Vancouver Island! how wonderful. did Thomas have any family with him in Canada? ie a new wife or any of his children which may make it easier to find him later?
Hi Wendy, I've been in the background following this thread and trying to help, and if I have the right chap mentioned below it may help. Jetta, please can you say did Thomas marry Agnes Hutchison and did they have children named: Carrie; William; Thomas and Alexander?
Hi Lizzie, a bit of a curler isn't it. so many likelies-possibles- wisps of a maybes. I didn't find him on 1901 evidently, the chap I found was married to Louis with one child & arrived in 1858/1850. Where was Thomas in 1861? A lad of 14/15 could be farmed out anywhere to work, & he may not have the same b.place as his parents put on earlier censuses.
Hello jetta and welcome to the forum In case you don't have this one already, here's another Jones-the-butcher with Virden connections, from a long article about Elkhorn in the Brandon Mail of 24 October 1889: ...In 1885, Joseph Jones, a butcher, came up from Virden and opened a shop, in which he has been very successful, and supplies the public with an excellent article in his line... From the same paper, 23 April 1891: E. Mutton has bought out the plant and business of J. Jones, butcher, Elkhorn. Jones, who recently returned from England has accepted a position in Rristol (sic), Eng. From Peel's Prairie Provinces: http:// peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/ Perhaps we will be able to find him on passenger lists of around this time, or back in 'Rristol' which I presume is meant to be Bristol.
How recent is recent? Had he got back to Canada in time for the 1891 census? The only Joseph Jones I could find in Manitoba in 1891 was in district no. 9 - Selkirk, subdistrict M - Wallace, which I think might cover Elkhorn but am not certain. He's lodging in a hotel run by a Thos D. Cavanagh. The good news is that this Joseph was a butcher. He was born in England and was 28 years old in 1891. Now, that would make him about the right age to be Joseph Crane Jones . . . BUT just when it is beginning to look interesting the census return spoils it by saying his parents were born in Ireland. So is he another Joseph altogether? Have you traced what happened to Joseph Crane Jones, jetta? If so, is there room in his timeline for a few years in Canada, from early/mid 1880s to 1891-ish? And is there any Bristol connection?
Ooh. Must be related! My family name is Jones and my granddad’s family used to live in Newton Farm near Bromsgrove. His Dad’s name was Harry and mum was Margaret Shirley Durham. Harry’s dad was John ! Hugh.