Empress of France

So it is mid 2009 and I am starting to get heavily involved now – if not obsessed!! I post on various forums and all say basically the same thing. Here is an actual posting:

William Henry Parker - England to Canada abt 1920-25
Posting Date: July 15, 2009
Need help finding my grandparent's family information. This is what I do know but nothing beyond:

William Henry Parker was born in Sheffield, England. He served 4 and half years in France and Belgium during the 1914-1918 war in the British Expedition Forces (B.E.F.) as a Driver. Was in the R.H. (Royal Horseman) and the R.F.A. (Royal Field Artillery) units. He enlisted in Aug 1914 and was discharged in Feb 1919. During his war years, he met Emma Mae Goodman and they married in 1917. After his discharge they immigrated to Canada with one son, Harry who was born in 1919.

Immigrated sometime around 1920-1925.

I know of the family from this point on but nothing of him or her while in England, or what ship they were on or anything like that

*** all of the above facts I found here in Canada through obit, legion app., funeral home document... BUT I have hit a brick wall (no credit card for all these dang pay search sites - they all need paypal!) Anyways, what I really am trying to find is his parent's names and any siblings and anything else interesting about him during the war like what missions, etc. I don't even have a picture of him :o(

HELP, anyone??

I receive a reply back that gave me this information:

Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
about William Henry Parker
Name: William Henry Parker
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1892
Birth Country: England
Date of Arrival: 23 Dec 1920
Vessel: Empress of France
Port of Arrival: St John, New Brunswick
Port of Departure: Liverpool, England
Roll: T-14841

traveled w/ Emma age 24 yrs and Harry 1 yr
destination was Chatham,Ont.
occupation -farm labouer
intended occup in Canada- farm work

I was thrilled to know the date and ship name. So I search out info and photos for the ship for my collection.

The Empress of France

Months go by without any new leads, and then someone sends me the actual photo copy of the passenger sheet for Grandpa, and I’ll be – if the first information giver omitted he was on his way to Chatham Ont to JOIN HIS BROTHER HARRY PARKER!!! A brother!!! Here!! Wonderful!!! This should be easy. Right?

Local Research Findings

Well, it is time to do some more research. I decide to go to the funeral home that held Grandpa's funeral to see if they had any known information on record. Strange thought to find information there, but leave no stone unturned when researching, and to my surprise they do hold an archive of what is called a 'death call sheet' on each person they have serviced. Grandpa's information didn't hold much more than what his obit said, but it did give Sheffield as his place of birth and his complete birthday. Next I decide to go to the Legion he was a member at and they also had his membership form. This gave me his occupation and some military information. I go back to the library and research the old phone books and find where he lived and what occupations he held but no other leads. More than ever now, I want to see what he looked like. All these papers are just words...

Documents found on Grandpa during my local research

I then had heard there were books at the museum called, "Books of Remembrance" on soldiers of our county from both great wars. They were compiled by our I.O.D.E. ladies many many years ago. I decide to see if they had anything on Grandpa in the books, as some pages even had photos of the soldier. So I make an appointment in advance giving her the names of all the relatives that were soldiers. A week later, I head over hoping Grandpa is in the book - with a photo. They bring up all the Parkers listed in the books for WWI on their computer (as they had the books digitized) and we seen no William. She then says, we do have a Harry right here. I look and said, "oh no, the other names I gave are his sons, and would have been in the later wars." (This is a moment I flash back to every now and then.) So they search for his sons in the other book, and found uncle Harry and uncle Charles's sheets. Uncle Harry's sheet had a photo but not uncle Charles. She then says they have a genealogy section of folders that are donated by the public, and brings me out more info. I think Uncle Bob must have given these to the museum, as I have been told he was a frequent visitor at the library, and heavily involved in the legion. Plus he never did marry or have children, so he likely would have wanted these preserved if he had no one to leave them to. The folders held photos and clippings related to his military service, and a clipping of my Dad sitting with Miss USA Bonds, while recovering from a 'shot' foot. Not sure why he would be recovering in the US, but that is where he was during recovery. So I get copies of it all, and I leave disappointed not finding anything on Grandpa...but quite happy to have more documents and photos on my family...  

Documents and photos of my family gathered from our local museum.

From here I could not figure out where else locally to go to find information on Grandpa, so I head back to the internet and input all I had gathered on him. There are many forums online, and I decided to put in everything I knew and hope for the best.

Truly is a Small World

So now it is time to meet some family for the first time. All these meetings happened over a couple months time. This posting is on meeting one of my nieces from my Dad's first family. My oldest sister Gale, died in a terrible car accident when she was only 20 years old (I would have only been 3). She had 3 girls all under the age of 4. It was a terrible accident. As the story goes, my mother was to have been out with her that night. Thankfully she was not.

Now to put a twist on this... my niece Patty (one of Gale's girls) had seen me writing my name and number down for her and says, "That was my step-mom's last name, not sure if it was spelled the same but that is what it was before she married Dad." I say, "What was her first name?" "Rose," she says. I was like, "Interesting, that is what my father-in-law's one sister's name was I do believe." She said she'd check when she got home on the spelling. She then calls me not 10 minutes after she got home and reads Rose's obituary to me. I was like, "oh my God, that is her!" I come home and tell my mother-in-law that Henry's sister, Rose, married my deceased sister's widower!! Then I tell her that my niece was really nice and tell her name - and she about choked on her drink. She says, "I bowl on the league with her husband - for years!" So now Patty calls me Aunt Dawn and my mother-in-law Aunt MaryLou. I still shake my head at all this. My husband's aunt raised my nieces. Now of course, my husband's Dad never grew up with his siblings and that is why we did not discover this any sooner, but it truly is such a small world we live in...

My sister, Gale married Ron and they had 3 daughters together.

My sister's widower, two years later, marries my husband's Aunt and raised my three nieces.

Gale's girls shortly after her untimely death.

The Men of The Stones

I now have photos of their stones but who are these men? Family yes, but who are they really. Because I started my research into my paternal family too late, I missed meeting my Uncles by only a few years! I should never have waited so long. So I turn to my Dad's first family and ask my siblings if they have military info and photos to add to my project. I managed to gather some information and photos but not really the whole package I was hoping for. Since my in-law's sister lived on the same street as Uncle Harry did, I asked her if she knew of the family then. Yes! She got me in touch with a cousin and I set a day to meet. I also turn to the keyboard. Start googling names and such. I came across my Uncle Harry's photo on the Library and Archives Canada site under the Faces of War. I was thrilled for such a great photo of him while serving our country. I would be happy to bring this to my cousin, Randy during our meeting. For now, the following are photos of the men who represent the stones I took at the cemetery....

Uncle Harry (from Faces of War)

Uncle Charlie (and wife Cora)

Uncle Robert (Bob)

I will one day find a photo of Grandpa!

What Got Me Searching

I never grew up with my paternal family and once I started doing my family tree, I wanted to know more than the little bits I already knew. My father lived out West after he and mother separated. Each had a 'first' family before myself and my brother came along. So we have many 'half' siblings. I know them all but grew up with my mom's first 3 children. I don't call any of them 'half' siblings, cause family is the most important thing, and the more I have the better I am for it. 

So I had download a free family tree program from the internet and start inputting all I know. Time consuming but enjoyable seeing how it all comes together. Then I viewed it and noticed how lopsided it really was. I knew my Dad's parents' names but never knew them. So off to the public library I go. I pull the obituaries for both and then head to the cemetery to pay my respect - and introduce myself! 

Well, proudly I can say Grandpa, and 4 of his 5 sons served. His other son was our city's fire chief. I can boast here :)  But sadly I never had the chance to meet one of them. I waited too long. I decided to take my son with me to help search at the cemetery. As we walked through the gates to the Soldier's Field - not a clue where they are in there - the name Parker was right there on the back of a big black stone. We found Uncle Bob. His stone even had a photo. Then Robert says, 'There is your Uncle Harry' just over there. I walked over and looked at the inscription and said, 'No, that isn't our Harry cause he just died in 1999 and this Harry died in 1941. Must be another Parker family, or maybe another family member.' So we walk around and not far off was Grandpa. William H. Parker. As I stood there and read his military information, I started to wonder what he did in the war and what he looked like. I was wishing there was a photo on his stone too. I'll have to ask my siblings on Dad's side if they have photos and such. I stood there awhile - not knowing exactly what I was feeling but somehow felt overcame with great curiosity. We then walked around a bit more and found our Uncle Harry and Uncle Charlie. There in that field, lay my Grandfather and 3 of his sons. My father who was also in the war, lays in rest in BC. As I walked back out through the gates, I felt such a sense of pride but at the same time I felt something drawing me back in. There was something - I just didn't know what at the time.The following are photos I took that day of each of the stones we came across...

Soldier's Field, Maple Leaf Cemetery, Chatham, Ontario

Robert "Bob" Parker / SA0947 / April 26, 1929 to Aug 9, 2002 / Paratrooper Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry / Korea 1950-53	I took this photo as well in case it ended up being a relative and saved it on my computer as 'maybe family.' Corporal Harry Parker 10th Battn C.E.F. / 16th March 1941
William H. Parker / DR. / 1892-1944 / R.H. & R.F.A. / B.E.F. France / 1914-1918	Footstone
Harry Parker / PTE. Kent Regiment / 1919-1999	Charles H. Parker / Cook / RCNVR / 1926-2005

Robert "Bob" Parker / SA0947 / April 26, 1929 to Aug 9, 2002 / Paratrooper Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry / Korea 1950-53

I took this photo as well in case it ended up being a relative and saved it on my computer as 'maybe family.' Corporal Harry Parker 10th Battn C.E.F. / 16th March 1941

William H. Parker / DR. / 1892-1944 / R.H. & R.F.A. / B.E.F. France / 1914-1918

Footstone

Harry Parker / PTE. Kent Regiment / 1919-1999

Charles H. Parker / Cook / RCNVR / 1926-2005