The Roy-Apted Family History – A Part of the History of Canada

The genealogy research undertaken to date reveals that our Roy-Apted ancestors migrated to Canada over the past 400 years. Among the early pioneers were the Roy and the Hogue branches of the family tree who arrived in the mid1600s. During the 1700s, the Smith branch of the Family tree came to Canada as well as the Mumford branch. During the 1800s, the McConnell and the Latta branches arrived. Finally, the Apted and Duff branches of the family tree settled here in the early 1900s, shortly after the turn of the century. Evidently, the Roy-Apted family tree has very deep roots in Canada.

There are a variety of online portals that tell the story of Canada and its history. For example, take a look at Canada: A People's History - Official Site, A Brief History of Canada - Menu - Sympatico, Canada History in Videos, and Canada History Timeline, As well, refer to the Portal Canada – Wikipedia and the Portal History of Canada – Wikipedia, from which the following excerpts are drawn.

Canada Map (Click to Enlarge)

 Canada /ˈkænədə/ is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.

The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G7, G-20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN.

Canada Symbols

Canada Flag

Canada Maple Leaf

Canada Goose

Canada Beaver

Remembering Our Ancestors at Christmas and the New Year

Latta Ancestry – Four Generations in Canada (Part 1)

Four Generations of Latta Men in Canada, c.1906

The Latta family emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1768 and then came to Canada in 1833 (refer to the previous post about the Latta Ancestry – Ireland to Canada). In the above photograph, four generations of our direct Latta lineage in Canada are gathered together:

1.          Gilbert James Latta (1822-1906),seated
2.          James Gilbert Latta (1852-1938), left rear
3.          Walter James Latta (1873-1932),right rear
4.          James Cyril Latta (1901–1986) at 5 years of age. 

The stories of these four generations of Latta men are based on family history and Ontario vital records (birth, marriage and death).

James Cyril Latta (1901–1986) and Jane Evelyn Sexsmith (1902-1996)

The Ontario Birth Records indicate that James Cyril Latta was born on March 18, 1901 in Thurlow, Ontario. He was the first-born and only son of Walter James Latta (1873-1932) and Sadie Elizabeth Coulson (1881-1941). Cyril had only one sister, Marjorie Uldean Latta, who was born in Toronto, Ontario on April 28, 1905.

James Cyril Latta Family Tree

On September 7, 1931, James Cyril Latta (1901–1986) married Jane Evelyn Sexsmith (1902-1996), who was known as Jennie. The Ontario Birth Records also show that Jennie Sexsmith was born on September 26, 1902, the daughter of Henry Sexsmith (1866-1940) and Minnie Brown. Cyril and Jennie had one son, Wayne, in 1935.

As the following ancestry chart shows, Jennie and Cyril were both related to Jane Rath (1823-1917) who was born in Enniscorthy, Ireland. Jennie was the great-granddaughter and Cyril was the great-grandson. For more information on the Rath family history, refer to the Genealogy Report – Descendants of Henry Rath prepared by Dave and Lucille Wright, November 2004.

James Cyril Latta - Ancestry

Cyril and Jennie were both graduates of the Ontario Business College in Belleville, Ontario. Jennie worked at the Tweed Theatre and the Tweed News Office. Cyril was a salesman for WearEver Aluminum cookware throughout Ontario. He would put on a home demonstration-cooking the whole meal-on top of the stove using WearEver pots. Included in the meal was roast beef, vegetables, and a wonderful chocolate cake “baked” in a frying pan on top of the stove. The cookware was “waterless cooking.”

During the second World War, Cyril and Jennie worked at the Battawa factory making war materials. He returned to aluminum sales after the war. In his later years, he worked at the “new” liquor store in Tweed and was the Bailiff for Central Hastings. Cyril loved to hunt, fish and sell!

Cyril Latta died on June 19, 1986 at the age of 85. Jennie Sexsmith died on December 9, 1996 in Picton, Ontario at the age of 94.

Cyril Latta and Jennie Sexsmith Headstone

Smith Ancestry - 2nd Generation: The Story of Ernest Milburn Smith (1894-1948) and Bridget “Bessie” Cannon (1891-1982) – Part 2

About Bridget “Bessie” Cannon (1891-1982) - Updated August 21, 2017

Bridget Bessie Cannon was born on August 21, 1891, in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Her mother was Ann Loughlin (1866-1938), age 25, and her father was William Daniel Cannon (1859-1935), age 32. (In celebration of her birthday, this posting is being updated on August 21, 2017 with personal documentation provided by Bessie's great granddaughter, Annette.)

Bessie Cannon Birth Certificate 1891

Cannon Family Tree

The Cannon Family Tree shows that Bessie was the fourth of seven children in a family of five girls and two boys born during the 14-year period from 1886 to 1900. The 1901 Scotland Census lists her as age 9. The records show that most of the Cannon children emigrated: Annie and William went to Australia, Bessie and Margaret went to Canada and Henry moved to Canada then the United States.

Bessie served in the Scottish Women's Land Army (see registration card below). According to the family history, she was a very strong, interesting woman for her time. "She actually shot and killed a German soldier who would have raped and killed her during her service in the Boer war and was also engaged to wed another man before meeting Ernest - and she quickly broke off that engagement."

Bessie Cannon met Ernest Milburn Smith while he was recovering from his wounds at a hospital in Scotland during World War 1. At the end of the war, Ernest proposed marriage and Bessie accepted. The marriage record (presented below) indicates that they were married on January 15, 1919 in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Ernest Smith and Bessie Cannon Marriage Certificate 1919

Ernest Smith and Bessie Cannon, circa 1919

As a young married couple, they sailed from Liverpool, England to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on the S.S. Baltic which transported Canadian soldiers and their war brides (third class free passage). The following records show that they departed on August 13, 1919 and arrived in Canada on August 21, 1919 to begin a new life.

Bessie (Cannon) Smith - Canada Immigration 1919

Bessie (Cannon) Smith ID Card - S.S. Baltic 1919

Many war brides were transported in smaller ships such as the Corsican, Grampian, Megantic and the Tunisian, which could carry up to 2000 passengers. The Olympic (sister ship of the Titanic) was by far the largest ship to bring soldiers and their dependents to Canada. It could carry more than 5000 passengers. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada usually took 7 days. Most ships left from Liverpool but with many dockyard strikes during 1919, a number also left from ports at Southampton and Glasgow. During the winter months, the ships docked at the eastern Canada ports, such as Pier 2 in Halifax.

It is noteworthy that more than 50,000 war brides came to Canada after the World War 1 in an immigration scheme that was paid for by the Canadian government. In January 1919, the Government of Canada passed an Order in Council offering the dependents of Canadian soldiers free third class passage from Europe to Canada. (More information about war brides is available online at Canadian War Brides of the First  World War.) 

Bessie Cannon, circa 1927

Bessie Cannon - 90th Birthday 1982

When Ernest died in 1948, Bessie had been married for 29 years. She was 56 years old and carried on, cheerfully enduring many hardships. She lived for more than 30 years. During that time, she raised one of her granddaughters until she married. Then, in her senior years, Bessie was offered a home with her daughter (Doris) and her husband. 

Bessie (Cannon) Smith - Obituary 1982

Bessie died on February 12, 1982 after celebrating her 90^th birthday with her family. Her obituary states that Bessie was buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. May she rest in peace! 

Read more about Ernest Milburn Smith and Bessie Cannon in Part 1 of this blog posting.

Historical Canada Census Data, 1851-1916

In partnership with the Government of Canada, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Ancestry.ca completed the world-first online launch of the Historical Canada Census Data from 1851-1916. All of the nine available national census were published online in June 2009, fully indexed and including original document images. The census data contain more than 32 million names of those living in Canada from the mid 19th century through to the early 20th century which was a period of nationhood, new arrivals, great change and significant growth. 

It is estimated that half of all living Canadians (about 16 million people) will be able to trace their ancestors in the census data. Digitizing and indexing the nine census data, which contain a range of information about individuals, families and residents living at a particular address, took an estimated 600,000 hours to complete. FamilySearch International also worked on this ambitious project to deliver the images and indexes for the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1916 Census. 

Making all the historical censuses available and fully searchable online enables both new and advanced family history researchers to learn more about all members of a given household including family, lodgers and helpers, on the day that census was taken. For many, this will mean having first-time access to vital information to help them search and map their personal history of family members, their ages, occupations, religions, native tongue and ethnicity, addresses and house type, their parents birthplace where applicable, and immigration year and military service (in selected census years) at both given and multiple points in time.