John Bellamy, mariner

The Bellamy side of the family has been my greatest challenge in the family tree.  My grandfather, John Samuel Bellamy aka John Stanhope Bellamy was an enigma and parts of his life are still unknown to me.  See John Bellamy - A research challenge. I still wonder about the circumstances of my great-grandparents, John Henry Bellamy and Elizabeth Rason's emigration to Canada; but my brick wall has been John Henry Bellamy's father, John Bellamy.

John Bellamy married Mary Frances Parker in Boston, Lincolnshire 25 December 1951.  On the marriage entry John was listed as a mariner of full age, son of John Bellamy a labourer.  The marriage took place after the 1851 census and Mary Frances Bellamy was listed as a widow with three children aged 8, 5, and John Henry Bellamy aged 3.  John Henry Bellamy was born in Boston 31 March 1858, his father was John Bellamy, a mariner in the coasting trade. The mother, Mary Frances Bellamy, formerly Parker, registered the birth 7 May 1858.  Mary Frances could write, John Bellamy could not and signed his marriage with an X.  Those were the only facts I could go on until last week when Find My Past finally offered the Merchant Navy records.

I believe my g.g.grandfather is:
John Bellamy born at Hareby, Lincolnshire 11 December 1824.  Ticket number 131076 was issued at Boston, Lincolnshire 10 January 1845, his capacity or rank was "boy". He was 5' 5" tall with fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes.  He first went to sea as boy in 1843 (aged 19).  He could not write and when not at sea, he was resident of Boston.

Knowing that, I looked for John Bellamy from Hareby and found the following at Family Search:

name: John Bellamy
gender: Male
baptism/christening date: 12 Dec 1824
baptism/christening place: HAREBY,LINCOLN,ENGLAND
father's name: John Bellamy
mother's name: Sarah
indexing project (batch) number: C02893-1
system origin: England-ODM
source film number: 507824

 Two other children were listed on the same batch born to John and Sarah: William christened 1 Oct 1820 and Mary christened 15 Sep 1822.

Unfortunately, the 1841 census for England does not provide relationships, marital status, or place of birth and the ages of people over 15 are rounded down to the nearest 5.  I found the following family living on George Street in Boston, Lincolnshire:

Name Age
Sarah Bellamy 40
Mary Bellamy 15
Thomas Bellamy 14
Samuel Bellamy 12
George Bellamy 10
Sarah Bellamy 8
Elizabeth Bellamy 6

It appears that the father, John Bellamy has died before the census was taken in March 1841 and the son, John, had left the family to go to work by this time.  There are a number of John Bellamys working as labourers or servants aged 15 in and around Lincolnshire in 1841 but I cannot prove any of them are my John Bellamy.

Family Search is a free genealogy site with a lot of information and another free site specifically for Lincolnshire is Lincs to the Past.  When I typed Bellamy Hareby into the search box, I got the following result:

Removal Order
Reference Name BOLINGBROKE PAR CO/6/7/23
John Bellamy, labourer, Sarah his wife and their child Susanna aged about 1½, from Bolingbroke to Hareby.
Date: 15 November1819
Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]

Removal orders and Settlement Orders were sometimes required to move from one Poor Laws Union to another.  From this little tidbit I found that the father, John Bellamy, was a labourer and that the lived in Bolingbroke before November 1819.  I went back to Family Search and found Susannah who was christened 15 January 1818 in Bolingbroke.  She was the only child of John and Sarah listed.  I then searched for a marriage in Bolingbroke and there were none for John and Sarah.

Now I have lots to work on, but at least I have a starting place with more branches to my ever-increasing family tree.

Fearless Females: Diary or Journal

March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.
Unfortunately, my female ancestors did not write much about themselves, although my Granny Bellamy did write many letters.  I have some letters written to her, but none in my Grandmother, Vinetta's hand.  I hope that some of Granny's letters surface some day and that I can get a chance to read them.  I do have a diary that she received as a Christmas present from her Grandson, Norman Hopkins.

Granny filled the diary for all of 1968, mostly with entries about receiving and writing letters, hair appointments, daily chores, and going to church.  She was living with the Hopkins family in Oliver at the time and in spite of being seventy-eight years old, did many of the household chores because my Aunt Vivian was not well.
I am very thankful that my cousin, Norm Hopkins, had the insight to give Granny a diary, the only thing I could ever think of giving her was writing paper.

Fearless Females: Recipes

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

You can tell that this recipe has been pulled from my mother's recipe index many times. I remember asking Mom who Beth was and she thought it was some relative. I do not think she ever met her mother's cousin, Beth.

Elizabeth (Beth) Carr

I recently met Beth's daughter, Andrea, and her sister, Karen, over the internet and we got into a conversation about a bun recipe that has been passed around the family.  While going though the recipe file looking for Granny's bun recipe, I came across the card pictured above and the connection with the name Beth hit me.  Sure enough, Karen has the same recipe with the exception of the spices added at the bottom.


Beth's Ginger Snaps are my absolutely favourite cookies and my recipe is just as messy looking as Mom's.  Running a close second to Beth's Ginger Snaps is an oatmeal-coconut cookie called Mother's Cookies.  Who's mother?  My maternal grandmother was always referred to as Mother, not Mom, or Mum, perhaps that is where it started, or could it be Granny's mother, Maria Moyer Butchart?

Fearless Females: An heirloom

March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

Jimmy Bellamy portrait

I cherish this little portrait that I found in my parents' trunk while clearing out their house after my Dad died.  It was with some of my maternal grandmothers possessions including her address books and a diary.


Reflections from the curved glass make it difficult to take a photograph of the portrait, so today I unframed the picture for the first time.  I always thought it was a photograph that had been touched up, but I was surprised to find it is an original piece of artwork done in pastels.

Vivian, Jimmy, Margaret, Bill, Ruth

I believe it is a portrait of my uncle, James Roy Bellamy, who died as a result of a tragic accident when he was only five years old.  Mom was only seven when she lost her little brother but she spoke often of him long after she had lost her memory of more recent events.  Jimmy was the youngest of the Bellamy children and he is pictured at the lower left in the group photo.  My Mom, Ruth Bellamy is beside him.


Jimmy was struck by a streetcar outside the Bellamy home and it had a devastating effect on the family.   My grandfather tried to drown his grief with drink and my grandmother only displayed her feelings when she was playing the piano.  Mom remembers the music becoming louder and louder when Grandpa was late coming home.  I can't remember Granny displaying emotion much at all and I shared a room with her for many years when I was a child.

Portrait unframed

Although the picture is of a little boy who was taken from this world long before his time, it is also about my grandmother, a fearless female, who had to grit her teeth and carry on raising her other four children in spite of her tremendous loss.

How My Parents Met

Ruth Bellamy and Bert Davies, summer 1936

My parents were both born in Edmonton, Alberta and that is where they met and were to spend the first few years of their marriage.

My Mom was about sixteen when she met my Dad, who was five years older.  The small wedding took place at the Norwood United Church Manse, Edmonton, Alberta on December 31, 1938.  They were happily married for over sixty-five years and as my husband, Len would say "that's not counting courting time".  The following is from my Dad's memoirs:

"About 1935 my cousin, Norman bought a Model "T" coupe. We often would pick up girls if one of us knew them and it was on one of these times I met the girl that I was to spend most of the rest of my life with. The next time I saw her was at a Norwood Church young peoples sleigh ride. The sleigh skidded and threw everyone to one side which split and one of the pieces caught my pants just below the pocket and ripped them to the knee. As it happened near a friend's house, we went there and I borrowed a pair of pants and joined the party at the church, so I took the young lady home in a borrowed pair of pants."

Mom and Dad - sixty years later - January 1999

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.

More Puzzle Pieces

Last March I posted a blog titled "The Puzzle of Genealogy" which related to questions and answers brought on by the Bellamy Letters.

This week I went back into my email messages regarding the Rason family from ten years ago and found messages clipped together with a note: Jackson - Rason - Smith puzzle.

The subject of the puzzle ten years ago was a diary kept by Samuel Jackson (1867-1920). In the diary was a list of birthdays but no year of birth. Samuel's mother was Harriet Hand Smith, who was sister to my g.g.grandmother, Mary Creak Smith. Harriet and Mary had a younger sister, Eliza, who married Josiah Triffitt. Aunt Eliza was mentioned in Bellamy Letters #5.

Samuel Jackson's grandson, Norm Ashton, posted his grandfather's diary to the internet in 1998 wondering where the Rason name fit into the Jackson family. Through collaboration between Norm, Deborah Glover, and myself, we were able to identify most of the Rason entries but there was reference to some cousins in Holbeach, Lincolnshire:

• 12 May - G E J cousin Gertie Holbeach
• 1 Jun - M E J cousin Mary Edith Holbeach
• 2 Jul - A M J cousin Maud
• 16 Jul - J C J cousin Holbeach
• 22 Dec - Aunt E J

It was presumed that all names marked with a J in the diary were Jacksons, but I am convinced that the people listed above were all Triffitts:

• Gertrude Ellen Triffitt (1887-1947)
• Mary Edith Triffitt (1882-)
• Alice Maud Triffitt (2 Jul 1880-1974) d.o.b confirmed on death registration
• John Carrington Triffitt (1875-)
• Eliza Smith Triffitt (22 Dec 1840-21 May 1921)

Sometimes it pays to retrace your steps and look at old correspondence; I'm glad I kept it. Hopefully all these little puzzle pieces will lead to the big picture one day. Now I am trying to locate Norman Dennis Ashton because his email address is not current.

Bellamy Letter #1

123 Brock Avenue

Toronto

Canada

March 4th, 1903

My Dear Gertie

I expect you will be very much surprised to receive a letter from me from Toronto but we are living here now and have been for the past five years.

Well to explain matters, I went into your Grandpa's the other day and they had just received your letter.

I cannot tell you how very, very pleased your Grandpa and Grandma were to hear from you, in fact we all are, more than I can tell you dear.

I am writing you now, and Grandma will write in a few days, she is sick just now with influenza, but sends here fondest love and I am to tell you that you may expect a letter from her as soon as she is better, which will I hope be very soon. Grandpa would write, but he is getting old now, and writing is a trouble to him, but he was delighted to hear from you and he does so long to see both you and Dorothy and wishes you were both here.

We are all getting on nicely here, and now we are getting used to the climate, like it very much. Edie and Jack are in very good positions here, and doing well. Harry is at home now, an invalid, he had a very serious illness a year and a half ago and he is not yet able to work. Gladys is getting a big girl and goes to school.

They all like Toronto very much, it is a lovely city and they have very good times, plenty of skating on the rinks, with the bands playing all the time, in the winter and boating, pic-nics, and Garden parties in the summer. I can tell you they manage to have a very good time, I only wish you were here to join them.

You do not say what business it is you have learnt, but I expect millinery, and what is Dorothy apprentice at, you must write and tell me dear. I wish you were here for I am sure you could do well both of you. We have some immense stores here, such as you can scarcely imagine without you saw them.

You say your papa is married again, Who is the lady? Is it Mrs. Oliver? I seem to think it is.

Your Grandpa got the paper with the bills enclosed, you papa seems to be getting a good business, please remember us kindly to him.

Edie says I am to tell you she will write to you. When she heard you had written she said "How I wish they were here Mother, couldn't we give them a lovely time."

I wish you would send us your photos, tell Dorothy to write too, and you shall have letters from all. Jack says "tell them to come, I will take them for a row in my canoe."

I wish you were not so far away, your uncles are all longing to see you, don't be long before you write again dear, Grandpa, Grandma, uncles, aunts, and cousins all join with me in fondest love to you both hoping soon to hear again from you. I remain

Your ever loving Aunt

E Bellamy

Bellamy Letters

The Bellamy Letters, a Picasa Web Album has been posted Ruairidh Greig, The twenty-eight images contain seven letters and forty actual pages. I will be attempting to transcribe the letters in separate blogs, but I will endeavor to explain the cast of characters:

Samuel Rason - (1832-1912) with Mary Creak Smith had seven children including Elizabeth Rason and Sarah Ann Rason. Samuel is referred to as Grandpa in the letters. After Mary Creak Smith died, Samuel married his former wife's sister, Sarah Ann Smith. Sarah Ann Smith is referred to as Grandma in the letters.

Gertrude Taylor and Dorothy Taylor were the daughters of Sarah Ann Rason and Jonathan Taylor. Gertrude was the recipient of all the letters and was known as Gertie.

Elizabeth Rason is the daughter of Samuel Rason and Mary Creak Smith. Her sister is Gertie's mother Sarah Ann Rason. Elizabeth married John Henry (Harry) Bellamy. Elizabeth is my great-grandmother and refers to herself as Aunt E Bellamy or Lizzie Bellamy in her letters to Gertie.

Edith Bellamy is the daughter of Elizabeth Rason and Harry Bellamy. She married Sidney Spall in 1907. She signed her letters as Edie Bellamy.

Forty pages could take me a while to transcribe because this is a busy time of year for me, but if you are eager to have a look, the letters are available at the link at the top of this page.

Enjoy

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.

The Carr Family

This is a picture of my grandmother, Vinetta Tremaine Butchart Bellamy (left) and her aunt, Laura Moyer Carr (right).

So often, I connect with family by finding an obituary or memoir when it is too late to know the person who has died. Such was the case yesterday when I found a wonderful website while searching for Mary V Carr of Medicine Hat, Alberta. Mary was 98 when she died in October 2006.

I have many letters written by Mary to my parents from 1982 until a Christmas letter in 1999 which ends with the following sentence: "I hope that the millennium will bring you joy and prosperity in the year 2000."

Mary and her brother, John, were my grandmother's cousins. Their mother and Granny's mother were both the daughters of Aaron Moyer and Veronica Bowman. My grandmother, Vinetta Tremaine Butchart, was the daughter of Maria Moyer and Edward Neil Butchart; Mary and John Carr were the children of Laura Moyer and Frederick Carr. Maria and Laura were part of a large family of twelve children.

Many thanks to the Carr family for creating a memorial website for Mary Veronica Carr and John Lawrence Carr, especially the webmaster, Doug Carr. I have spent hours reading the memoirs and tributes for these interesting people.

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.

Uncle Harry

My Mom was surprised when I told her she had an Uncle Harry. Her father's older brother, George Henry Parker Bellamy, was never mentioned in the time she was growing up.

My great-grandparents, John Henry "Harry" Bellamy and Elizabeth Rason, were both school teachers in Kirton-in-Holland, Lincolnshire. This area on the south-east coast of Lincolnshire, England was known as Holland or the Fens because of its flat, low-lying land. The Bellamys were living at the school where they taught when George Henry Parker "Harry" was born on April 12, 1881. The "Parker" in George Henry's name refers to John Henry Bellamy's mother, Mary Frances Parker.

Thinking that there was just my grandfather, John S Bellamy, and his sisters Edith and Gladys, I was very confused when I read Gladys Walmsley, Elizabeth Rason's neice referring to a "Harry" as Harry and Lizzie's son. Was my grandfather known as Harry as a child? I thought he was called Jack.

Gladys Walmsley wrote in a letter to a Margaret Rason on July 31, 1979 and in the letter she wrote:

There was also a girl in the family "Lizzy" whom I imagine was Elizabeth. I believe she married a Harry Bellamy. My fathers sister was a school mistress in England and her husband Harry a schoolmaster.

After having a copy of the letter sent to me, I was in contact with Gladys Walmsley's granddaughter, Deborah Glover, who gave me part of Gladys' memoirs:

Lizzie as they called her lived on Garden Avenue in the Sunnyside District. She was married in England to a man named Ballamy, Harry, I think his name was. They both taught school in England. He was a school master and Aunt Lizzie was a school mistress. They had "Harry" and a girl named "Gladys".
Harry my cousin was a great organist and they had great hopes from him but he was hit by a train and was deformed which ruined his career. I do not know who Gladys Bellamy married. Cousin Harry died young. Aunt Lizzie's husband Mr Bellamy did not teach school in Canada - he had to take a six month course to acquaint him with the standard of "School Certificate" required in order to continue to teach here. He felt this was below his dignity so my father said. However he was hired by the old Toronto Street Railway and was to be a very important man for them when he retired or died.

By the notes above, I realized that "Harry" Bellamy could not have been my granfather, and I was able to view a microfilm of the 1891 census for Lincolnshire, England. There he was, listed with the family as "George H Bellamy, a nine-year-old male, born in Kirton." This was when I told my Mom about my discovery.

I asked my Mom's brother, Bill Bellamy, if he know about Harry and the question and answer follow:

Grandpa had an older brother, George Henry Parker Bellamy. This was news to Mom, did you know about him? I believe he was known as Harry Jr., was a good organist, and died young. I got this information from Elizabeth Rason's niece, Gladys Walmsley.
This is correct but I never knew him. He was in poor health and died young.

So the general consensus was that George or Harry had health problems and died young. At age nineteen, George H P Bellamy was counted in the 1901 Ontario census as a gardener with no income living with his parents. In 1911 the thirty-year old George Henry was listed as a motorman with the street railway earning $687 per year, just slightly less than his father, who had the same occuptation. The last sighting I have of Harry alive is in the 1915 Toronto City Directory where he is listed at the same residence as his father with no occupation given.

Harry outlived his mother, who died in Oshawa on February 6, 1926. Harry's sister, Edith and her husband, Sidney Spall, were living in Oshawa and Elizabeth's death registration indicated that she had been living in Oshawa since 1920. Did Harry Jr. move to Oshawa with his parents?

I wonder when Harry was injured and how he came to end up in the House of Refuge in Whitby, Ontario. Every county in Ontario was required to build a House of Refuge for the poor and friendless. Was Harry cast out by his father after Elizabeth's death because he couldn't look after him or had Harry Sr. become poor himself before moving in with his daughter?

The following information was given on the registration of George Henry Parker Bellamy's death:

Surname of deceased: Bellamy
Forename of deceased: Henry
Place of death: House of Refuge
Sex, Racial Origin, Single Married Widowed: Male, English, single
Age: 48 years
Place and Date of Birth: England 1881
Trade or Occupation: Inmate
Name of Father: John Bellamy
Birthplace of Father: Boston, England
Maiden name of Mother: Elizabeth Rason
Birthplace of Mother: Boston, England
Name of Physician: Dr. chas F. McGillivray
Address: Whitby
Name of Informant: J. F. Lavery
Address: Manager, House of Refuge
Place of burial: Union Cemetery
Date of Burial: Jan. 8th, 1929
Name of Undertaker: W. C. Town
Address: Whitby
Date of Death: Jan. 7th 1929
Dates Medical Practitioner attended deceased: From his admission to the Refuge to January 6, 1929
Cause of Death
Primary: Anaemia dnd General Debility
Contributory: A cripple from youth
Did an operation precede death? No Was there an autopsy? No
Name of Physician: Dr. Chas F. McGillivray
Address: Whitby, Ont.
Date received by Division Registrar: Jan. 8, 1929

I would not consider dying at age forty-eight as young, especially in 1929. Perhaps the family was ashamed to have a son die in the poorhouse. It is no wonder that Grandpa did not tell my Mom that she had an Uncle Harry.

Bellamy family in Edmonton

The clipping on the left is from the Edmonton Journal. My grandmother, Vinetta Tremaine Butchart, a quiet, modest woman, was born in Mildmay, Bruce County, Ontario. Her mother was from a Mennonite family and her father's family originated in Scotland and arrived in Ontario in a very poor state in 1827. The Butcharts managed to become prominent citizens in Bruce County before coming to Edmonton about 1905. By the time my grandparents were married, my great-grandfather, Edward Neil Butchart, and his brothers owned large tracts of land in Edmonton and were principals in the real estate company Great West Land Company. My mother recalled that the Butchart family had their own pew in McDougall United Church in Edmonton.

The wedding announcement tells me that Edward Neil Butchart was a pretentious snob. I can't imagine putting "The many handsome gifts included a substantial cheque from the bride's father" in a wedding announcement. Perhaps Jack Bellamy started the story of coming from a wealthy family in Toronto because it would put him on an equal footing with his inlaws. My grandmother never met Grandpa's parents and my Mom was given the feeling that the Bellamys were "above" the Butcharts.

The wedding announcement stated that the bride and groom left on the midnight train for Vancouver where they would reside, but they were back in Alberta by February, 1913. Uncle Bill was born in Calgary in February 1913 and Aunt Vivian was also born in Calgary in 1914. While in Calgary Grandpa was working as a clerk for Wood, Vallance, and Adams, a company later taken over by Marshall Wells Hardware.

The family moved back to Edmonton about 1916 and resided for a time with Vinetta's parents until they found a home of their own. Jack worked for Revillon Wholesale as a clerk and then as a buyer and their address from 1922 until 1943 was at 11437 - 95th Street. Three more children were born in Edmonton: Margaret in 1916, Ruth in 1919, and James Roy in 1920. The Bellamy children are pictured on the left, with Vivian and Bill in the back row, Margaret in the middle, James Roy and Ruth in the front.

On March 8, 1926 a tragic event took the life of young James Roy Bellamy. He died from his injuries after being struck by a streetcar in front of their home on 95th Street. Things were never the same for the Bellamy family after that. My grandmother became withdrawn and my grandfather took to drink. Granny was a very talented pianist and she used the piano as an outlet for her feelings. My Mom could recall the music becoming louder and louder when Grandpa was late coming home. It was after the death of Jimmy that my grandfather went against religion and would not go to church, even for my mother's wedding.

The 1930s brought the Great Depression to Canada and the prairie provinces were hit especially hard. Revillon Wholesale ceased business and sold their hardware division to Ashdowns. There was no room at Ashdowns for Jack in Edmonton and he was asked to move to Winnipeg. He did not like it in Winnipeg and finally got a job at Northern Hardware, where he worked as a clerk from 1933 to 1937. The job did not pay well and my grandmother managed to scrimp to make ends meet.

Grandpa was not employed from 1938 to 1941. My mother, Ruth, married Bert Davies on December 31, 1938 and they lived with Granny and Grandpa. My Dad explained that Grandpa did not work at that time because he had suffered a breakdown. Mom and Dad moved to Victoria in 1941 and my grandparents stayed in Edmonton for two more years, Grandpa worked for W W Arcade as a clerk in 1942 and 1943. This was a time of change for the Bellamy family. War had broken out in 1939, Aunt Vivian joined the Air Force, Aunt Marg married Ab Walker, and Uncle Bill, after riding the rails to Toronto to unsuccessfully find work, returned to Edmonton and married Ona Innes.

Vinetta and Jack Bellamy left Edmonton in 1943 and moved to a cottage in Saanich at 751 Middleton Street. Grandpa may have been in poor health when he moved to Victoria because he started seeing Dr. Scott in January 1944. Dr. Scott reported that he treated my grandfather for cancer of the rectum for three years before he died of that disease on May 15, 1947. He was only sixty-two years old.

I heard a family story that one of grandpa's sisters, I think it was Edith, heard that he was terminally ill and came out from Ontario so see him before he died. After traveling all the way to the coast she decided she wanted to remember him as a healthy young man and returned home without seeing him.

Grandpa was buried at Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria on May 17, 1947 and my grandmother was laid to rest beside him thirty-five years later in 1982.

Grandpa Bellamy - a research challenge

The picture is the last picture taken of my grandfather that I have in my files. Granny (Vinetta Tremaine Butchart) is holding my cousin, Ted Hopkins; and Grandpa (John S Bellamy) is holding me. My brothers, Gordon (left) and Larry (right) are in front. Grandpa died before I was two years old.

I did not know much about my maternal grandfather before I got involved with genealogy. I sometimes wonder if he did not want us to trace his family tree.

The first thing I did in my research was to order his death registration from the British Columbia government. From this I learned that he died of Cancer of the Rectum from which he had suffered for three years before his death on May 15, 1947 in Victoria. At the time of his death he had lived in the province of British Columbia for four years and he risided at 751 Middleton in the municipality of Saanich. The informant was his wife, Vinetta Butchart, and she did not know a great deal about his origins. She knew that his father's name was John Bellamy but did not know the name of her mother-in-law. She did have the birth place of John Stanhope and his parents as England and his birthdate as September 6, 1884.

Granny started asking questions about Grandpa's origins twenty years after his death and sent a letter to Jack Spall, the son of Edith Mary Bellamy and Sidney James Spall. Jack replied in 1967 with the following information:

Grandma Bellamy's maiden name was ELIZABETH RASON if I remember correctly she died in 1924 or 1925 at the age of seventy which would place her birth date about 1854. Grandfather's name was JOHN HENRY BELLAMY - he died in 1941 and was 87 about so his birth date would be about 1854.

The next discovery about my grandfather was that his name was not John Stanhope Bellamy! My mother just casually mentioned one day that he did not like the name John Samuel Bellamy because John and Samuel were both biblical names so he decided to change it to John Stanhope Bellamy and he preferred to be called "Jack". I have not been able to find why he chose the name "Stanhope" or any record of a legal change of name. His name was "John Samuel Bellamy" on his birth certificate, his baptism and on the Certificate of Title for the cemetery plot for his young son, James Roy Bellamy in 1926. His marriage certificate has his name as just "John Bellamy". In 1940 all men in Canada were required to fill out a National Registration Card, on that card he entered his name as: Bellamy, John Stanhope (Samuel). My grandmother listed his name as John Stanhope Bellamy on his death registration.

The next problem was to find where John S. Bellamy was born. It was known that he did not like to be referred to as an "Englishman" and had told my mother that his father was a mariner and he was born at sea on his way to Canada. (His father was a teacher but both his grandfathers were mariners so there is a connection to the British merchant marine.) I now have his birth certificate and know that he was born in Kirton, Lincolnshire, England and his parents were both school teachers. He actually lied when he registered my Uncle Bill's birth and put birthplace of the child's father as United States and on my mother's birth certificate he stated that he was born in Canada. He had told my mother that Edward Bellamy, the American author of "Looking Backward" was his cousin but I doubt that connection because Edward's family came to the United States back in the 1600s.

Once I had the name of my grandfather's parents I could look for them in the 1881 census index from England. I found them in Lincolnshire living in Kirton-in-Holland near Boston. Both John Henry Bellamy and Elizabeth Rason were born in Boston, Lincolnshire and were school teachers. They had no children in April 1881 when the census was taken.

It was about this time that I made contact with a Bill Rason who turned out not to be related to our branch but was very helpful in connecting me to some people who were. Bill sent a copy of a letter which was written to a Margaret Rason in Calgary from Gladys Walmsly (Elizabeth Rason's cousin) dated July 3, 1979. In the letter while referring to her father's family she mentioned: "there was also a girl in the family "Lizzy" whom I imagine was Elizabeth. I believe she married a Harry Bellamy." Later in the same letter she wrote: "My father's sister was a school mistress in England and her husband Harry a schoolmaster."

Soon after receiving the copy of the letter I was in contact with Deborah Glover, also thanks to Bill Rason. Gladys Walmsley was Deborah's grandmother and Deborah was kind enough to give me part of her grandmother's diary referring to Elizabeth Rason.

"Lizzie as they called her lived on Garden Avenue in the Sunnyside District. She was married in England to a man named Bellamy. Harry, I think his name was. They both taught school in England He was a school master and Aunti Lizzie was a school mistress. They had "Harry" and a girl named "Gladys". Harry, my cousin was a great organist and they had great hopes for him but he was hit by a train and was deformed which ruined his career. I do not know who Gladys Bellamy married. Cousin Harry died young. Aunt Lizzie's husband, Mr. Bellamy did not teach school in Canada - he had to take a six-month course to acquaint him with the standard of "School Certificate" required in order to continue to teach here. He felt this was below his dignity so my father said. However he was hired by the old Toronto Street Railway and was to be a very important man for them until he retired or died."

I was now pretty sure that the Bellamy family in the 1881 census was the same family referred to by Gladys Walmsley but young Harry Bellamy did not sound like my grandfather. At this point I searched for the Bellamy family in Kirton in the 1891 census and found them still living at the school on Wash Road. Both parents were still school teachers and the children listed were: George H. Bellamy aged 9, Edith M. Bellamy aged 8, John S. Bellamy aged 6. Gladys did not appear on the census because she was not born until 1892. The George H. Bellamy was George Henry Bellamy who was christened on June 18, 1881 in Kirton and must have been the "Harry" referred to by Gladys Walmsley. My mother had no idea she had an uncle on her father's side. I now have the birth certificate which states that John Samuel Bellamy was born on the sixth of September, 1884 at Kirton, Lincolnshire, England to John Henry Bellamy, School Master, and Elizabeth Bellamy, formerly Rason. He was baptized on the fifth of February, 1885 in Holbeach while all his siblings were baptized in their birthplace, Kirton. Holbeach is about nine miles south of Kirton and I have found no family connections in that parish other than my grandfather's christening.

The date that the Bellamy family immigrated to Canada is another enigma with conflicting information. According to the 1901 census, they arrived in 1899. It is possible that that information is wrong, because the years of birth for the whole family were incorrect on the form. In 1911 the date of immigration was given as 1898. Jack Bellamy reported on the 1940 National Registration that he came to Canada in 1892, quite a difference. They were definately still in England for the christening of Elizabeth Gladys Bellamy in July of 1892.

Another problem I have had is confirming J. S. Bellamy's education. My mother was told the family was wealthy when they arrived in Canada and John attended a private boys school, Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario. He claimed to have been expelled for cutting down the flagpole. There is a picture of him taken in front of a building which is supposed to be that school taken in about 1901. According to the 1901 census in West York, Ontario, the family emigrated to Canada in 1899 and were living in a six-room house on 4 1/2 acres in Etobicoke. John S. Bellamy was still living with his parents and was working as a clerk and earning $200 per year. If by March 31, 1901, the date of the census, he had been working for twelve months as a clerk and the family moved to Canada in 1899, there would not have been much time to attend that school. I have an Email message from the Archivist of Trinity College School which states that they have no record of him at the school from 1890 to 1910. The archivist claimed that even if my grandfather had been expelled, they would still keep his entrance card and name on the admissions list.

At Christmas of 1999, I asked my mother's eighty-six year old brother, William Edward Bellamy, what he remembered about his father. When asked about the school, he answered: "Yes, my father did go to Trinity College School, Port Hope. He was a poor student and I do not think he stayed very long. Your Aunt Vivian visited the school when she was in the Air Force and she found out about him. They must have lost his records." In the 1841 National Registration his education indicated: Primary and Secondary and Business College but no College or University degree.

Yes, it has been a challenge to sort the truths from the myths about my grandfather, but with every little discovery one more piece is fitted into the puzzle of his life. I am still trying to find proof of his existance from 1901 in Ontario until he showed up in Edmonton, Alberta in 1909.

Grandpa Bellamy - Childhood in England

Grandpa's parents were both born in the original Boston, a town south-eastern Lincolnshire, England. Boston, Massachusetts in the United States was named after this small town. His father, John Henry “Harry” Bellamy was the son of a mariner and was raised by his mother and grandmother, who were both laundresses. His mother, Elizabeth Rason, was also the daughter of a mariner, but her father moved from the sea to the land and was listed as a fruiterer or green grocer when Harry and Elizabeth married in the town of Great Grimsby in 1880.

By March 1881, Harry and Elizabeth were living at the school in Kirton, just south of Boston, where they were both teachers. All Harry and Elizabeth Bellamy's children were born in Kirton. The oldest was George Henry Parker Bellamy born on April 12, 1881, George was referred to as Harry Jr. Edith Mary Bellamy was born on August 3, 1882 and my grandfather, John Samuel Bellamy was born on September 6, 1884, Grandpa preferred to be called Jack. The youngest child, Elizabeth Gladys Bellamy was born in Kirton on June 2, 1892, Elizabeth was always known as Gladys. All children were christened in Kirton except my grandfather who right from the start was treated differently and was christened at Holbeach, a town south of Kirton.

Elizabeth's parents, Samuel Rason and Mary Creak Smith, moved from Boston to Great Grimsby before her mother died as a result of childbirth in 1876 at age 47. Eighteen months after the death of his first wife, Samuel and his sister-in-law, Sarah Ann Smith, became parents of Charles Henry Smith Rason. Samuel and Sarah Ann lived as man and wife but I have not been able to find a marriage and it was illegal in England at the time for a man to marry his deceased wife's sister. This situation may have led to Elizabeth's father and siblings emigrating to Canada about 1883.

Harry and Elizabeth Bellamy continued to live and teach at the Kirton school until they decided to join the Rason family in Canada. I have not found the ship's manifest, but from census returns I have concluded that the Bellamy family immigrated to Ontario in 1898 or 1899.

Grandpa Bellamy

My maternal grandfather has been a challenge, partly because I never knew him, and partly because he left a trail of untruths behind.

My quest to know more about my grandfather started with my Mom's knowledge about her father. She did not believe his claim that he was born at sea on his way to Canada, but she had no reason to doubt the other stories handed down by her father. Grandpa went by the name of John Stanhope Bellamy and I was well into my research when Mom happened to mention that he changed his middle name from Samuel to Stanhope because John Samuel sounded too biblical.

The family story was that, as a child, he lived with his father (a mariner) and mother and two sisters in Toronto. The parents were wealthy and owned a lot of real estate in Toronto before losing most of it in the depression. His uncle was Edward Bellamy who wrote the futuristic novel Looking Backward in 1888. He went to Trinity College School, a private school for boys, until he was expelled for cutting down the flag pole.

The only truth in the above paragraph is that my grandfather had two sisters, Edith and Gladys. I have been doing online research since 1997 and I went through many blind alleys looking for Stanhopes, the history of Edward Bellamy, and wealthy people in Toronto before the true John S. Bellamy revealed himself to me. The myths with the actual facts are listed below:

He was born at sea - John Samuel Bellamy was born on September 6, 1884 in the town of Kirton, Lincolnshire, England. His father was John Henry Bellamy, a school master and his mother was Elizabeth Rason. The information has been verified by his birth registration. John Henry Bellamy's father was a mariner, perhaps that is where he got that idea. The census returns from 1901 and 1911 in Canada show that the family emigrated in 1899, when my grandfather was fourteen or fifteen years old.

He had two siblings - He had three siblings including a brother, George Henry Parker Bellamy, who was born April 12, 1881. Edith Mary Bellamy was born on August 3, 1882, and Elizabeth Gladys Bellamy was born on June 2, 1892. All the siblings were born in Kirton. I was able to put the family unit together using the census returns for England and Canada.

His father was a mariner – John Henry Bellamy was a school master when he married Elizabeth Rason, a school mistress on May 27, 1880. He continued in that profession until they emigrated to Canada. John Henry or “Harry” Bellamy worked as a motorman for the Toronto Street Railway until his retirement.

The parents were wealthy – In 1901 the family was living in Etobicoke and Harry was earning $500 per year, an average income at that time. Other occupations in the neighbourhood included bartenders, a brickmaker, a gardener, and a general labourer. In 1911 the family was listed at 550 Gladstone Street which appears to be another working class neighbourhood.

Uncle Edward Bellamy – I managed to trace the author, Edward Bellamy, who's ancestors came from England to New England many generations before my grandfather was born. I did find that Edward had a first cousin, named Francis Bellamy, who wrote the American Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Both Edward and Francis were considered socialists in their time. My grandfather, being a bit of a rebel to conformity, might have felt a kinship to these men.

Trinity College School – The picture of my grandfather as a young man is supposed to be him in front of Trinity College School but I have not found any pictures of the school that look like the building in the picture. In 1999 I sent an email to Cathy McCart, Archivist of Trinity College School, and this was her reply to my query:

I have researched your grandfather's name in our records, unfortunately came up with nothing.

We have files with all the entrance cards with information on incoming students, and their records at the School. These are usually a pretty reliable source of information however there is always the possibility that the card could have been lost or misfiled, although it is unlikely.

I proceeded to go to the list of all students' names who, upon entry to the School are given a number and listed in a large book which begins in 1865 and still records the names of todays students. It is a handwritten list, done by the Headmaster. A copy of this list is also printed in The School On The Hill, a book on the history of TCS. I went through all the names from 1890 through 1910 and came up with nothing.

Neither the Development Office records nor the deceased files had any such name.

My conclusion is that John S. Bellamy, born in 1884, never attended Trinity College School.

Even if your grandfather had been expelled, we would still keep his entrance card and name on the Admission's list.

With regrets,

Cathy McCart

Archivist

Grandpa filled out a National Registration form at the time of World War II and when asked for educatation beyond elementary or secondary school, he reported “Business College”.

I sometimes wonder if Grandpa Bellamy is watching me put together the puzzle of his life and laughing at me as I follow the red herrings he has thrown my way. That's okay Grandpa, I have enjoyed the trip.