I found this photo in one of the my Nan’s photo albums. The man is her brother Robert Power. He died quite young in his 20s from heart disease. I don’t recall seeing a picture of him before, so it’s nice to put a face to a name.
The girls in the photo are two of my aunts (his neices) – Rose and Beulah Mills. The East Jeddore church is in the background.
Last night I saw a post on a Facebook Group I am a member of looking to connect with any descendants of Thomas Edward Mills. The poster had a letter he wrote to her great-grandfather, a man named Thomas Carroll. Of course, Thomas Edward Mills is my great-grandfather. I wrote a previous post outlining his life.
Below is the letter he wrote to his friend Thomas Carroll. He wrote the letter on December 5, 1915 from the Bramshott Military Camp in England, where thousands of Canadian troops were stationed during the First World War. He includes a Christmas card and a photograph.
Reading this letter written by my great-grandfather gave me goosebumps. The letter provides a fascinating first hand perspective of a soldier arriving in England, adjusting to life in the camp, and readying to go to the frontlines in Europe. Eerily, he foreshadows his own death early in the letter. He was killed in action September 5, 1916.
Thomas was originally from Liverpool, and he mentions visiting his sister (perhaps he stayed with her family over Christmas), having left Liverpool 21 years previous. It makes me happy to know that he at least got to see his sister again before he eventually lost his own life.
I’m very grateful to the lady who shared this with me.
This week’s photo is a picture that was is in an album given to my Dad by my Grandma Hazel (Vansickle) Finch. In what seems to be a rarity when it comes to old family photos, my Grandma nicely wrote the names of these folks on the back of the photograph. Yay!
Here are George Henry Foster Young and his second wife Jane Bell with two of their children, Bruce (on the left) and Francis (on the right).
George H.F. Young is my second great grandfather. He was born in 1864 in Brant County, Canada West (today known as the Province of Ontario). He was an iron moulder and a farmer. Jane Mary Bell was born in Clogher, Ireland, a small village in County Tyrone (which is actually now in Northern Ireland).
They were married in London, Ontario in 1892, where they resided until moving to Ancaster Township in Wentworth County. They had two other children: Ella (my great grandmother) and Charles.