Walter William Gibbons (1879 - 1947)

Born 1879 in Challock, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Florence Kate (Dray) Gibbons — married 1907 in Crundale or West Ashford, Kent

Died 1947 at about age 68 in Canterbury, Kent, England

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Biography

Walter's birth was registered in Q1 1879 in East Ashford, Kent.^[1]

In 1901 he was a fireman on the "Condor" in Royal Albert Docks, London.^[2]

Walter married Florence Kate Dray on 15 Dec 1907 in Crundale, Kent.^[3] They had five children: Nelson (b.1910), Thelma (b.1912), Bernard (b.1913), Gordon (b.1915) and Wesley (b.1917).

They emigrated to Canada in 1908 under the prairies settlement programme, sailing on the Ionian from iverpool to St John, New Brunswick^[4][5]. By 1921 Walter had his own farm in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.^[6] He enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in 1916 but it isn't known whether he saw action.^[7] He was still in Saskatchewan in 1931^[8] but had returned to England by 1939.^[9]

Both Wesley and his father Walter were living in Canada in 1934, when Wesley entered the US at Eastport, Idaho. He was presumably on his way from Saskatchewan to British Columbia (in 1934 there were no roads across the Canadian Rockies. To get from Saskatchewan to British Columbia you needed to go through the US). Theimmigration record describes him as 5’7”, Med complexion, Brown hair, Hazel eyes. age 17, and born in Ashford, Kent, England. It gives his occupation as student,and his permanent address as Nipawin, Sask, Canada. It lists

Name and address of relative in country leaving: Walter W Gibbons, Nipawin, Sask, Canada

Name and address of relative or friend in destination: Aunt Nellie Lias (Amelia Gibbons), 1971 Kitchener St, Vancouver.^[10]

Walter died in Canterbury, Kent on 29 March 1947.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ GRO Mar Qtr 1879 E. Ashford 2a 762 ; FreeBMD
2. ↑ 1901 Census RG13/1586 folio 71 schedule 6
3. ↑ GRO Mar Qtr 1908 W. Ashford 2a 1225 ; FreeBMD, Internet
4. ↑ Find My Past - Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960
5. ↑ Find My Past -Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960
6. ↑ 1921 Census of Canada RG31, FN 162, Swift Current p.5
7. ↑ Canada, World War I CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918
8. ↑ 1931 Census of Canada - Saskatchewan - Willow Bunch - 0092
9. ↑ 1939 England and Wales Register - Kent - Bridge-Blean RD
10. ↑ Find My Past Idaho, Eastport Arrivals, 1900-1962
11. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/237724577/walter-william-gibbons