Albert, you've made my day! Wm Shell Sr, married my great aunt Mary Jane (Jennie)CARRUTHERS in Melbourne/Richmond, QC in 1894. Jennie CARRUTHERS, together with her 4 sisters (Elizabeth Dorothy Carruthers was my grandmother)were Home Children, born in England and sent to Canada as children. The 5 girls were born in Liverpool - I can share that info if you want it - but their father died, Mom unable to care for them, and they were sent to Canada in a child migrant scheme. 4 of the 5 girls were distributed to their new "homes" from the Knowlton Distributing Home in Knowlton, QC. Jennie and her sister Margaret - who married Wm TUDGE in Melbourne in 1896 - both settled in the Richmond area. Wm Shell and Jennie had 6 children in all: Francis, Arthur, William, Greta, May and Harry. Wm and Jennie returned to England before the 1901 census was taken, as they are listed in the 1901 UK census, living in a parish of Liverpool, LANCS. I don't know when the family returned to Canada, but I reached a brick wall upon release of the Canadian 1911 census, because I found Wm Sr, Wm Jr, Greta and May, but they're living in hostels in Quebec City. No sign of Jennie and the other children. I've suspected that she may have left the marriage and gone to the US, as her sister Margaret TUDGE did that before 1901. I've found Margaret TUDGE and her son John living in the Boston, MA area in the 1920 census. Margaret is remarried to H. Rockwell OSBORNE. Do you have any information as to when/how Jennie arrived in the US? I have details of the marriage of May, who bore Thomas Cunningham's son, Harold, 2 years before their marriage in Richmond, QC in 1922. I have more detail, but won't bore the group here. Contact me offline if you wish to compare notes:
soules1@sympatico.ca