Tag Archives: Joseph Francis ACTON (1886-1972)

Tangled Web of Family Relationships

19 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Muir Family, Watson Family

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[Please keep checking this space, additional material and photos will be added as they become available, additional tags will be added as dates are clarified. The last information and / or images added 20 May 2014]

Family history often a confused mixture of relationships; the story of the WATSON (including MUIR) – ACTON  families is no exception. The photo below was taken about 1938-39 in Saskatchewan at one of the many family picnic get-to-gethers of the WATSON-ACTON families. The location of the photo is likely beside the Qu’Appelle River, near Ellisboro, probably just beside the old bridge.

After Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane MUIR immigrated to Saskatchewan in 1910, their sons (James (#15 in the photo), William (#4), Alexander (deceased at the time of the photo), and daughter Helen (Nell) (#40) married members of the Acton family. The resulting combined and extended families led to a tangled web of relations and cousins. While Thomas (d. 1932) and Jane Watson (d. 1933) are not in this photo, many of their descendants are.

 ACTON1937-004a-names

Names of people in picnic of Watson – Acton families and their relationship to Thomas and Jane (Muir) Watson. Names of persons still living have been left blank(__).

1. Joseph (‘Joe’) Francis ACTON (1886-1972): husband of Nell (#40); father of Dick (#12) and Tom (#8); son-in-law of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR.

2. [Living son] WATSON: step-son of Bill (#4); brother of Janet (#23); grandson of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

3. Samuel (‘Sam’) Acton WATSON (1920-2002): son of Jim (#15) and Nancy (#38); brother of Doris (#29), Bill (#13), Muriel (#37), and __ (#28); grandson of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR.

4. William (‘Bill’) Muir WATSON (1892-1973): step-father of Bob (#2); brother of Nell (#40), Jim (#15) and John (#35); son of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR.

5. Jeff PARKER: husband of Edith (#20)

6. Robert WALKER (Sr.): nephew of Janet (#16); married to Lilly BAKER (not in photo), sister of Bill Sharpe’s wife Priscilla BAKER.

7. [Living son] ACTON: son of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); brother of __ (#39), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22).

8. Thomas (‘Tom’) Watson ACTON (1917-1991): son of Joe (#1) and Nell (#40); brother of Dick (#12); grandson of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR.

9. William (‘Bill’) SHARPE: Husband of Priscilla BAKER (#25);

10. Robert WALKER (Jr.): son of Robert WALKER (Sr.) (#6)

11. Anne (Gompf) McKINNON: wife of Alex (#14); mother of Vi (#30)

12. Richard (‘Dick’) William ACTON (1916-1990): son of Joe (#1) and Nell (#40); brother of Tom (#8); grandson of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

13. Richard William (‘Bill’) WATSON (1916-2000): son of Jim (#15) and Nancy (#38); brother of Doris (#29), Muriel (#37), Sam (#3) and __ (28); grandson of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

14. Alexander ‘Alex’ McKINNON: husband of Anne (#11); father of Vi (#30); brother of Annie (#27)

15. James (‘Jim’) Muir WATSON (1888-1965): husband of Nancy (#38); father of Doris (#29), Bill (#13), Muriel (#37), Sam (#3) and __ (28); brother of Bill (#4), Nell (#40) and John (#35); son of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

16. Janet (Walker) ACTON (1859-1948): (widow of Samuel ACTON; Samuel died in 1927 therefore not shown in photo); mother of Nancy (#38), Dick (#21), Bob (#32) and Jenny (#17).

17. Janet (‘Jenny’) Ethel ACTON: daughter of Janet (#16); sister of Nancy (#38), Dick (#21), and Bob (#32).

18. [Living son] ACTON: son of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); brother of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#26) and __ (#22).

19. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); sister of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22).

20. Edith (Allen) PARKER: wife of Jeff (#5)

21. Richard (‘Dick’) Arthur ACTON (1894-1984): son of Janet (#16); husband of Annie (#27); father of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22); brother of Nancy (#38), Bob (#32) and Jenny (#17).

22. [Living son] ACTON (back of head): son of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); brother of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), and __ (#26).

23. Janet Mae WATSON: step-daughter of Bill (#4); sister of Bob (#2); granddaughter of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

24. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Bob (#32) and Sarah (#31); sister of __ (#34) and __ (#33).

25. Priscilla (Baker) SHARPE: wife of (Bill (#9)

26. [Living son] ACTON: son of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); brother of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), and __ (#22).

27. Annie (McKinnon) ACTON: wife of Dick (#21); mother of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22); sister of Alex (#14)

28. [Living daughter] WATSON: daughter of Jim (#15) and Nancy (#38); sister of Doris (#29), Bill (#13), Muriel (#37), and Sam (#3); granddaughter of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

29. Doris (‘Doris’) Janet WATSON (1915-ca 1985): daughter of Jim (#15) and Nancy (#38); sister of Bill (#13), Muriel (#37), Sam (#3) and __ (28); granddaughter of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

30. Viola (‘Vi’) MCKINNON: daughter of Anne (#11) and Alex (#14); niece of Annie (#27)

31. Sarah Hastings (Johnston) ACTON (1896-1986): wife of Bob (#32); mother of __ (#34), __ (#24) and __ (#33), sister of Mary (#41)

32. Robert ‘Bob’ Walker ACTON (1896-1966): son of Janet (#16); husband of Sarah (#31) father of __ (#34), __ (#24) and __ (#33); brother of Nancy (#38), Dick (#21), and Jenny (#17).

33. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Bob (#32) and Sarah (#31); sister of __ (#34), and __ (#24).

34. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Bob (#32) and Sarah (#31); sister of __ (#24) and __ (#33).

35. John (‘John’) McConnell Muir WATSON (1903-1994): brother of Bill (#4), Jim (#15) and Nell (#40); son of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

36. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); sister of __ (#39), __ (#7), __ (#19), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22).

37. Muriel Mae WATSON (1919-2000): daughter of Jim (#15) and Nancy (#38); sister of Doris (#29), Bill (#13), Sam (#3) and __ (28); granddaughter of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

38. Agnes ‘Nancy’ Elizabeth (Acton) WATSON (1892-1981): daughter of Janet (#16); wife of Jim( #15); mother of Doris (#29), Bill (#13), Muriel (#37), Sam (#3) and __ (28); sister of Dick (#21), Bob (#32) and Jenny (#17); daughter-in-law of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

39. [Living daughter] ACTON: daughter of Dick (#21) and Annie (#27); sister of __ (#7), __ (#36), __ (#19), __ (#18), __ (#26) and __ (#22).

40. Helen (‘Nell’) McNab (Watson) ACTON: wife of Joe (#1); mother of Dick (#12) and Tom (#8); sister of Bill (#4), Jim (#15) and John (#35); daughter of Thomas WATSON and Jane MUIR

41. Mary JOHNSTON: sister of Sarah (#31)

The picnic was likely held on a Sunday afternoon, after the 11 AM church service in the rural Rosewood United Church. After attending church, the families would briefly return to their farm homes. All family members remained dressed in their Sunday best; they would not change after attending church. Quickly tying on an apron, the women would pack food that had been prepared the day before. The men would conduct a last minute check of any farm animals that might require food and / or water before evening; if this necessitated a change into ‘chore clothes’ the white shirts, ties and dark suit trousers would be put on again before leaving for the picnic. Cars were quickly packed with excited children and delicious and plentiful home cooked food.

ACTON1938-052ACTON1938-051Each housewife would pack more than enough for her own family, but once at the picnic site, all food would be placed on picnic tables or blankets for a large ‘pot-luck’ feast including jellied salads, potato salad, canned chicken, hams, sandwiches (canned salmon, roast beef and pork, chicken, ham), pickles (dill, mustard, sweet, bread-and-butter), homemade buns and bread, cakes, ‘squares’, pies and cookies. Large jars of homemade lemonade would be available for the children, multiple thermos of hot tea would be provided for the adults. Several families would also bring a ‘cream can’ of cool drinking water.

The afternoon’s entertainment was informal: the woman would gather and discuss children, gardens, recipes.

The men would discuss cattle, crops, weather, the price of grain, the lack of railway cars to ship the grain, the cost of farm machinery, the state of the roads, and the other constant challenges of farm life. The young children would dash amongst the trees involved in their own games of tag, or games of, the now politically incorrect, ‘war’ with pretend guns made from tree branches.ACTON1938-054

 

 

 

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WATSON, Jane Muir (1899-1988)

21 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Watson Family

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(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Jane (Jean) Muir WATSON was born 10 January 1899. She was the seventh child and third daughter of Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane MUIR. Her father had taken a job as a ploughman at Newton Farm, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland and they lived in one of the farm cottages where Jean was born.

Photo left: Jane (Jean) Muir Watson, 10 June 1914. Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Jean’s sister Nell [Helen McNab WATSON] was nine years older than Jean and it is probable that Nell was required to care for the baby. Their mother Jane would likely have been preoccupied with the toddler Mary [Mary Hunter WATSON], who was ill and died just over a year after Jean’s birth. Nell and Jean were close all their lives and visited almost weekly until Nell’s death in 1967.

Although Jean was the second youngest of Tom and Jane’s eight children, she likely did not long enjoy the position of cared-for younger sister. By 1905, when Jean was 6, both her older brother Tom [Thomas WATSON] and her beloved sister Nell worked away from home. In 1906, when Jean was 7, her brother Jim [James Muir WATSON] left to seek his fortune in far-off Canada and started the family’s eventual move to that country. In 1909 her brother Bill [William Watson Muir WATSON] followed Jim to Canada. After Bill left the Watson family at home consisted of only Jean, 10, and her older brother Alex [Alexander Hunter WATSON], 14, younger brother John [John McConnell Muir WATSON], 6, and her parents. As the eldest daughter at home Jean would have responsibilities to help her mother cook and clean, as well as attend to her own school work.

WATSON1908-000Some 1909 photographs from Jean’s school in Scotland have survived. Photo right: Jean’s School photograph for school year 1908-1909.

Photo below: Jean Watson, seated front row, 1st person on left, Class photograph for school year 1908-1909, Gullane, Scotland

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In April 1910, when Jean was 11, she was part of the Watson family that immigrated to Saskatchewan. She continued her schooling in the Rosewood area, and was involved in community activities such as the Red Cross.

In her late teens Jean moved to Regina and took a secretarial course. She worked at the Regina branch of Credit Foncier, a large mortgage company with offices across Canada. She was employed by the company for many years, probably as a senior secretary or administrative assistant, until her retirement in the 1960s.

Her apartment, in the Credit Foncier building, was a window-filled corner unit which overlooked the manicured green lawns and flowers of Victoria Park in downtown Regina. It was a tiny unit – although it seemed large when I was a child – filled with lovely furniture and nick-knacks. My country cousins and I were always amazed at the compact neatness of the apartment. We were also amazed at the concept of such a small living space since many of us lived on sprawling farms with homes that leaked dust and weather. To be asked to spend a few days staying with ‘Aunt Jean’ (as she was known to everyone) in her Regina apartment in the centre of a big city was a treat beyond words when we were growing up.

Aunt Jean was everyone’s favourite aunt and regularly visited her siblings and their offspring. Dozens of photos exist documenting her numerous visits which were highly anticipated as her suitcase always carried small gifts and treats for every child. She was a welcome visitor in all our homes. A happy, fun loving person she was, within reason, prepared to do anything to the delight of we children. She was always smiling, or laughing, or preparing to do so. Her hair, which turned a lovely soft white during her 20s, was always neatly pinned. I don’t remember seeing her wear anything other than a dress and smart shoes; but her stylish attire didn’t stop her from climbing either onto a horse cart or up into the loft of a barn.

Photo right: Jean, left and unknown friend enjoy the view from the loft of a barn, Saskachewan. about 1950s?

Photo from the author’s collection

Jean and her sister Nell remained particularly close. For years each weekend Jean traveled by bus (for all her independence she never learned to drive) from Regina to Lemberg to stay with her sister and brother-in-law Joe [Joseph Francis ACTON].

Photo below: Jean, centre in blue dress, with her sister Nell and brother-in-law Joe.

Photo taken in Lemberg, Saskatchewan, about 1962

From the author’s collection

After her retirement in the 1960s Jean moved to Calgary. A few years before her death she returned to Saskatchewan and moved into the senior’s residence in Balcarres where her brother John lived.

She died in Balcarres on the 27 June 1988, and is buried beside her brother John in the Ellisboro Cemetery in the Qu’Appelle valley.

WATSON, Helen McNab (1890-1967)

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Watson Family

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(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ )

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Helen McNab WATSON (always known as Nell) was the third child and first daughter born to tenant farmers Thomas WATSON and his wife Jane (MUIR) WATSON. Her birth on 10 September 1890 occurred while her parents were still trying to earn a living at Mount Oliphant Farm, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland. Within about three years the family started the many moves throughout the Lowlands of Scotland that would characterize the next twenty years of her life before she immigrated to Saskatchewan in 1910.

Photo above: Helen (Nell) McNab Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

Nell was named after the Scottish naming pattern for children; as the first daughter she was named after her mother’s mother Helen McNAB. What do we know of Nell’s first years? As the eldest daughter she would have been expected to help her mother with the five younger children, cook, clean for the whole family and do farm work such as feed the chickens, milk cows as well as attend school. She also learned to shoot and hunt; perhaps rabbit stew featured on the Watson family menu. In later years she was an avid reader and enjoyed gardening, activities than must have had a genesis in her early years.

As soon as she had completed school, about age 15, she would have been expected to work away from home as a domestic servant to help augment the family’s income. We know this as she sent a postcard (below) from Ayr to her father in Kiersbeath, Dunfermline, Scotland on 22 September 1905, the message on the postcard “Down here at the races for three days, N.W”.

(The post card sent by Nell, to her father at Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Nell had just turned 16 twelve days before this postcard was sent. The owner of the ‘Wm. N. WATSON’ store in the postcard was Nell’s half 1st cousin – but that is a story for another time.)

In June 1906 when Nell was 16, her older brother Jim, 17, immigrated to Canada. Three years later her brother William (Bill) also immigrated. This changed Nell’s perception of the world. Postcards from the time show that the family was in constant contact and sent newspapers to Jim and Bill now working as farm labourers in Manitoba. No doubt conversations had started to convince the parents Tom and Jane to immigrate to Canada as well.

In March 1910. Nell, with her parents and siblings Alex, Jane and John boarded a ship in Glasgow and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 6 April 1910. Near Wolseley, Saskatchewan Nell found work with the Campbell family, and with Mrs. George Page Campbell, formed a happy work-friendship relationship as Mrs. Campbell shared Nell’s interest in reading, gardening and issues of the day such as women’s suffrage. [Women in Saskatchewan were granted the right to vote in 1916.]

On 10 March 1915 Nell married Joseph (Joe) Francis ACTON, a local farmer. The marriage took place at the farm home of her parents. For this photo, which appears to have been taken at a photographer’s studio, the young couple probably travelled by horse and cart to Wolseley and dressed in their wedding finery once they got to the studio.

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A receipt from about this time may be the list of items the young couple needed to set up house:

(Story to be continued)

WATSON, Thomas (1854-1932)

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Watson Family

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(see ‘Thomas & Jane (MUIR) WATSON Family’ under heading ‘WATSON’ , for photograph of WATSON family see post 29 April 2012)

[this post last edited, new information and/or images added 12 March 2013. Unless otherwise indicated all photos are from the author’s collection]

[For more Watson family photos also check out Donald Slater’s family history Flickr account www.flickr.com/photos/palaeoecogeek]

Thomas WATSON was born on 2 May 1854 in York Street, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland to Thomas WATSON  and his wife Mary HUNTER, tenant farmers. By 1858 the family had grown to four children, Thomas’ older half-brother William WATSON (1847-1878) and younger sisters Janet WATSON  (1856-1935) and Isabella WATSON (1858-1904).

Photo left: Thomas Watson, 10 June 1914, Rosewood District, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada

The Watson family lived on several farms in the Ayr area. In 1861 The family lived on Mosshill Farm in Alloway Parish, Ayrshire, Thomas (the father) was a “farmer of 60 acres” and both a farm servant and domestic servant were employed.

By 1878 the family lived on Mount Oliphant Farm just outside Ayr. That year Thomas’ father Thomas died of “paralysis of the brain”. Thomas registered his father’s death and took over running Mt. Oliphant. By 1881 the farm has increased in size and Thomas was “farmer of 70 acres” and two farm servants, and a domestic servant were employed. A boarder also lived at the farm, probably to help with the family income.

On 20 January 1887 Thomas, 33, married local girl Jane MUIR. They lived at Mount Oliphant Farm for the next five years, the first three of their children were born there. Although Mount Oliphant was considered to be a poor farm the family managed to scrape out a living. Thomas also worked as a carter to augment the family income.

Photo right: Thomas Watson, carter, Scotland, about 1890

By 1895 the family had left Mount Oliphant and for the next fifteen years lived and worked in at least seven different farms throughout the Scottish Lowlands. The last farm before emigrating to Canada in 1910 was Clark’s farm in Gullane, Scotland. Thomas took on different farm related occupations to support his growing family: dairyman (1897), ploughman (1899) and again dairyman (1903).

Family stories indicate that Thomas enjoyed music; descendants of Thomas have a fiddle as a family heirloom that it is believed belonged to Thomas. This is supported by an old photograph (left). WATSON finalThe man with the fiddle looks like Thomas with his bushy sideburns. The photographer’s name place the photograph in Scotland, however more specific date and location are unknown. If it is Thomas in the photo it seems likely that his wife Jane is one of the women seated in front.

violinist final

Photo right: enlargement of man with fiddle. Bushy sideburns and mustache identify Thomas.

In 1910, at the relatively advanced age (for those times) of 56, Thomas, his wife Jane and children Alexander, Helen (Nell), Jean and John sailed for Canada. Two sons, James and William, had emigrated previously. The move was successful; although he never owned land himself he lived to see four of his sons become landowners. In later years he told his family that he wished he had moved to Canada twenty years earlier.

[see posts from May 2012 for the story of Thomas’ children, life in Scotland and the family’s move to Canada]

Photo left and below: The Watson family in Saskatchewan, about 1918, taking a break from harvesting. In the photo below, Thomas is the man on the far right, with the brimmed hat, his prominent side burns can be seen. Other people in the photograph unidentified.

Photo below: Thomas with his sister Janet (WATSON) SPIERS and his brother-in-law Gilbert SPEIRS, photo probably from the 1920s, on the Campbell farm in the Rosewood district of Sakatchewan. Gilbert always had his corncob pipe.

According to family stories, Thomas was a ‘dour’ Scot, some would say “an ornery old cuss“. His memory may have become confused in his later years, although this perception may have been also due to his opinionated personality which sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.

Forty years later, his grandson Tom related the story: “I remember one time a remark, something had come up, Grandpa Watson had some shares in, I think, the United Grain Growers or something. There was an annoucement that came out in the newspaper that they were going to do something with these shares. And it was the only time I remember grandpa getting on the phone. But he got on the phone and he phoned his son-in-law Joe Acton and asked about these shares, probably asked what he should do with them. And whatever remark he made was quite ridiculous and someone’s comment was “I think Grandpa is getting into his second childhood.” Of course, at the time, that was often said, you got old and you went into your second childhood. And someone else made the comment “he’s been in his second childhood ever since I have known him”.” At the time, Thomas was probably in his late 70s and possibly was becoming confused, or at least more inflexible in his outlook on life.

Thomas died on the 6 March 1932 from complications of diabetes. My father, who was 15 at the time, later remembered his grandfather:

He died as a result of diabetes that he didn’t take care of. I can remember him making a remark several times saying “well, I’m ready for my hole in the ground”. He more or less said that he would welcome death because he was not going to put up with these damned needles and eating bread that was cooked with no-starch flour and that sort of stuff. In those days you had to cut out all starch. I remember going one evening with my mother [Helen (Nell) WATSON] and Grandma Watson [Jane MUIR] was pretty discouraged. My grandfather had just been told by the doctor that he had diabetes and told how he had to change his diet. He had been given this flour as in those days you weren’t supposed to eat starch or sugar. You were supposed to bake bread with this flour that had no starch in it. Well you can imagine baking bread with no starch.

Grandma Watson showed us what she had just baked, they were supposed to be buns but they were as flat as pancakes and hard as a rock. Grandma showed this to my mother with the comment “you may see what it’s like …”. And poor Grandma, I felt sorry for her even as a young boy. She was so discouraged. And of course there was no way he was going to eat that crap. He never did. He wanted his porridge and his sugar – even if it killed him that’s what he wanted.

He went into a coma March 1933. And died. They had a doctor out [from the town of Lemberg] and the doctor said” there’s nothing I can do, it’s inevitable” And he died within 24 hours.

He was buried in Ellisboro Cemetery on 9 March 1932, fifty years later my father still remembered “that it was a cold bloody day that he was buried.”

[Obituary from Lemberg Star, Mar 11, 1932, Vol 14, #32]     A highly respected and aged citizen of Rosewood district, passed away at his home on Sunday, March 6th, in the person of Thomas Watson, aged 78 years. The late Mr. Watson was born near the town of Ayr, Scotland and with his family, settled here in 1910, where he has since engaged in farming with a fair measure of success. He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs. Jos. Acton, Lemberg and Miss Jean, Regina, also five sons: Thomas, Winnipeg; James, William, Alex and John of this community. One sister, Mrs. G. Spiers [Janet WATSON, married to Gilbert SPIERS] who resides in Ellisboro. The funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon, following service at the late home, burial being made in Ellisboro cemetery, conducted by Rev. H. Cobb of Wolseley. The pallbearers were his five sons, Thomas, James, William, Alex, John and son-in-law Joseph Acton.