Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 4

1. Lieut. James Kay
2. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Update
3. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 3

On July 22, 1915 James enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent to England where he was later posted with the 5th Canadian Siege Battery – Canadian Garrison Artillery. While he was in England, he sent a postcard home to his mother, dated January 16, 1916. It reads:

“Haven’t heard from you for a long time – what’s up? Still in England. Expecting to move any time. Weather gorgeous. Have hired cycle. Don’t mind staying here. Jim”

I’m not sure when James’ unit was finally shipped out, but having found the War Diaries of WWI at Library and Archives Canada, the 5th Canadian Siege Battery were in Poiziers (France?) in October 1916. By July 1917 they were in Angres. These diaries give a day to day account of everything that occurred. Although these are very interesting to read, my goal was to see if there was an account of when James died. Since I knew he died on July 28, 1917, I quickly scanned the diaries until I found that day. I found the page that I was looking for and this is what was written:

“28-7-17: The Battery Position was shelled today with H.E. Lieut. J. Kay was seriously wounded and died on way to Dressing Station. 346828 Cpl. H. Sheldon was also wounded.”

Lieut. James Kay was commissioned from the ranks and laid to rest at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. A Memorial Plaque and letter from Buckingham Palace were sent to his mother, Elizabeth, after his death.

Online memorials have been set up for those who died during WWI and James’s memorials can be found here, here and here.

“All Gave Some
And Some Gave All”

Rest In Peace Uncle James.

Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Part 3

1. Lieut. James Kay

2. Lieut. James Kay (1888-1917) - Update

James Kay was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 22, 1888 to Adam Bishop Kay and Elizabeth Muirhead Sinclair. Already knowing that he was living in Montreal in July 1915 (the date he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force), I was curious as to when the Kay’s had arrived in Canada. In searching the 1911 Canada Census, I came up empty.

I then decided to see when they were last in Scotland and found them on the 1901 Scotland Census. According to this census, they were living at 37 Queensferry Street in Edinburgh. Adam Bishop Kay (listed as Head of the family) was a Joiner and Cabinetmaker. James was 13 years old and his brother Adam Sinclair (my step-grandfather) was 5 years old. Going back a little further to the 1891 Scotland Census, I found Elizabeth, aged 27, living with her mother, Helen Sinclair, and a sister, Catherine Sinclair, living at No. 14 Melville Place, Edinburgh. Elizabeth was married at the time (she is listed as Elizabeth Kay), but Adam Bishop is not listed as living with them. James was 3 years old and a daughter, Helen aged 2 months, is also listed. Adam Sinclair was not born until 1896. If Adam Bishop was serving in the Military in 1891, he obviously made it back home safe and sound since he still had one son to father! (and as mentioned, he is listed on the 1901 Census.

I then decided to check the Canadian Passenger lists from 1865-1935. I found an Elizabeth M. Kay, age 44 (widowed) and Adam S. Kay, aged 16 arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Numidian on December 14, 1911, via Glasgow, Scotland (they obviously arrived after the 1911 census was taken). James was not with them at this time. There is also no mention of a daughter Helen . (I have not found any records of a daughter Helen, except for the 1891 Census and the 1923 income tax receipt – was she perhaps living with another family member?).

On continuing my search of the Canadian Passenger Lists, I found James Kay arriving on the Carmania, leaving Liverpool, England and arriving in New York City on November 24, 1913. He was listed as a returning Canadian with a final destination of Montreal. It shows that he originally arrived in Canada in 1908 and had lived here for 5 years. I haven’t found the passenger list for this arrival yet.

It’s Data Back Up Day

I work in the Quotations Dept. of a large manufacturing company. Every day I work on large multi-million dollar quotations that take weeks to prepare. The last thing I want is to lose my data. Every night our servers are backed up, once a week my computer backs up to the one beside me, that backs up to the one beside it, etc. and once a month I’m very vigilant about backing up my data directory onto flash drives or CDs. I’m not so vigilant at home – or at least I didn’t use to be.

As previously mentioned, I belong to the Order of the Eastern Star (Masonic affiliated) and I am my local chapter’s secretary. I also put together their jurisdictional newsletter. Between correspondence, mailing lists, chapter by-laws, etc., the newsletter, I have a fair amount of data on my computer. About four years ago, I had a Trojan Horse sneak in the back door that shutdown my computer. Of course, I didn’t have anything backed up! I lost everything! Most of the data lost wasn’t that important, but having to retype from scratch the by-laws and redoing the newsletter just broke my heart.

Lesson learned - I now back up at least once a month if not twice. I was going to do it this coming weekend, but with the threat of the Conficker Worm that was supposed to strike today, I did my back up last night, both at home and at work. I certainly don’t want to retype those by-laws again and I certainly don’t want to lose all the work I have done on the family history.

Have you done your back up yet?

Blogs and Sourcing

I have been reading with interest the discussions about the validity of blogs in genealogy research and whether or not to post sources.

Being new to genealogy and blogging, I enjoy reading the various blogs to aid me in the “how-to” aspect of my research. I have learned many things with regards to where to search for information, ideas on how to break down brick walls and reading about other’s frustrations and happy moments in their research, all the while nodding my head. I do not, however, use these blogs as sources in my own research (I have a family booklet that my cousin put together and I don’t even use that as a positive source as he didn’t include any sources).

I started my blog, for my benefit to keep myself organized and motivated and to share with those who are interested, my findings and my trials & tribulations in my research.

Should anyone who might be researching the same surnames be interested in my sources, they are more then welcome to contact me and I am more than happy to share. However, I will not be listing my sources on my posts. If this, in turn, causes others to stop following my blog – so be it (although I certainly hope that doesn’t happen!).

My two “unsourced” cents.

Tombstone Tuesday - Robert Allan Farrell

Ever Remembered, Ever Loved

Allan Farrell

1927 - 1962

In God's Keeping

Allan Farrell was my father who passed away when he was 35 yrs. old. from complications due to Diabetes. He was buried on my parents 9th wedding anniversary. I took this picture about 20 years ago when I visited his grave for the first time.

Anyone else in the distant family would have a hard time finding this tombstone because his full name is not one it! His full name was Robert Allan but he always went by Allan. For some reason either my mother or my grandparents didn't think to put his full name on the tombstone! The below picture is a closer look of the stone before it was placed on his grave.

Lieut. James Kay (1888 – 1917) - Update

As mentioned in my previous post, my sister had given me some medals and a dog tag belonging to my step-great uncle James Kay. With these I embarked on a search of his military records.

My first step was to check the Canadian Soldiers of World War I on Ancestry. I didn’t have much to go on except his name and that he lived in Montreal. I found a record for a James Kay with a relative of Elizabeth Muirhead Kay. On selecting that one, I found an Attestation Paper indicating Elizabeth Muirhead Kay as next of kin, who lived at 38 Overdale Ave., Apt. 4, Montreal. Overdale Ave. rang a bell, so I double checked some papers that I had and found an old Income Tax receipt for a Helen Kay dated 1923 (she owed a whopping $.72) that said that she lived on Overdale Ave; however, the street number was 36 Overdale. I knew that my step-grandfather had a sister named Helen. I printed off the Attestation Paper just in case this was my James. I then decided to go a different route and typed in my step-grandfather’s name, Adam Sinclair Kay. First record that showed up had a relative of Elizabeth Muirhead Kay. It was Adam’s Attestation Paper listing Elizabeth Muirhead Kay as next kin (mother) living at 38 Overdale Ave.! I have a postcard that James wrote to his mother in January 1916 and it was addressed to E. M. Kay. This was the clincher that confirmed that I had found the right James Kay. I couldn’t believe my luck that within a ½ hour I had found both James’ and Adam’s Attestation Papers. The papers had their date of births, location of birth, their occupation and their service number. It also listed previous military service. James had served seven years with the Royal Highlanders of Canada. One of James’ medals that I have is from the Royal Highlanders!

The Attestation paper was for the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. I had never heard of this so I decided to google it. The first link that showed up had a complete explanation of this special force. Apparently during World War I, Canada didn’t have a fighting militia so Canadians signed up to fight with England. This force was later disbanded in 1919. The article I found had links to other sites and one of them was Veteran’s Affairs Canada. Veteran’s Affairs Canada has a Canadian Virtual War Memorial. The introductory paragraph says “This site contains a registry of information about the graves and memorials of more than 116,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who served and gave their lives for their country. Included on this site are the memorials of more than 1500 soldiers who died in service to Canada since the Korean War, including peacekeeping and other operations.”

I plugged in James’ name (you can also enter date of death if you have it, which I didn’t). Two entries showed up. The first was for a James Kay, Regimental Sergeant Major (WO.I) who was part of the Canadian Infantry, Manitoba Regiment (which also showed his service number) who died in 1919 – not my James. I selected the second record and hit pay dirt! Lieutenant JAMES KAY who died on July 28, 1917. Force: Army; Unit: Canadian Garrison Artillery; Division: 5th Siege Bty. The dog tag that I have says Lieut. J. Kay, 5th Can. Siege Battery. I now had a date of death and a location in France where he is buried. The memorial lists the cemetery and even a location within the cemetery where his grave is.

(To Be Continued…..)

Lieut. James Kay

As mentioned in previous posts, my mother remarried when I was 2 years old, after my father passed away. Although I knew that my step-father and his sister were born in Lachine, Quebec and that my step-grandmother was born in England, I didn’t really know too much about the Kay family, other than the fact that my step-father’s sister, Helen was married to my father’s brother, Forbes Farrell, making my blood cousins my step-cousins! (I’ll post more on that in a future post).

Last weekend my sister Judy brought out a box of medals that belonged to my step-great uncle, James Kay that I hadn’t seen in years. She wanted me to take them as she knows that I am working on the family history and thought I would be interested in them.

James Kay was a name that we had heard about but whom we knew virtually nothing. All we knew was that he was my step-grandfather’s brother and that he was killed during WWI. I don’t even remember ever seeing a picture of him. My step-father didn’t know anything about him and my step-grandfather died when I was little so we couldn’t ask him. James Kay was just a name from the past.

While looking through the box of medals, we found a picture of him. Now we had a face to a name and James became a real person! This picture was the front of a post card that James sent to his mother dated January 1916.

We also found two tiny pictures, one of which was of his grave and temporary cross, with a hand drawn map on the back showing the cemetery where he is buried, but no name of the cemetery (although I could tell from the map that it was in France).










With the medals we also found his dog tag, which mentioned his Unit name. I told my sister that with this little bit of information, I would try to see if I could find James’ military information. The next couple of days were spent researching (after which my elbow gave me grief) and did I hit a gold mine! Not only did I find James's military information, I also found some information on my step-grandfather that I knew nothing about.

Stay tuned to see what I found.

The Marshall Clan

The word prompt for the 11th Edition of Smile For The Camera is brothers & sisters? Were they battling brothers, shy little sisters, or was it brother & sister against the world? Our ancestors often had only their siblings for company. Were they best friends or not? Show us that picture that you found with your family photographs or in your collection that shows your rendition of brothers & sisters. Bring them to the carnival and share. Admission is free with every photograph!

The brothers and sisters that I have chosen for this edition of Smile For The Camera are my mother and her siblings. My mother had six siblings and they were all very close, especially the 3 youngest (they did everything together – especially getting into trouble). My grandparents passed away when my mom was very young - my grandfather when she was 2 years old and my grandmother when my mom was 11 years old. The oldest of the siblings, my Aunt Nell then became guardian of the 3 youngest kids. She was married but her husband, a Canadian soldier, was off fighting. The next 3 oldest, my Uncles Dave and Robert and my Aunt Rachel were also married and in the service. When the war ended, my Aunt Nell was to immigrate to Canada as a War Bride and was going to bring the 3 youngest, my Uncle Norrie (17 yrs), my Auntie Vina (15 yrs.) and my mom (13 yrs.), with her. Up until about 2 weeks before departure, all but my Aunt Nell received their papers. While waiting for her to received her papers, my Uncle Norrie turned 18 and was called up for his mandatory 2 years of service, causing him to remain behind in Scotland.

The first picture is of all the brothers and sisters (minus my Aunt Rachel) taken just shortly before my mom and her two sisters left for Canada in April 1946. Left to right – back row: Dave Marshall, Muriel (Robert’s wife), Robert Marshall and Norrie Marshall. Left to right – front row: Lizzie (Dave’s wife), Nell (Marshall) Crossman, Vina Marshall and Rhona Marshall (my mom).

The second picture is of the brothers and sisters taken in October 1970 when my mom returned home for the first time in 24 years. It was a great reunion for her seeing her brothers and sisters again (my Aunts Nell and Vina were absent from this gathering). Back row: Norrie and Dave. Front row: Rhona (my mom), Robert, and Rachel.

The last picture is of the four sisters. This was taken in the mid 1980’s and was the only time that all four sisters have been together since before the war ended. Left to right: Vina, Rhona and Rachel. Nell is the one sitting.

Unfortunately, only two of the seven siblings are still alive, my Aunts Rachel and Vina.

I'm Still Alive!!

Just a quick note (against doctor's orders) for those who follow this blog. I did not fall off the face of the earth - I'm still here. I have been suffering from Tennis Elbow and have been in excruciating pain for the last month and a half. I finally caved in and went to the doctor 3 weeks ago when I couldn't take the pain anymore. I've been on meds for two weeks and have been taking physio therapy twice a week for 3 weeks now. It is slowly getting better. Strict instructions from the doctor to try to stay off the computer as much as possible and to rest the arm, which of course is really hard since I'm a secretary and am on the computer all day. Needless to say, I've stayed off it at night (I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms!)

I used to snicker at people when then said they had Tennis Elbow thinking this was just an excuse not to do things (a few people at work use excuses like this not to work), but snicker no more. It really hurts!! It not only affects the elbow, but the swelling and pain affects the whole arm, and even makes the fingers numb. It doesn't help either that it's my right arm and I'm right handed!

I caved on the weekend and did some research on the Scottish Census on Ancestry (of which I found loads of information), but paid for it the next day. I will be posting what I have found, but it may take a few more days rest before that happens, so just be patient with me. I do hope, however, to get my post done for the Brothers & Sisters carnival that is due on Tuesday.

That's it for tonight, folks.

My Number 21

This week's Saturday Night fun over at Genea-Musings, Randy Seaver is asking who is your Number 21 on your Ahnentafel list. Unfortunately, my Number 21 is still undiscovered so I went with the next closest that I have, which is my Number 24, Robert Marshall.

Robert Marshall is my maternal great, great grandfather. He was born in 1819 in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland and died around 1891 in Dundee, Scotland. He was married to Ann Kynock of Dallas, Morrayshire, Scotland. Ann was also born in 1819 and died in 1895 in Dundee. They were married on September 26, 1841 and had 9 children. I still have to find out their exact dates of birth and deaths. These are some of the many things on my To Do List.

Robert and Ann were married in the new parish church, which is still standing today. The parish record states simply “Robert Marshall, teacher, Alyth, and Ann Kynoch of the parish of Dallas, were 3 times preached on September 26, 1841”. This is, of course, the Scottish custom of reading the “banns” to the congregation to announce the marriage.

Robert was a school teacher in the village school of Glenprosen. With it went the school house. It was a Society school set up by the church (The Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge).

Robert and Ann’s children were:

Anne Marshall – born around 1844
David Fenton Marshall – born April 13, 1847 (David is my great grandfather)
Robert Marshall – born July 16, 1849
John Kynoch Marshall – born June 18, 1851
William Ramsay Marshall – born September 15, 1853
James Grant Marshall – born November 24, 1855
George Smith Marshall – born August 30, 1858
Francis Ferguson Marshall – born November 28, 1860
Helen Leighton Marshall – born 1865 (Helen is my great, great aunt as well as my great grandmother).

You will notice that I mentioned that Helen Leighton Marshall is both my great, great aunt as well as my great grandmother. David Fenton’s son, Robert (my grand father) and Helen Leighton’s daughter, Eliza (my grandmother) married. Which means that my grandparents were first cousins! I somehow think that is illegal and could explain why my family is as strange as it is!