Seeking information on my maternal grandmother, Mary Jane Stevens who emigrated to Canada some time after 1911. Mary Jane was born in Woolwich, London, England in 1878. She married Daniel Reuben Belcher about 1899 and had four children with him, Maisie, Reuben John, Alice, and Lilian Emily (my mother). In 1911 Mary was living with her husband and children in Plumstead. Some time afterwards she left her family and emigrated to Canada. My mother never saw her again. Many members of Mary's family also emigrated to Canada including her brother Henry (Harry) John Stevens who died in 1967 and her own mother, also called Mary, who died in 1940. Some of her relatives settled in LLoydminster, Saskatchewan, others, including her sister Alice, in Detroit and some in British Columbia. I would be grateful to hear from any descendants of my grandmother who know anything of her history and who would feel able to get in touch. Thank you.
Geoffrey Finch
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? Name: Mary Stevens Gender: Female Departure Date: 15 Mar 1912 Port of Departure: Liverpool, England Destination Port: Halifax; Saint John, Canada Ship Name: Victorian + 1916 Name: Mary Stevens Gender: Female Marital Status: Single Age: 38 Est. Birth Year: 1878 Birthplace: England Year of Immigration: 1912 Home in 1916: 05H, Calgary East, Alberta Address: 523 31st St NW Racial or Tribal Origin: English + Name: Edward Mellanby Event: Baptême (Baptism) Baptism Year: 1920 Baptism Location: Montréal, Québec (Quebec) Religion: Presbyterian Place of Worship or Institution: Rosemont Presbyterian Church MOTHER MARY STEVENS + DETROIT XING Name: Mary Mellanby Age: 64 Birth Date: 23 Jan 1879 Birth Place: London, England Arrival Date: 25 Dec 1943 Arrival Port: Detroit, Michigan, USA
+ Name: Edward Mellanby Age: 15 Birth Date: abt 1914 Arrival Date: 9 Jan 1929 Arrival Port: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Thank you so much ELL. I'll follow these links up.
Best Wishes
Geoff
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Following up on the Mallenby family
1921 HOCHELAGE, ROSEMOUNT, ST MICHAELS MALLENBY Edward age 39, born England parents born England, immigrated 1913 Mary, age 40, wife, born England parents born England immigrated 1913 Edward, age 7 born Quebec parents born England Harry, age 1, son born Quebec, parents born England
there is a passenger list for an Edward Mellenby arriving in Canada 1913 from England, going to Montreal - he is single so if this is right fellow , then Mary must have come before they married.
I also found baptisms for the two boys Edward and Harry
ROSEMOUNT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MONTREAL Edward, son of Edward Mallenby and his wife Mary Stevens of 547 - 9th Ave. Rosemount was born in Montreal on the 12th day of March, the year of our Lord 1914 and was baptized by me at the above address on the 13th day of November 1920. Edward and Mary signed
on same page Harry, infant son of Edward Mellanby and his wife Mary Stevens of 547 - 9th Ave. Rosemount, was born in Montreal on the 21st day of August the year of our Lord 1920 and was baptized by me on the 13th day of November 1920. Edward and Mary signed
There is another entry - this one for a death that looks like another child VERDUN -0 BAPTIST - QUEBEC MELLANBY This is to certify that Charles Mellanby, son, aged 5-1/2 months of age of the lawful marriage of Edward and Mary Mellanby of Evelyn Street, Verdun, Quebec died on the 27th day of June and was duly interred by me in the Rosemount cemetery, Mounty Royal in the City of Montreal on the 29th day of June 1917. E.H. Mellanby and M. Mellanby signed
I have not found Mary in passenger lists and nothing yet to prove she is your Mary but with the family going to Detroit more than once it seems very possible it is right Mary.
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Thank you so much for this material. Checking through it, I'm sure you are right in thinking Mary Jane Stevens and Mary Mellanby are one and the same. I've found an entry for Edward Herbert Mellanby in the 1911 UK census. He's shown as a lodger in the house of Mary Stevens' mother in Plumstead England. I believe they struck up a relationship and that Mary probably became pregnant and fled abroad. Mary's first child by Edward was born in March 1914, five months after Edward Herbert left England.
This all fits with what my mother told me. She said that when she was about five, which would have been in 1913, her mother sent her and her three siblings, Alice, Maisie and Reuben out to play on Plumstead Common. When they got back there was a note saying she had gone to Canada with someone. None of her English family ever saw her again. The plot thickens because according to my mum her brother , Rueben had fallen in the pond on that day and almost drowned. In 1928, when Rueben would have been 22 he died of lung complications. Three years later, in 1931 Daniel Rueben, my mum's dad drowned himself in the self same pond on Plumstead Common.
I'm guessing that Mary never married Edward but simply passed as his wife. At any rate I can't find any record of their marriage and it couldn't have happened anyway until after 1931 when her English husband died. I've managed to follow all your entries apart from the first one, the 1921 listing which shows them living in Hochelage Rosemount. I assumed it was the 1921 Canadian census but I get a nil return. Could you enlighten me please? Thank you once again
Geoffrey
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