Find Ancestors

Would like to find out information about my grandmother's brother. His name is Will Evans and he was born around 1900 to Daniel and Martha (nee Raymond) in Llantrisant (Wales). He emigrated to Canada around 1927 and was probably in Quebec initially. He married Marie, a French Canadian and they adopted two children. At some point he was a mayor - possibly in Winnipeg. He later became a Judge probably in Quebec, where he did a lot to help the indiginous people.

He visited UK in the late 1960s and at that time was living in Kamloops, BC..

Would love any information on him - sorry I don't have any more info.

Thanks for any help.

Ann

I will be out until tonight but please if you can help let me know.
I will respond asap

Thanks

Hi Ann:

Without an exact birthdate, or possibly knowing if he had a middle name, it might be difficult to find his death. British Columbia (as far as I know) is one of only a couple of provinces to give death index information:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/textual/governmt/vstats/v_events.htm
(Search "Vital Events")

Lynn

Thank you very much for the info but unfortunately even though it all seems to fit this is not the same family. In 1901 census they are shown in the Administrative County of Glamorgan, Civil Parish Llantrisant.

Thanks

Ann

Hi Lisa

Unfortunately I do not have date of birth but presume he was born after 1901 as he was not shown on that census. I do know he was younger than my grandmother who is on the 1901. It's his life in Canada that I am interested in. I have tried googling him but nothing comes up. My mother remembers certain details which I have given on here but does not know his birth date.

I really would like to find out more about him. Maybe I will have to wait for the 1911 census to be able to move forward but I do hope not.

Sorry am going to bed now as i was up nearly all last night!!

Thanks
Ann

n

1901 for reference:

1901 Wales Census
about Martha Evans
Name: Martha Evans
Age in 1901: 32
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869
Relation: Wife
Spouse's Name: Dan
Gender: Female
Where born: Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Civil Parish: Llantrisant
Ecclesiastical parish: Llantrisant
Town: Pontyclun
County/Island: Glamorgan
Country: Wales
Registration district: Pontypridd
Sub registration district: Llantrisant
ED, institution, or vessel: 3
Household schedule number: 193
Household Members: Name Age
Dan Evans 33
Martha Evans 32
Elizabeth Evans 11
Mary A Evans 9
Bertie Evans 7
John Evans 4
Ethel Evans 3
Wyndham Evans 1
John Seward 32

Rose

If Rose found your family in 1901...it looks like the average periods between children were 2 years which could mean Will was born around 1902. I will have another look around, keeping this later date in mind.

I also tried googling, and didn't see anything. (Tried Kamloops; mayor in Winnipeg; judge in Quebec, etc.) I haven't given up yet, though.

Ann:
You do know about the Immigration Records on the Collections Canada site, don't you? There isn't any way of narrowing down which record is Will's, but if you do eventually find his date of birth, that would help.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/immigration-1925/index-e.html

Have you posted a thread, asking for an immigration lookup for Will? Also, you might ask if there is a record of him returning to the UK for a visit prior to the late 1960's.

Do you know where Will's parents were living (which city/town) in the 1930's?

Hi Rose

Thank you for this information which I do already have, but thank you for your time.

I will follow up Lisa's suggestions.

Best wishes

Ann

Hi Lisa

Thank you for all your information. I believe the family were still in Llantrisant in the 30s, but it is possible that they had already moved to Surrey at that time. I will ask my mother (who is now 90 and lives in Australia) and get back to you.

Best wishes

Ann

Hi Lisa

Have just spoken to my mother about Will. She said his parents would have been living in Tonyrefail which is in Rhondda, Mid Glamorgan, Wales during the early 1930s and moved to Tolworth in Surrey in about 1935/36.

I have posted a thread asking for immigration look-ups which I have had some replies to including a list of possible sailings, so hopefully this may produce some results.

Ann

Hi Lisa

Have today received information on Will Evans. Apparently he was born in about 1904 as he was 23 in 1927. In 1927 he left Liverpool on the Cedric bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia arriving 3 April 1927. He went under the Empire Settlement Act and was to become a farmer. His destination was Toronto.

Best wishes

Ann

Hi Ann:
Sorry for not replying before now. I've not been around the computer lately.

I certainly don't know "all there is" to know about Toronto, but all of my ancestors settled in Toronto, so I know more about the Toronto area than I do other parts of Canada.

Will's destination may have been Toronto, but he most likely lived outside of Toronto if he continued with farming as an occupation. With such a common name, it may be difficult to find records, but I will search around to see if I can come up with anything in the Toronto area around the late 20's.

Thank you for the added information.
---------------------
You mentioned that he was possibly a mayor in Winnipeg. Do you know if he WAS a mayor and you're guessing the city, or do you think he was a mayor and you're guessing the city? I'l check back here later today. I'm headed back to sleep (I've been awake most of the night.)

It wasn't Winnipeg:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Winnipeg

Perhaps another city in Manitoba??

I don't know how complete this list is, but it doesn't show Evans as a judge in Quebec:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Quebec_judges

It only lists 74 names; I would think there would be more than 74 people! (Maybe these were just the well-known judges?)

Once again, perhaps these are just the well-known judges:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Canadian_judges

Thank you Lisa - that would be great. Just a reminder that he married a French Canadian by the name of Marie. We have been to Toronto a few times (they have 11" of snow today and the same again due tonight) but know nothing about the area or where to start looking.

Hope you managed to get some sleep. I have the same problem at the moment and spend hours on the computer. Whenever I wake up I immediately start thinking "family tree".

Will was definitely a mayor but not sure where. My mother had pictures of him (since lost!) with his mayoral chains. We were pretty sure he was in the Quebec region, especially as he married a French Canadian. All a bit vague I'm afraid but definitely a mayor.

Ann

Hi Lisa

I'm so sorry, I completely missed your two replies yesterday (about a mayor and a judge) - I must have just gone to the bottom of page 1 and not on to page 2.

I wonder if he was a judge in BC as he was living in Kamloops but I'm sure it was long before that. If we could find out the cause he was fighting for the indiginous people (maybe American Indians?) it would help.

I have literally just spoken to my mother about this and she says she thinks it was like a "clan" of people going around in groups and going in to towns. (Perhaps they were causing trouble). He got them all together and colonised them and got them an area in which to live. Sounds a bit like the Aboriginals in Australia - that kind of thing. It's difficult to put in to words when you know nothing about it!

I've just seen something else in my notes; apparently he came over to the UK with Marie in about 1933 for about a year. (Maybe we could find out more about Marie). It was just the two of them at that time. They adopted two children but think this was later. Would you be able to check that out please? If not I can ask Lorraine again.

We've now established he was born in 1904 in Tonyrefail in Glamorganshire (maybe recorded as Pontypridd). My mother still thinks he was a judge in Quebec (just asked her again).

Sorry to have missed your replies and taken so long to get back to you. Had friends round last night so we were a bit busy yesterday.

Thanks for all your help I really appreciate it.

Ann

Hi Lisa

I have checked out the Wikipedia sites you quoted and tried various other areas for mayors and judges but nothing coming up - as you said. It's very strange as I know my mother isn't imagining it.

I will ask Lorraine to have a look for 1933 return to UK.

Anything else you can do would be great.

Best wishes

Ann

Hi Ann: Sorry for not replying. My coworker is not working this week, so I have to put in more hours than usual. Also, I've been busy during non-working hours.

Anyway, I don't have access to incoming UK records nor are there Canadian records that recently (I don't think). I will look around American immigration c1934 in case he returned via America.

PS I don't see how the sites I referred previously could possibly cover every judge. Those were probably just the more well-known judges. I also initially googled "Judge Evans" with other key words and didn't see anything. He quite possibly was a judge in Quebec and his name just isn't on the internet.