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I wonder if someone would be kind enough to look up some records for me in either Saskatoon or Vancouver. Thomas Richardson was my mother's great uncle and she would dearly love to know what became of him. She can clearly remember her grandmother, Thomas's sister, saying that she really missed her brother and she wore the gold maple leaf brooch he sent her every day. Did he have any children, we do not know? I have tracked down Thomas and Isabella, his wife, as marrying in Edinburgh in 1907 and at the time of their marriage he was a grocer's assistant in Gorebridge, Scotland. Thomas was born in Lauder,Berwickshire in Scotland in 1875. Isabella's maiden name was Todd and her middle name was Cowe. She was born in 1885. By 1910 they had moved to Saskatoon in Canada. It appears that they moved around in Saskatoon nearly every year and Thomas gained promotion and became a shipper in the grocery company he worked for in Sasktoon. In 1916 Thomas joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force but was discharged as medically unfit in 1917. After this I am drawing a blank. There is a reference of an Isabella Todd Richardson dying in Vancouver, B.C. in 1976. As the dates match up it may well be that this is the same Isabella. I really hope it is and we can find out something from her details. Does anyone have access to microfilm details for Vancouver in order that I can actually see what the obituary says. I have looked at costings of getting this done by a professional but it seems quite expensive. Any advice gratefully received.

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Jean -- have a look on the General board for the thread called "Canucks International". It seems that most of the people there are in British Columbia, and you might get some guidance/help from them!

I'm in Ontario, no use at all. ;)

What is this "reference of an Isabella Todd Richardson dying in Vancouver, B.C. in 1976", and where is it? If it's in the official death records, you may be able to obtain a copy, although there are rules and regs about who can do that for such recent events.

Should be okay:

http://www.vitalcertificates.ca/bc-vital-certificates.html

"Death certificates may be released to any person"

http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/genealogy/electronic_index.html

Search for the death here:

http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-56DD4BA/gbsearch/Deaths

It's quick -- they've fixed that site it seems, I used to hate it. These are the details:


Name: Isabella Todd Richardson
Place Vancouver
Reg. Number: 1976-09-007246
Copy Available
Date:1976 4 25 (Yr/Mo/Day)
Age: 90
Event: Death
Microfilm #: B13351 (GSU # 2050533)

Hi Janey,

Many thanks for taking the time to look this up for me. Yes this is the same reference that I was given from the BC Vital Statistics. My problem is that I do not know if this is definitely the Isabella I am interested in but is looks likely. I really need to know how I can see a copy of this. Hopefully someone can advise me. Some of the researchers seem to be a bit expensive.

I will have a look at Canucks International too.

Many thanks for your prompt help and interest.

Jean

Jean - check the first link I gave.

http://www.vitalcertificates.ca/bc-vital-certificates.html

It has instructions for ordering copies of certificates.

The certificate will state the place of birth -- presumably: if it was known to the informant of death. That might be all you need to confirm identity?

With the exact date and place of birth in the record above, it might indeed be possible for someone to find a newspaper obituary on microfilm to find family members' names -- that's exactly what I always recommend!

Good luck!

Thanks Janey,

I'll let you know if I have any luck.

Grateful your your advice.

Jean

Hi Janey,

Just a quick note to tell you that I did eventually obtain the death certificate of Isabella Todd Richardson and she is definitely the widow of the Thomas Richardson I have been trying to trace. Also it transpires that they had at least one child, a daughter called Isabella Scouse who was living at Powell River at the time of her mother's death. I cannot find a death certificate or entry for Isabella so there is a very small chance that she is still alive.

Do you have any suggestions as to how I might trace her?

Many thanks.

Jean

Check this site:

http://411ca.whitepages.com/

There's an E. Scouse in Powell River.

There is a Hugh Scouse mentioned on BC Archives site:
Name:
Hugh Scouse Place
Powell River Reg. Number:
1968-09-001717 Copy Available
Date:
1968 1 23 (Yr/Mo/Day) Age:
63 Event:
Death Microfilm #:
B13287 (GSU # 2033931)
http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-2FEF380/gbsearch/Births,Marriages,Deaths

It looks like Powell River's population is about 13,000. Perhaps the Scouse Margaret found is related to this family.

I've been googling. I found someone named Lynne (maiden name Scouse) who may have been from Powell River. The link referencing her is not accessible.

I am sending you a pm with her possible email address. Perhaps she could be a sister-in-law of Isabella Scouse, or a niece or daughter?

Update: As mentioned in my pm, Lynne may have passed away.

There are two Scouse's listed in the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, one died in 1910, the other in 1924:
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/nonmarketoperations/mountainview/burials/sa-sc.htm

Lisa, if this is the link

http://75.155.57.194:90/phpGEDview/individual.php?pid=I5270&ged=familytree.ged

it's a gedcom and I've never figured that out, but it's accessible via google's cache:

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:XT4Yy34JkXgJ:75.155.57.194:90
/phpGEDview/individual.php%3Fpid%3DI5270%26ged%3D
familytree.ged+lynne+scouse+powell&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

(copy & paste back together)

Born 1942 in Powell River, married 1975 in South Africa, died 2002 in Powell River. Husband's name John Nixon, and there is a listing in that name in Powell River at whitepages.ca.


The cached versions of various bits of that gedcom can be viewed from this list:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&cr=countryCA&safe=off&
q=+site:75.155.57.194+scouse+%22powell+river%22

There's rather a lot of personal information about living people there (their children), but Lynne's parents don't seem to be included.

I thought that I should post a little note on to the end of this query to let folk know that Thomas and Isabella's grandaughter contacted me a few weeks ago and we have exchanged information and photographs.

I was so delighted to receive a message from her and this is absolute proof that no-one should give up hoping that someone will see a message.

Jean

Jean - just to note that since your initial post, the 1916 prairie census has been released. I don't have an Ancestry sub, so I can't see the full details nor the image.

1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
Name Parents or spouse names Home in 1916(Sub-District, District, Province) Birth Year Birth Place Relation
Thomas Richardson Isabella surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1875 location relation
Isabella Richardson Thomas surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1885 location relation
Thomas Richardson Thomas surname,Isabella surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1907 location relation
Jessie Richardson Thomas surname,Isabella surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1908 location relation
Agness Richardson Thomas surname,Isabella surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1910 location relation
Isabell Richardson Thomas surname,Isabella surname info, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 1912 location relation

Thanks for the update

Jean, that's great!

Will you tell us what did the trick??

Hi,

Thanks for this information. Janey, Thomas and Isabella's grand daughter contacted me after doing a general search and joined genes reunited as a result. I am so glad that I posted a notice looking for information on Thomas and Isabella. If I had not bothered then I would still be ignorant as to what had happened to them.

Their grand daughter is a very interesting person who is so keen to learn about her grandpaarents' lives back here in Scotland. I feel that I have come full circle now learning how the family fared after their move to Canada.

Thank you GR and thank you to all who assisted me in this journey.

Jean