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ArgyllGran, I'm sorry that I seem to have failed to remember some of the info you posted earlier ... when the search went back to Scotland, I gave up on keeping up. :-)

Of course most of the Cdn voters' lists had been investigated before.

This one ...

Blanche Gushue
in the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
Name: Blanche Gushue
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Birth Year: abt 1900
Vessel: Sachem
Date of Arrival: 17 Apr 1919
Port of Arrival: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Port of Departure: Liverpool, England
Heading for Toronto.
Had not been in Canada before.
Single.

This could be the Nfld Blanche, since Nfld was not part of Canada at the time.

There was certainly no one by her name born in Scotland or England.

It is odd that her name can't be found in the Outward Passenger lists from the UK at Ancestry.

I wonder whether the boat docked in Nfld before landing at Halifax?

Thanks again. Do the ones in Nfld not have addresses in the images to see who is living with whom, especially whether anyone is living with Blanche?

Ah I see, the John M Kerr in BC in 1935 was not the right person.

So the Blanche who was his wife was not the right person.



I confess that I'm a little at sea with it all here.


The BC archives site keeps not working for me in a normal way. I found John's death certificate only by searching for deaths on 4 Feb 1946

http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/3b606391-88e4-4fe3-b0c9-33046bfba58a

wife Blanch Gushue
informant Mrs B Kerr, wife
address 5958 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
parents John Kerr, Mary Eden
DOB 4 June 1898, Scotland
in Canada since 1919
in BC since 1936

The date but not the year match with the Royal Marines record on page 8 of this thread.

Apologies if this has been posted before.


This is John's memorial page at findagrave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26274418/john-mccready-kerr

This info has been added:

A/Cook John McCready Kerr served with the Royal Canadian Navy during WW1 of 1914-18
Left by Herbert Rickards on 18 Mar 2014

and

Pvt. John Kerr
Served with the 16th Battn. C.E.F. during WW1 of 1914-18.

which seem to be mutually contradictory.

(the other "flower" added is just by an idiot who gloms her stupid flowers onto every memorial she runs across being added when she sits down with her morning coffee ... there are several of those at the site)

In any case I don't think he served in WWII after all.


The person who created the memorial

https://www.findagrave.com/user/profile/10274696

seems to be a very jolly fellow who would happily transfer management of the memorial page for your grandfather to you.

Hopefully he would be able to tell you where the info about John's naval service came from.

Meanwhile could this be the *other* John McC Kerr?

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56512027/john-mccready-kerr
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/600042/kerr,-john-mccready/

Blanche Gushue, 1972, Newfoundland -

housewife, in Brigus Junction, Mahers, St John's East.

Other Gushues in Brigus Junction - don't know if all one household or not, but probably -

James, no occupation
Kathleen, domestic
Raymond, labourer
Sadie, housewife
Thomas, retired
Walter, no occupation




1974 - the same family.
James, retired
Joseph, labourer
Kathleen, domestic
Raymond , labourer
Sadie, housewife
Thomas, retired
Walter, retired

The two 1953 entries are not for the same Blanche Kerr. Can't tell about the others..

Re John M Kerr in 1935 -

John Maxwell Kerr, cook, and Mrs John M Kerr, housewife, at 1173 Davie.
One of several households at that address.

We've talked about a John Maxwell Kerr, a cook, before in this thread. Without looking back through all the pages - is this the one we're looking for, or a red herring?


EDIT:

Yes, mentioned before on 20th March @ 10:43.
So not the right man?

I also wonder about this one in particular

Mrs John M Kerr 1935 Vancouver , British Columbia
John M Kerr 1935 Vancouver , British Columbia

and whether this one says anything useful

Mias Blanch Gushue 1935 Fraser Valley, British Columbia

Thank you ArgyllGran!

I've been editing as I search and ponder ... and was wondering whether the Blanche Gushue in Nfld in 72 and 74 really was Blanche Gushue/Kerr and she had returned to Nfld.

since the other Blanche Gushue, if there was one, was not on any voters' list before 1972 under that name. Nfld became part of Canada in 1949 so one would have expected to see that other Blanche there after that year, if she had remained an unmarried Blanche Gushue.

Could you check those ones too?

Blanche Gushue 1974 city, Newfoundland
Blanche Gushue 1972 city, Newfoundland

Also, does it seem from the addresses that all the Blanche Kerrs in my list are the same person?

I guess there is no way to tell whether that is our Blanche, except for the indication that she is a widow.

Re the voters' list entries posted by JC - there's nobody of voting age with her in any of the entries:

Mrs Blanche Kerr 1945 city, British Columbia
Vancouver - retired,

Misa (Miss) Blanche Kerr 1953 city, British Columbia
Burnaby Coquitlam - sales clerk

Mrs Blanche E Kerr 1953 city, British Columbia
Vancouver. - widow,

Blanche A Kerr 1957 city, British Columbia
Vancouver - housekeeper

Mrs Blanche Kerr 1958 city, British Columbia
Vancouver - widow,

Mrs Blanche E Kerr 1962 city, British Columbia
Vancouver - nurse,

Mrs Blanche Kerr 1963 city, British Columbia
Vancouver - nurse

Blanche Kerr 1968 city, British Columbia
Vancouver

Blanche Kerr 1972 city, British Columbia
Burnaby Seymour, retired.



The two 1953 entries are obviously for different people.

Two people here have a Gushue born in BC in 1942 in their trees. I wonder whether they might be connected.

If the Blance Gushue in Cowansville is the right one, as seems likely, there is a report here of her recovering from an apendectomy in 1924. (search for Gushue at this page):

http://collections2.banq.qc.ca/jrn03/dn3097/src/1924/01/12/5274927_1924-01-12.pdf

Aha, familysearch has this

(One way to identify children of a couple, born after the cutoff date, is if a child has died and the death info is available.)

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLR1-54G


from British Columbia Death Registrations

Name Delores Mary Mclean
Event Type Death
Event Date 23 Jul 1960
Event Place Paul Lake Road, British Columbia, Canada
Gender Female
Age 24
Marital Status Married
Birth Date 22 Apr 1936
Birth Year (Estimated) 1936
Birthplace Ottawa, Ontario
Father's Name John Kerr
Mother's Name Blanche Gushue
Spouse's Name Duncan Ivor Mclean

She was very young when she died -- 24. Possibly she had a child or children before she died. Probably her husband remarried.

Now that is interesting, that she was born in Ottawa. This may be where John and Blanche met. Blanche was living in eastern Quebec in 1921, and John may have moved there from Toronto?

I don't know why I can't find the death record of Delores McLean at the BC archives site.

Okay craziness, I searched for just Delores Mary (with no surname) death in 1960, and here it is:

Event Type: Death
Registration Number: 1960-09-009889
BC Archives Mfilm Number: B13248
GSU Mfilm Number: 2033346
Event Date (YYYY-MM-DD): 1960-07-23
Event Place: KAMLOOPS
Age at Death: 24
Person: DELORES MARY MCLEAN
Vital Stat Images(s): 004437632_00403.jpg

Here is the death certificate

http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/13098c1f-fa03-410f-be18-e5d48629f75c

Father born in Scotland
Mother born in Newfoundland
She died in a car accident.

Here is her memorial page at findagrave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133093868/delores-mary-mclean

There are no family names associated, and the person who created the page is not related. I imagine that he would transfer the memorial, even "out of guidelines" (not a direct ancestor).

familysearch doesn't show any other records with parents John Kerr and Blanch(e).

http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy

'Search our indexes to births (1854-1903), marriages (1872-1941), deaths (1872-1996), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888).'

returns zero results for Blanch(e) Kerr and of the 9 results for surname Gushue none relate.

If she remarried after John's death, the marriage would not be accessible. Same if she died after 1996.

Have you just googled her name?

example

http://rec.collecting.stamps.discuss.narkive.com/g6A13Pmm/rcsd-q-nfld-nova-scotia-ontario

'There is a census record of a Miss Blanche Gushue born 1900
(Newfoundland) . In 1937 lived in Vancouver. Died 1999.'

Might this be her? I have lost track of when they married ... ah, whether they married, and quite likely they did not.

Unfortunately the link given for a photo is dead, but there is this:

http://www.onlyyoudad.com/bobbysfamilytree.html

This might be someone to contact.


In the 1921 Canadian census, this is the Blanche in question in that thread

Name: Blanche Gushue [Blanche Trubier]
(this is an automated Ancestry addition because her parents' surname is Trubier; it is useful if a married woman appears in her parents' household, for example. Here, I would think that her mother had remarried, and Blanche's name was still Gushue ... although that makes no sense since the mother is 32, and the father looks more 87 than 67 to me ... I suspect she was a boarder and not a daughter)
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Single
Age: 25
Birth Year: abt 1896
Birth Place: Newfoundland
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Father's name: Harold L A Trubier
Father Birth Place: Newfoundland
Mother's name: Alice M Trubier
Mother Birth Place: Newfoundland
Year of Immigration: 1920
(presumably referring to the fact that Nfld was not part of Canada, so she "immigrated")
Racial or Tribal Origin: Scotch (Scotish)
Province or Territory: Quebec
District: Missisquoi
District Number: 184
Sub-District: Cowansville (Village)
Sub-District Number: 20
City, Town or Village: Cowansville
Street or Township: William St Dunham
Municipality: Cowansville
Occupation: Cousette = seamstress
Income: 144

Harold L A Trubier 67
Alice M Trubier 32
Charles Trubier 9
Roland Trubier 7
Medland Trubier 5
Trevor Trubier 2
Blanche Gushue 25

The information - location in Cowansville, Quebec - corresponds to the information about the postcard, at the website I linked to above.

And on the 1972 and 1974 Canadian voter's lists there is a Blanche Gushue in Newfoundland (I don't have worldwide access to view the details)

the name only appears besides those (at least per Ancestry's transcriptions and I'm pressed for time at the moment) in 1935

Name Mias (Miss) Blanch Gushue
Residence 1935 Fraser Valley British Columbia Canada

so there is perhaps a good chance that this is the right person.

However there is also this record in the 1921 Nfld census (I don't have access):

Blanche Gushue 1901 location city, Port de Grave

If there were indeed two of them, the one in Nfld in 1921 might be the one on the late voters' lists.


Aha yes, probably. Later voters' list show

Mrs Blanche Kerr 1945 city, British Columbia
Misa (Miss) Blanche Kerr 1953 city, British Columbia
Mrs Blanche E Kerr 1953 city, British Columbia
Blanche A Kerr 1957 city, British Columbia
Mrs Blanche Kerr 1958 city, British Columbia
Mrs Blanche E Kerr 1962 city, British Columbia
Mrs Blanche Kerr 1963 city, British Columbia
Blanche Kerr 1968 city, British Columbia
Blanche Kerr 1972 city, British Columbia

as late as they are available -- actually, 1974 is available, so she may have died before 1974. But the transcriptions are so bad (some people are just missing, images are unfindable, in my experience, for 1974) that she may be there and just not findable.

Or ... she could have relocated to Nfld and been enumerated in both Nfld and BC in 1972, and been in Nfld in 1974. Since there are no other voter records of the Nfld Blanche Gushue before 1972, this seems possible.


If someone with worldwide access could view those images, we could see whether she had an adult child living with her at any point.

I had a look for that before, Sandra, and couldn't find anything on Ancestry.

Hi, can anyone tell me if there is a marriage certificate in B. C. For John McCreadie Kerr and Blanch Gushue? Or possibly a death certificate for Blanch, it would be nice to see who gave the information, maybe a child!!!

We'll all wait patiently for the reply!

I have received a letter acknowledging my request from Canadian archives. They say I should hear back in approximately 10 months!!

I have received a letter acknowledging my request from Canadian archives. They say I should hear back in approximately 10 months!!

Thanks Jooniecloonie I have submitted a request. If its anything like the trouble I had getting my father's birth certificate it might take a while.

Alison, the inscription means that he was in the Royal Canadian Navy, possibly in WWII?

"Lest we forget" is the ... what would you call it, motto? ... of remembrance of the war dead.

His name is not in the Books of Remembrance so he must not have been a casualty of the war.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/books/search


WWII records are not publicly available, but since he died in 1946 you could obtain them.

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/Pages/introduction.aspx#a1

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/transparency/atippr/Pages/Access-information-military-files.aspx#tab2a

Restricted records held by Library and Archives Canada (service files after 1919)

see under "Access Restrictions"

"For individuals deceased more than 20 years: Personal information will be released on an individual deceased for more than 20 years if proof of death is provided. Proof of death is not required if the individual died while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces."

Hi Coral, I have that record, which is from when he was in Ireland, before he went to Canada. I thought he must have enlisted somewhere again, in Canada,because of the Maple leaf and the R. C. N. Inscription?

Could this be him?
Name Kerr, John McCreadie Register Number: 3225 Division: Royal Marine...

Reference: ADM 159/101/3225
Description:
Name Kerr, John McCreadie
Register Number: 3225
Division: Royal Marine Artillery: Short Service
When Enlisted/Date of Enlistment: 11 June 1918
Date of Birth: 04 June 1900
Date: [1918-1919]
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description

My grandfather John McCreadie Kerrs headstone has a maple leaf at the top and the letters R. C. N. to the left. It then says
A/COOK
JOHN McC KERR
DIED FEB 4 1946
LEST WE FORGET
Can anyone tell me what this would mean?