How Are Your Detective Skills? Grandfather Deachman and Eliza Pappa Deachman, circa 1860s, Perth, Ontario

Grandmother and Grandfather Deachman, circa 1869, Perth, Ontario, Canada

I find albums difficult to pass by. The one that held this image, especially so. While it was filled with some post-1910 images vaguely identified, there were a number of photographs such as the one above, that were labelled with detailed and extremely helpful explanations.

On the back of this carte de visite photograph, someone had made the following notes:  "My Dad's parents. Grandfather and Grandmother Deachman whose maiden name was Eliza Pappa. She passed away & left a young family of 4 sons and 1 daughter. Grandfather married again to a widow Mary Ellis who had 2 daughters Maggie & Isabella at that time. Then was born Jim, Isaac & Lizzie who married Jack Kerr."

So how are the other images labelled?  Here is a break-down of the most helpful images:

1) A cdv, circa 1865 of a young woman in her 20s, no photographer's imprint. On the reverse it is written, "Grandma Woods, Grandfather Woods' second wife. Her maiden name was Katie Stewart. A wonderful person (Catherine Stewart)." (Isn't it a lovely touch that the writer thought to tell future generations that Katie was a wonderful individual?)

2) A tintype of "mother with white collar. Mrs. Bingley her cousin to her right."

3) A tintype "This might be my Dad's Brother Bill Deachman."

4) A small snapshot of a log cabin. "Isaac's cabin on the homestead." Photograph was developed at Jerrett's Photo Art-Studio in Melfort, Saskatchewan.

5) Small snapshot of "Dr. Wilson T[?] Deachman he has hair if it is white." Circa 1920s?

6) A small snapshot of "Grandpa & Grandma Harper & Aunt Elizabeth."

and the clincher:

7)  A small snapshot of  "Mother (Florence Deachman) probably around 1912."

So, with this information, are you able to sort out who might have owned this album and their relationships to the other people in the album? I wonder how such a family treasure ended up in a Victoria, BC antique shop.

This was a fun one to research--I hope you have a good time looking into the Deachman family.

Canadian Expeditionary Force Discharge Certificate for Hanby Harper, Winnipeg, 1919

Canadian Expeditionary Force 

Discharge Certificate 

War Service Badge Class A, No 186068

This is to certify that No. 37476 (Rank) Staff-Sergt. Hanby Harper enlisted in the C.T.A. Canadian Expeditionary Force at Winnipeg on the 27th day of September 1914.  He served in 3rd C. D. M. T Coy: France [3rd Cavalry Division Mechanical Transport Company].

This World War 1 Discharge Certificate was found in a Victoria Antique Shop specializing in Military items.  Someone mounted the paper onto cardboard, probably for display purposes.

I located Hanby Harper's Attestation Papers on the Library and Archives Canada website. The attestation papers (see link above) show that Hanby was born in Otley, Yorkshire, England on the 12 February 1896 and that he enlisted at the age of 18 years and 6 months.  Hanby was employed as a painter and was not married at the time of his enlistment in September of 1914.  His next-of-kin is Fredrick Harper, who lived at 583 Bannerman Avenue in Winnipeg.

Fredrick Harper was Hanby's father, and his mother's name was Florence Wardman¹.  The family lived in Otley at the time of the 1901 UK census.  

In 1911 Hanby was living at the home of his grandparents, John and Christina Wardman in Birkenhead, Cheshire².  I don't know when Hanby and his parents came to Canada.  I was unable to find them in the immigration records that I have access to online. 

In 1932, Hanby is living at 569 Bannerman Avenue in Winnipeg; Mrs. Fred Harper, just a few doors down at 577 Bannerman³.  I haven't yet discovered what happened to him after that.  If you have information to share, I'd love to hear from you.

UPDATE  Aug 3, 2012:  How this document ended up in an antique store, we haven't quite figured out yet, but I am happy to report that this certificate has been reunited with Hanby Harper's granddaughter in Ontario. 

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1 "1901 England Census," England, Yorkshire, Otley, p.23, Hanby Harper; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed July 9, 2012); citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. Kew, Surrey, England.^↩
2 "1911 England Census," England, Cheshire, Birkenhead, piece21997, Hanby Harper; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed July 9, 2012); citing Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England^↩
3 Henderson's directory of the City of Winnipeg and incorporated towns of Manitoba. Winnipeg: J. Henderson, 1932, page 302.^↩