filling in quickly, all thanks to this kind woman.

The following Monday, I received a long email message with dates and particulars of every Crockett marriage Elena could find on a microfilm that she was borrowing at the Family History Centre near her home in Toowoomba, Queensland. She had copied the two pages of film that contained my great-great and great-great-great-grandparents and offered to mail them to me. These copies of parish records were my first documented proof for my files.

There was no way I could repay Elena for her kindness except send her a card of thanks, but I hope to help others as she helped me with whatever I can offer.

Royal Tour of Canada, 1939

This is a picture of my grandparents and other family members waiting on Oak Bay Avenue in Victoria on May 30, 1939.

This royal tour of the parents of our reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II was a historic event because it was the first time a king or queen of the British Commonwealth set foot on North America.

The royal couple disembarked from the Empress of Australia and were greeted with cheering crowds in Quebec City on May 17, 1939. They traveled by train across Canada and charmed the population by being visible and accessible in large cities and small towns throughout the land. They left Vancouver on May 29 aboard the CPR ship, Princess Marguerete and were greeted that evening in Victoria by Premier Pattullo. Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, was the most western point of the tour. The royal couple stayed two nights at Government House, the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.

May 30 was the only full day spent in Victoria with a visit to the provincial legislature in the morning, followed by a drive though the streets of Victoria and Oak Bay culminating at the Empress Hotel where King George gave an address which was heard throughout Canada and around the world. The next day the king and queen returned to Vancouver and resumed their train trip across Canada on the royal train. Afterward the CPR trains of that class were known as the Royal Hudsons. King George and Queen Elizabeth returned to England aboard the Empress of Britain on June 15.

The Swimming Crocketts

My grandmother, Lucy Millicent Crockett, and her siblings lived in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England before emigrating to Canada and they were all involved in some form of aquatics. The picture on the left is of my grandmother's brother, James William Crockett. Uncle Jim is shown wearing some of the swimming medals that he won in England. Jim and his wife, Emily emigrated to Canada in September 1912.

I remember my father relating a family story that my grandmother's brothers were all strong swimmers and they had an undefeated water polo team in their home town of Stourbridge. There is no proof of their prowess at water polo, but there is no doubt that my grandmother and her siblings all were born with the love of water sports. The following quote is from a Stourbridge newspaper: "those giants of local swimming circles, the Crocketts. It is evident that the family has no mean reputation"

Edmonton, Alberta was a raw prairie town when the Crocketts arrived in the years 1911 and 1912. The only swimming pool available was at the YMCA, a four-story brick building in the heart of the city with the pool in the basement. James William Crockett worked at the YMCA as a swimming instructor from 1916 until 1922.

The first of several outdoor pools that would make Edmonton a swimming Mecca opened on Edmonton's south side on August 3, 1922. Jim Crockett was the superintendent of the South Side pool (also known as the Civic Swimming Pool, Riverside, and later, Queen Elizabeth Pool) from 1922 until the second world war. The following is part of an article about the pool's opening in an Edmonton newspaper: "In regard to Mr Crockett, it should be said that he is a swimmer and instructor with years of experience, He is a native of Birmingham, England, and held positions in swimming baths and clubs there that have particularly fitted him for the post that he now occupies. He comes of a swiming family, all the members are experts, both men and women."
By 1924 there were three pools: South Side, West End, and Eastend at Exhibition Park. Richard Herbert Crockett was superintendent of the West End Pool from 1925 until he moved to Fergus, Ontario in 1930. See previous article on Richard Herbert Crockett http://joansgenjottings.blogspot.com/2009/07/richard-herbert-crockett.html

In 1928 my grandmother, Lucy Millicent Crockett Davies, was employed at the West End Pool under her brother, Bert. In 1929 their father, Amos Crockett was an employee at the Eastend Pool as well as his daughter, Ada Annie How. As the 1920s drew to a close, the only Crockett siblings not employed at the swimming pools were George and Tom.

George, who was with the Edmonton Fire Department from 1923 until his retirement in 1954, started the learn to swim sessions at the Eastend Pool with his father, Amos "Dad" Crockett, in the late 1920s. George also ran similar classes at the West Side Pool with his brother, Bert Crockett, . Throughout the 1930s, George instructed swimming at the YMCA. Tom Crockett seemed to be less involved with swimming but he was an expert diver.

An article in the Edmonton Journal this week made me think of this topic: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Feds+toward+Queen+pool/1809186/story.html

The old South Side pool has been closed for several years and is to be replaced with a new multi-million dollar outdoor swimming complex. The picture below shows Don Crockett and his wife, Lynn, at the presentation described in the newspaper article linked above. Don is Jim Crockett's son; he and Lynn are on the left side of the picture.

Richard Herbert Crockett

England

Uncle Bert was born on February 23, 1886 at Glossop, Derbyshire, but moved with his parents while still an infant to Colwyn Bay, North Wales. The family moved from Colwyn Bay about 1890 and moved around a fair amount with stops in Broseley, Chester, and Northwich before settling in Stourbridge, Worcestershire by 1901. At the time of the 1901 Census, Richard Herbert Crockett was aged 15 years. He gave his place of birth as Glossop, Derbyshire and his occupation as a Fishmongers Assistant. He lived at 20, High Street, Stourbridge, Worcestershire. He lived there with his Mother and Father and Brothers and Sisters: James (aged 13), George (aged 12), Alice (aged 9), Thomas (aged 9), Ada (aged 6) and Lucy (aged 4). Bert married Jessie Heathcock at Stourbridge in 1907. Their only child, George Albert Crockett, was born in England in 1908.

Alberta

Following his father, who had already emigrated to Canada, Bert set sail from Liverpool on July 8, 1911 aboard the Laurentic and arrived in Quebec on July 15. When Jessie and her two sisters-in-law, Mary Alice and Lucy, departed for Canada on August 31, 1911, Jessie stated that she was going to her husband who was a fitter in Edmonton. Bert and Jessie's son, George was not on that voyage; he arrived with his grandmother and aunts in October.

The Crockett family was probably drawn to Alberta by the Homestead Act. Quarter sections (640 acres) were granted to settlers who were willing to make the rough land into a farm. The cost to file an application for a Western Land Grant was $10.00. Richard Herbert Crockett applied for NW Section 27 Township 57 Range 1 Meridian 5. This quarter section was in Seymour, a settlement northwest of Edmonton later known as Busby. His father and brother were on the same section; James William had the SE quarter and Amos Crockett had the NE quarter. Amos set up a sawmill on his quarter which was on the shores of Lake George.

Bert had to delay his development of the homestead when Britain went to war with Germany in 1914 and on 21 May 1915, he signed up to join the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. At that time he was a miner in Seymour, Alberta and he was described as 5'6", 40" chest, fair complexion, grey eyes, auburn hair. After serving 2 years and 71 days with the 51st Battalion overseas, he signed up again on the 17 January 1918; his physical description was the same except he had gained 1" in his chest and he had a scar on his left hand. The war ended later in 1918 and I doubt he actually went overseas for a second time.

Bert gave up the homestead shortly after the war and moved to 12009 92nd Street in Edmonton and worked for the Hudson Bay Company from 1920 until the city hired him as Superintendent of the West End Swimming Pool. Bert and his brother, Jim, were both well known and respected as coaches to champion swimmers in Edmonton.

Fergus

In 1930, a new pool was opened in Fergus, Ontario and Uncle Bert was hired to manage the pool. The following are excerpts from the local history book, Looking back : the story of Fergus through the years, Vol. 2, Publisher: Fergus, Ontario: P. Mestern, 1983

M. J. Beatty traveled extensively for Beatty Brothers. On a trip to Edmonton, soon after construction started on the pool, he learned of Mr. R. H. Crockett's accomplishments at the West End Pool and Edmonton.

Immediately after returning to Fergus M.J. sent Mr. Crockett a proposition to come to Fergus and manage the new Fergus pool. He readily accepted and the F.N.R.reports:

"Yesterday, (February 26, 1930) we learned by wire from a member of the Edmonton Journal that the services of one of Canada's leading swimming instructors is been secured in the person of Mr. Bert Crockett, a prominent swimming and hockey coach of that city, who has an enviable reputation along these lines. He operated the large arena there in the winter and three city pools in the summer along with his father and brother of which have the reputation of being the best operated pools in the province of Alberta. Mrs. Crockett also an expert swimmer and instructress and her services will also be appreciated here."

They arrived in Fergus March 31, 1930 and will be living in quarters provided above the pool bathhouse and will be able to personally, assist the superintendent in the completion of the pool.

Most early users and spectators of the pool can recall the many conveniences of the pool. The individual cubicles for changing, hair dryers for after swimming, lockers with keys, the Beatty ringer under the steps to wring out all those wool bathing suits, the spic and span appearance of the pool at all times, the sign on the veranda giving dimensions and distances, the manually operated thermometer giving pool water temperature, Mr. Crockett and his assistants in their white ducks, shoes, and shirts they wore with pride and the beautiful flower boxes on the many posts around the pool and especially the crystal clear water still a trademark of Fergus pool.

Mr. Crockett spent 24 seasons at the Fergus pool. Many of his accomplishments and successes with swimmers will follow. For the man himself he loved children spending many hours and days with his rope and canvas collar around small children pulling them across the small pool. Learning their first strokes. He did Fergus and neighbours a great service far beyond the terms of his contract. He was also a disciplinarian, a necessity with this type of recreation, it only takes a few seconds to drown and the rules were for safety purposes as well as general behavior in the pools. He didn't hesitate to disqualify a swimmer for one day or two weeks of swimming, depending on the severity of the infraction. Unfortunately one swimmer (who will remain anonymous) advises me he was ejected for a misdemeanor and never went back to the pool. Mr. Crockett, I am sure could be credited with a perfect record with no serious accidents at the pool. A record that is still intact.

Mrs. Hilda Clark advises that in his last year at the pool he had to dive into bring up the girl who was unconscious on the bottom and Mr. Crockett wasn't able to get down to her. Shirley Campbell was near and assisted in getting her out and she was soon revived. This incident seemed to indicate that he should retire. More of Mr. and Mrs. Crockett's accomplishments with swimmers will follow.

In 1951 water was put into the big pool in early March. So the girls to train for a meet on March 31. Two car loads traveled to Vancouver with four swimmers Joan and Shirley Campbell. Elaine Chapman and Doreen Howatt. They won the 400 yd. relay by 100 ft.. Shirley 1400 yd. setting a record and Doreen was second. They returned home to a civic reception. Races at the C. N. E. were won again, and the possibility of the girls making an Olympic team in 1952 was hoped for.

In 1952 Doreen Howatt set a record in 400 yd. at 5 minutes 7.7 seconds. The Olympic swimmers picked were medley swimmers and Fergus girls were very disappointed. They continued their winning ways that the C. N. E.. Shirley Campbell won the senior mile championship and Doreen, still a junior came seconds and on August 27, 1952. Shirley turned professional winning the 3 mi. event in 1 hour and 21 minutes and 40 seconds, just 17 seconds short of the record. She one $1600 and came home to a civic reception in the arena. Gus Ryder regarded Bert Crockett as one of the finest swimming coaches nominated Shirley for the Lou Marsh trophy.

Shirley won the professional swim again in 1953 defeating several notable swimmers. Elaine Chapman came fourth, and Doreen Howatt won the silver bowl for junior 1 mi. in 1952 and the Ross Gold trophy one mi. championship for two years 1953 and 1954. Shirley Campbell was rewarded by the Egyptian long-distance swimming federation, who sent a special trophy presented on their behalf by Albert Menzies. 3 ft. high on a black ebony base with Egyptian symbols lotus petals a scarab. A sacred truth and a winged head.

Shirley made two valiant attempts to swim across Lake Ontario swimming under terrible conditions bad weather currents, mechanical problems that gained much fame for her efforts.

Again, she received a civic welcome with 5000 people attending with dignitaries, a street dance and full page editorial in the F.N.R as well as radio, TV interviews and many newspaper articles and photos .

Truly, the golden years for the Fergus pool and its much admired manager and coach Bert Crockett. It would take many pages to list all the accomplishments of these girls. They worked hard swimming many hours every day get in shape for the various events. They deserve all the fame they received and Mr. Crockett, fulfilled his fondest dreams.

At Mr. and Mrs. Crockett's retirement dinner feelings were expressed all around. Mrs. Crockett expressed her thanks stating "no one realizes the anxiety and responsibility of looking after a pool". How true! With all the enjoyment achievements and participation in the water, someone will always have the responsibility for safety and concern of the swimmers. An old axiom states. Records were made to be broken. Let us hope the goals and achievements of the pool will continue. That the boys and girls will constantly improve on time speed and distance and the perfect safety record at the pool will remain forever.

On a rare occasion, Mr. Crockett paid a summer visit to Mr. W. G. Beatty's cottage in Musokoka. Mr. Crockett worked six days a week and only had Sunday off. On arriving, W. G. was not available. But soon appeared from the lake having just completed his regular swim around the bay in front of the cottage. He had been swimming alone definitely a practice not condoned by Mr. Crockett. W. G. received a tongue lashing equal to anything handed out that the pool by Mr. Crockett, for his infraction of safe swimming practice.

Hundreds of people learned to swim under the most favorable conditions including careful instruction by Mr. Crockett and his assistants. And who can tell how many lives this may be the means of saving in years past, and yet to come. No better gift could have been built for the benefit of the community than the swimming pool constructed by Beatty Bros. and given to the town.

I remember Uncle Bert's trip west with the girls swim team in 1951 and I still have a white towel that he gave our family with Fergus Swimming Pool faintly stamped on it. What was not mentioned in the book was that Shirley Campbell asked Uncle Bert to come out of retirement to be part of her support team when she made her attempt to swim across Lake Ontario.

Victoria

Bert and Jessie retired to Victoria in 1953 and bought a little bungalow at 3280 Epworth Street . They were the first people in our family to own a television and we would go over to their house on Saturday nights to watch the fights. When the house became too much for them to maintain, they moved to a residence for seniors run by the Salvation Army in Esquimalt, Matson Lodge.

The following article appeared in the Victoria paper in September 1972:

65 years together

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Herbert Crockett of Matson Lodge, 847 Dunsmuir Rd.., will celebrate their 65th Wedding Anniversary Tuesday, Sept. 26th.

Arrangements have been made to honor them with an open house by their neice Mrs. C.E. Hayward at the Amps Hall at the Oak Bay Junction from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Sept. 24th. In the evening a buffet supper has been arranged exclusively for relatives.

Among the guests will be relatives from Oregon and others from Vancouver.

The photo on the left is the last picture I have of Uncle Bert with Auntie Jessie. It was taken at Matson Lodge on September 26, 1974.

Uncle Bert died October 8, 1974 and Auntie Jessie followed him on November 15, 1975.

The following obituary appeared in an Edmonton newspaper:

Former swim Coach dies in Victoria, 88

Bert Crockett, 88, a former Edmonton swimming and hockey coach who branded marathon swims as "cruel and stupid" died recently in Victoria.

Once manager of the West End Swimming Club, Mr. Crockett made the comment in 1958, after his former pupil Shirley Campbell attempted to swim a treacherous 32 mile stretch across Lake Ontario.

Hampered by a painful shoulder injury after a grueling 18 hours, 44 minutes in the chilly water, she was only a mile from shore when Mr. Crockett decided to pull her out.

Born in Glossop, Derbyshire, Mr. Crockett came to Edmonton in 1911.

He was the supervisor for the West End pool in 1925 when it was first opened and during the winter managed city rinks. While at the West End he coached several provincial diving champions.

In hockey, he coached the juvenile champions for the province in 1923 and 1929. He was manager of the 82nd Street rink and one of his clubs produced the Colville brothers, Neil and Mac, who played for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.

In 1947 his four-girl relay team from Fergus captured the Junior Women's Canadian Championship held in Victoria and four years later, his four-girl team won three Canadian championships in Vancouver.

He moved to Victoria in 1953 and retired in 1954.

Mr. Crockett died on Oct. 8 and funeral services were held on Oct. 11.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Jessie; one grandson, Robert George Crockett of Stettler; four great-grandchildren; one brother, Thomas of Edmonton; and one sister, Ada How of Vancouver.

I remember Uncle Bert always having a twinkle in his eye and I would start to giggle just by looking at him. I loved all my Dad's uncles but Uncle Bert was my favourite, probably because I knew him best.

George (John Bull) Crockett

The picture to the left is a depiction of John Bull on a WWI recruitment poster. Amos Crockett's brother, George, was known as John Bull because of his similarity to that figure who represented all that was English, like Uncle Sam to the United States.

George was born on May 23, 1867 in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, which lies three miles from Tring to the east and four miles from Aylesbury to the west. George was christened at Aylesbury with three of his siblings on February 9, 1868.

George worked as a piecer at the cotton mill in Glossop in 1881 when he was thirteen years old. While still in Glossop, he married Betty Sandiford in 1887. Betty was twenty, George was only nineteen when he married.

George and Betty had moved seven and a half miles north west to the town of Dukinsfield by 1891, where George was working as a labourer in an iron works. It appears that Betty had no children with George and by 1901 they had separated. Betty moved back to her birthplace in Glossop and was found living with her mother; she gave her status as married in both the 1901 and 1911 census returns.

George continued moving west, this time over forty-five miles southwest to Chester, where he was a fried fish dealer in 1896 at 15 Brook Street; nearby, his brother, Amos, was a greengrocer at 47 Brook Street.

By 1900 he had moved again, south seventy miles to Kidderminster, where he had a fried fish business on Blackwell Street.

A year later, George had moved again, to Northfield, Worcestershire and had changed his situation significantly when he appeared in the 1901 census as a thirty-three-year-old general labourer living with a twenty-year-old landlady who was a laundress. Young Sarah Ann Jones had a two-month-old son, named Ernest W Jones. At that time George Crockett was listed as married and Sarah Jones was listed as single, yet they lived as man and wife for over forty years.

Three more children were born before 1905 came to an end, Sarah and all her children used the surname Crockett including Ernest William.

When George accompanied Amos on the voyage to Philadelphia, he gave the address for his next of kin as his wife, Sarah, at Moor Street, Brierly Hill. That was on February 23, 1911. By the time the census was taken on April 2, 1911 another family was living at that residence and I have not been able to find George's family in the 1911 census.

One of the stories that my father told me about George Crockett was that when he and Amos arrived in New York it was the fourth of July and there were American flags everywhere and George remarked that there wasn't a Union Jack to be seen. This has turned out to be family lore because they landed in Philadelphia in March.

On the ship's manifest of the SS Merion, George gave the name of the person he was going to visit as his brother-in-law, Charles Jones. George is described as being 5' 5½” tall with fair complexion, auburn hair, and gray eyes, a true Crockett.

George only stayed in Philadelphia long enough to visit Sarah's brother for a few weeks and then he returned to England on the Lusitania, leaving New York on March 17 and arriving in Liverpool on March 28, 1911. Amos did not return to England with him and I presume he made his way to Alberta overland.

George and Sarah Crockett left England the next year, departing from Bristol on April 3 and arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 12, 1912. Thomas Amos Crockett, son of Amos, accompanied them on the voyage. The manifest listed the following aboard the SS Royal Edward:

Crockett, George, 44, Poultry farmer

Crockett, Mrs. G, 32, wife

Crockett, Thomas, 20, Farm labourer

Crockett, Ernest, 11

Crockett, George, 10

Crockett, Ada, 8

Crockett, Mary, 7

On the ship's manifest, both George and Tom Crockett claimed to have worked on a farm in England, but I wonder if that was to get assistance with the passage from the Salvation Army. The family was in “steerage” class with SA noted in the right margin of the manifest. Their destination was given as Edmonton.

According to a map in the Busby history book, George's homestead was located on a ¼ section described as South-east quarter, Section 23Township 57 Range 1 West of the 5^th Meridian in the Busby Park School District.

From another reference to George and family in the same book about the Busenius family:

My Dad spent his first year of school at Busby Park and recalled George and Sarah's children were: Ernie, Joss, Ada, and Alice. Joss must have been the younger George. George and Sarah moved into Edmonton after leaving the homestead and my Dad recalled that Uncle George worked as an elevator operator and Aunt Sarah worked as a maid at the Queen Alexandra Hospital. In the city directory for 1943, George was listed as retired and Sarah was still working at the hospital.

Amos Crockett's granddaughter, Evelyn, recalls a story about Uncle George John Bull: "There was a dentist's office in the building where John Bull ran the elevator and he offered to make Uncle George a set of false teeth because he had none. A couple of weeks after setting him up with a fine set of dentures, the dentist noticed that George was not wearing his new teeth. When asked the whereabouts of the teeth, John Bull said they were in his pants pocket. To this the dentist replied: I hope they bite you in the ass!"

George passed away in Edmonton in 1944 at age seventy-six and was buried in Edmonton Cemetery on May 13, 1944.

In the city directory for 1947 Sarah was still working at the hospital as a maid and living at #32, 11045-97 Street (Lambton Block). In 1953 she was living at the same address but no occupation was given.

According to my Dad, Aunt Sarah had some sort of mental breakdown and died in a mental facility in Oliver, just north of Edmonton. I wish my Dad was here to ask, because I think I can recall that Sarah also worked at the Oliver hospital.

Sarah died in 1964, twenty years after her husband, she was eighty-four years old. Her body rests beside her husband, George in the Edmonton Cemetery.

When I asked Amos Crockett's granddaughter, Vera Becklake, about her memories of George and Sarah, she had the following to say:

Uncle 'John Bull' was a bit of a rascal. I was surprised to hear that he had been married in England. I know there was some scandal about him and a girl who worked in Grandpa's (Amos) fish and chip shop. Perhaps they were never divorced as I was told that he and Auntie Sarah were never married. I don't recall the circumstances of her death. She worked for years at the Royal Alex Hospital in Edmonton and was badly injured in an elevator accident there but as far as I remember, she recovered enough to go back to work. She was a very sweet and gentle person.

George Crockett and Sarah Ann Jones had the following children:

1. Ernest William Crockett (1901-1994)

2. George Crockett (1902-1990)

3. Ada Millicent Crockett (1904-)

4. Mary Alice Crockett (1905-)

Bagot Arnold, born on July 13th

Bagot Arnold was born on this day 147 years ago. Bagot, born in Leek, Staffordshire, England was one of seven children born to Thomas Arnold and Eliza Abbott. Bagot fits into my family tree because he married the sister of my great-grandmother. In 1881 Bagot was an apprentice cabinet maker living in Colwyn Bay, Wales and his future bride, Rebecca Bunnager was a confectioner's assistant living in Withington, Lancashire. Colwyn Bay is about 75 miles west of Withington. I wonder how Aunt Beck and Bagot came to meet, but I do know that they were married in Colwyn Bay in 1885. My great-grandparents, Alice Bunnager and Amos Crockett were married in Glossop, Derbyshire in 1884 but their first three children were born in Colwyn Bay starting with Richard Herbert Crockett in 1886.

The Crockett and Arnold families lived together until 1891 when Alice returned to Broseley, Shropshire where she was staying with her brother at the time of the 1891 census. Alice gave birth to twins soon after the census, perhaps she wanted to be closer to her family for the birth. Amos and Alice moved, spending time in Chester, Cheshire, and Stourbridge, Worcestershire while the Arnolds stayed in North Wales until sometime after 1901.

Bagot and Rebecca's oldest son, Harry Arnold, married Lettice Lawton in 1907 in Stourbridge. The picture above shows the wedding of Harry and Letty. Seated on the left is Bagot and Rebecca Arnold and seated on the right is Alice and Amos Crockett. By census time in 1911 things were changing and the Arnolds had moved down to Stourbridge where Bagot was a fishmonger at his home on 20 High Street, the same address occupied by Amos Crockett from 1900 until 1910.

The Arnold and Crockett families emigrated to Canada in 1911 and 1912. George Bunnager Crockett, Amos and Alice's third son, sailed on the same ship as Rebecca and her children, including her oldest, Ada Alice Arnold. These two cousins, George and Ada, married each other in Edmonton, Alberta in 1914.

World War I started in 1914 and Bagot enlisted on July 26, 1915 giving his birthdate as July 13, 1871 reducing his age by nine years. He probably wouldn't have been accepted into service had they known he was actually 53 years old. When the census was taken in Edmonton on June 1, 1916 three families shared the home at 11824 91st Street: Arnold and Rebecca Arnold, George and Ada Crockett, and Harry and Lettice Arnold. It was not as crowed as it appeared because seven of the men were overseas in the war.

I did not have the pleasure of meeting Bagot and Rebecca Arnold or Amos and Alice Crockett but I fondly remember their children: Uncle George and Auntie Ada. The picture of George and Ada below was taken in 1974