My great-uncle, William Hart Edmond-Jenkins, after a military career, decided to become a farmer and travelled to Graham Island, Canada in 1913. In 1914 he enlisted again and was in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was killed on July 1st 1916 at the battle of the Somme. Would there be any way of finding out if he owned land on Graham Island, and if so, what would have happened to it?
Wow! What a remote spot he chose! There are a few farms there 9 mostly settled by British immigrants. That area is still very remote, mostly populated by native people. If you know what town he was near you could maybe contact the town offices and inquire about land registrations... The first registered city was Queen Charlotte City and likely the only one there at that time.. that's where the government offices are located.
Or was your great-uncle near Trent River, Ontario? https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Tr...395642!4d-77.8724809!16s/g/1trvl1lx?entry=ttu It appears the island is uninhabited now but perhaps there were homesteads more than 100 years ago? Craig
There are at least 2 places with the name "Graham Island" in Canada. I'm referring to this one: Craig (That's a short canoe ride from Trent River. )
Many land records in Ontario are available online, for free, at: https://www.onland.ca/ui/ BUT, I don't know how to start with an individual and determine where and when they may have owned a parcel(s). If you know the legal description of a property (eg a farm is described via County, Township, Concession and Lot Number) it is possible to trace the ownership history from a grant (as Crown land) through to the present. Graham Island, Ontario, is part of Northumberland County. I believe it would have initially been divided into Townships but many places in Ontario have undergone a reorganization in the last 50-70 years. AFAICT, it is now part of the Municipality of Trent Hills. https://www.trenthills.ca/en/municipal-office/elections.aspx#Ward-Maps Ward 1, I think. Offhand, I don't know have to find the prior name of the Township (if it was a township) and therefore I am not sure where to start browsing on the Ontario Land Registry site. Sorry. Perhaps a local library might be able to give you a pointer: https://www.trenthills.ca/en/living-here/libraries.aspx There is also a County archive and museum that might help: https://www.northumberland.ca/en/discovering-and-exploring/northumberland-county-archives.aspx HTH Craig
If anything like Australian WW1 soldiers, there was always mention of a will in their records. I think they were required to have one. Perhaps there could be a copy in his paperwork. If he owned real estate then that would be the place to find to whom it was left.
His name is mentioned, along with others on searcharchives.Vancouver.ca so I guess he was on Graham Island BC rather than Ontario. Apparently he is included in a photo on that site with others from 29th Vancouver Battalion. Too many photos for me to pour over on my phone.
Many thanks! I've seen his attestation papers and a couple of photos online, but nothing else in the way of paperwork. His attestation was done at a place called Valcartier (that's what I can make of it, anyway) which is a very long way from either of the Graham Islands, so no help there. I'd hoped he'd attested a bit nearer to where he was living.
According to Mr Google, Valcartier, Quebec was home to the Canadian Forces in WW1. He must have made his way there purposely to enlist.
I found the photo, which is very clear, and I can see him in it: a group portrait of the officers, 1st British Columbia Regiment, Canadian Expeditionary Force. I couldn't find it by searching his name, because it's been written as Edmund-Jenkins instead of Edmond-jenkins.
The BC archives site has a great bunch of photos if you want to dig through them all! I've been to it and it is very helpful, although for some things you have to go to the Vancouver library instead. Was he single?
Yes, he was single, so no descendants. His brother married but had no children, and his sister was my paternal grandmother, so he's probably one of my nearest relatives except for my parents and siblings. I think he was brave to re-enlist after retiring from his military career (he'd fought in the Boer War - or was it wars?) to be a farmer. I wonder how he'd have got on with that, as it's so different from his previous life.
Awww.. too bad he lost his life. There is an interesting history of British men coming to BC to farm. They were encouraged to come. I'm sure the Queen Charlotte Islands were similar to an area not far from where I grew up. The men that came were not farmers in England but encouraged to try a new life. The area was Wallachin . It was very arid, unlike Graham Island.!! The young men came and started ranches and fruit farms. They made miles and miles of flumes to water their crops and were getting things growing and then WWI started and they also answered the call. Their wives and children were left behind and they could not maintain the properties and it ended up going back to sage brush and dirt. To this day you can still see remnants of the wooden water flumes rotting on the hillsides. Here's an exert from an article by James Miles explaining it
