Frederick William Latham (1896 - 1940)

Born 21 Aug 1896 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom

Died 3 Oct 1940 at age 44 in Nova Scotia, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Matthew Evans [send private message]

Biography

Frederick Latham was a British Home Child and was one of many Children Transported to Canada.

Private Frederick Latham served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I
Service started: 29 Feb 1916
Unit(s): 106th Battalion CEF, 26th Battalion CEF
Service ended: 15 Mar 1919

Private Frederick Latham was Wounded in Action in France during World War I.

Frederick was born on August 21, 1896 in Birmingham, England. He was a son of Annie (UNKNOWN) Latham of Birmingham.^[1]

By 1905, Frederick was in the care of a Middlemore Children's Emigration Home in Birmingham. His mother, aged 38, was a widow and homeless. Like many children sent to the Middlemore homes, Frederick was sent there in the hopes of a better life and vocational training overseas. He also had two siblings, at least one of which was also sent to the Middlemore home system.^[2]

Frederick arrived in Canada aboard the ship Siberian. 142 children in total were transported that day, bound for Fairview Home, a home operated by Middlemore's organization.^[3]

He was first placed with Alexander Ingram of North Sydney in 1905. He was subsequently placed with Alex Sylvester of Sylvester, Pictou County and then later with John R. Douglas in the same place.^[4]

At some point prior to 1916, he was a member of the Canadian Militia serving with the 78th Regiment Pictout Highlanders and had taken up farming as a trade.^[5][1]

On February 29, 1916, Frederick enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for overseas service. He served first with the 106th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles), which sailed aboard the S.S. Empress of Britain from Halifax on July 15 of that year.^[5][1] The 106th was later absorbed into other Battalions. Frederick continued his service with the 13th Reserve Battalion and then later the 26th Battalion, also known as the New Brunswick Regiment.^[1]

He was admitted to a Red Cross hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand in April 1917 and was seen several times after that for follow up however the wound was largely superficial and his largest complaint was stiff fingers.^[1]

Frederick was dicharged at the end of the war on March 15, 1919 when his unit was demobilized at Halifax.^[1]

He passed away on October 3, 1940 at the age of 44 and was interred at St. Bee's Cemetery in Westville, Pictou County.^[6]

Research Notes

• Find-A-Grave profile lists Frederick's place of death as Nova Scotia however based on no death record being available at the Nova Scotia Archives, it cannot be confirmed.
• Based on death date, reviewed World War II death records to see if Frederick re-enlisted however none were found
• Checked neighbouring jurisdiction (New Brunswick) for death record. None found
• Could not find Fred Latham in 1921 census of Canada to confirm occupation

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} WWI Personnel File (Digitized), Library and Archives Canada
2. ↑ Middlemore Homes Application Book Index Record, Library and Archives Canada
3. ↑ Immigration Record, Library and Archives Canada
4. ↑ Settlement Reports (Middlemore Children), Library and Archives Canada
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Muster Roll, 106th Battalion CEF. Doing our Bit Blog. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #143044600, Private Frederick William Latham (1896-1940)