Search for content in message boards

Warner - Unwed Mother (Killed in Halifax Explosion) & her son, Harold James Warner

Warner - Unwed Mother (Killed in Halifax Explosion) & her son, Harold James Warner

Posted: 26 Apr 2015 7:09AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 29 Apr 2015 9:42PM GMT
I recently met a man, aged 75 who told me he has NO knowledge of his father's family. His father was born Nov 17 or 19, 1914 to an unwed mother, whose surname was Warner. He thinks she may have been from the Digby area (or possibly Cape Breton), but was living in Halifax with her child, where she was killed in the Halifax explosion of 6 Dec 1917.

Her 3 year old son, Harold James Warner survived because he was in a church basement, which was being used as a daycare. In part of the basement was a reinforced area of brick, normally used as a stage. The children were sitting there eating when the explosion happened. It was the only safe part of the basement to have been at the time. Many children became orphans because of the horrific explosion and were raised by other families in Nova Scotia.

Harold and another child were raised by the Vaughn family (brothers and sisters who lived together.) Here is the info about this household from the 1921 Census of Grand Prè.
Name Age
Joseph A Vaughn 46
Aida Vaughn 63
Clara Vaughn 43
Harold Warner 6
William Murray 6
Retta Vaughn 52

Perhaps Harold James Warner was named after his Grandfather &/or other relative(s). If any part of this story sounds familiar, I would appreciate hearing from you.


per page

Find a board about a specific topic