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Showing posts with the label victorian military history

Born on St Patrick's Day: Happy 115th Mary

They say that its good luck to be Irish, and that the luckiest of all are those who are born on St Patrick's Day. No doubt this is what was said the day that my great grandmother was born. However, her life was not necessarily filled with the good luck that the superstition had predicted. As much as she had a hard life, her life was also an "ordinary" one of a young British immigrant to Canada. Despite that, the simple life she led in youth was filled with fun. She embrace the changing times, new found freedoms, and innovations. Its the heirlooms from that chapter of her life that fascinate me the most because they show a side to her that none of my relatives knew - a woman who was happy. So today, I am going to share the side of her - that one that the heirlooms tells. I have a small black autograph book that was hers.  At almost 100 years old, the book binding has all but disintegrated yet the leather cover is in near pristine condition and the partially bound pages are...
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Pte. James Sword - Poverty, Industrial Schools, and Military Service

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Yesterday I wrote about how to read a British militia attestation form and used the example of a young man named James Sword. His story truly embodies what it was like to grow up in poverty during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras.  The Early Years James was born July 27 1889 in Bow, London, England - making him the baby of the Sword family. He had four older sisters and one older brother. At the time of his birth the family was struggling financially, and that would only worsen a month later when his father died. Now widowed with five children still in her care, James' mother had no choice but to turn to the Board of Guardians for relief. Within a year the entire family was admitted to the Wandsworth and Clapham Union Workhouse. The duration of the family's stay was brief. By 1901, they had left the workhouse but were still struggling to get by. They were living on Ammiel St in Bow. Their home literally fell down around them, and the neighbouring homes that remained...
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Edwardian British Militia Attestation Forms

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During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, militias were a central part of the British military. Although their service was limited to 'home' service, many of the men also opted to serve overseas. Militia attestation forms were formally referred to as Army Form E 504. They contained the following types of information: Birth place Place of residence Occupation and employer Marital status  Number of children under the age of 14 Next of kin (name, relationship, address)  Previous military experience Physical description What battalion they served with To better understand the structure of a militia attestation form, lets look at one that belonged to James Sword.  Front of Attestation Form How do we know that we are dealing with a militia attestation form? There are two main indicators, both of which are found at the top of the page. In the central bolded font it says "attestation for the militia" instead of stating 'short service' (which was for the army). The seco...
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Ford's Folly and the Slum of Little Hell

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Battersea: The Sinkhole of Surrey During the Victorian Era, Battersea had gained the reputation as being “the sinkhole of Surrey” due to its widespread poverty and slum-like conditions. Many of the poor in Battersea were subject to irregular income from the building trades. For a family to scrape by in the winter they would have to apply thrift spending during the summer. This was often complicated by the reliance on alcohol which was used as a means of escape from the depression of living in such widespread poverty. The irregular income caused many of Battersea’s poor to frequently be on the move. On average a family lived in one place for less than two years before moving no more than a few streets away. After hopping from neighbourhood to neighbourhood the family would eventually return to where they were once exiled from, moving in only a few doors away from their former address. Ford’s Folly and the slum of Little Hell In Keith Bailey’s report Orville Road, Battersea: a Victor...
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Born on St Patrick's Day: Happy 115th Mary

They say that its good luck to be Irish, and that the luckiest of all are those who are born on St Patrick's Day. No doubt this is what was said the day that my great grandmother was born. However, her life was not necessarily filled with the good luck that the superstition had predicted. As much as she had a hard life, her life was also an "ordinary" one of a young British immigrant to Canada. Despite that, the simple life she led in youth was filled with fun. She embrace the changing times, new found freedoms, and innovations. Its the heirlooms from that chapter of her life that fascinate me the most because they show a side to her that none of my relatives knew - a woman who was happy. So today, I am going to share the side of her - that one that the heirlooms tells. I have a small black autograph book that was hers.  At almost 100 years old, the book binding has all but disintegrated yet the leather cover is in near pristine condition and the partially bound pages are...
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Courting Disaster: The 1915 Niagara Trolley Accident

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The worst electric rail crash in Ontario’s history and the  3 rd  worst in Canadian history (at the time)  occurred at Queenston Heights in Niagara Falls on July 7 1915 . In total the crash of car number 685 claimed the lives of 15 people and was responsible for injuring 130 people.  To put the scale of the accident into context, more lives were lost and more people were injured during the 1915 trolley accident than British soldiers during the battle of Queenston Heights.  The main occupants of the trolley were members of Toronto’s Wood Green Methodist and St John Presbyterian Sunday school groups. The two church groups had organized a day trip to Niagara Falls for the approximate 1,100 parishioners (majority of which were women and children). The accident occurred when the two groups were on their way home.  All day the weather had been ideal for taking portraits and going picnicking, however towards the evening hours (approximately 7:15 pm) it began to ra...
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