Andrew was just 10 years old when his mum died. He continued living with his step-father, a career soldier, in hard scrabble Gourock, just north west of Glasgow. But Andrew was ill-treated by his step-father. When word of this reached his Matheson aunt and granny he was taken from Gourock and went to live in Nethy Bridge with his granny, my great grandmother, Annie Ross Matheson.
After his granny died just before Christmas in 1922, Andrew was sent to the Quarriers Orphans Home at Bridge of Weir, but only several months. Here it gets a little confusing, but I think I've sorted out what happened. I had known from my mum and aunt that Andrew came to Montreal as a teenager, to live with his uncle Frank and his family. He was closer in age to Frank, who was born in 1892, than to my grandfather, his uncle John, who was born in 1884.
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| Declaration of Passenger to Canada |
A couple of years ago, another DNA cousin sent me information about Quarriers Homes at Bridge of Weir, saying that Andrew had lived there before coming to Canada.
Out of curiousity, I checked Library and Archives' British Home Child collection. There, I found contradictory information, indicating that Andrew was a passenger on the Cassandra, which arrived in Canada in April 1923. The record notes he was destined for Brockville, Ontario. Quarriers had afacility in Brockville where all newly arrived boys were first sent before being sent on to other places.
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| Library and Archives Canada British Home Child Collection |
I kept researching. On the British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association website, I found the photograph below of boys, the caption of which went so far as to list Andrew, and said the photo was on t the caption identifying him on a photograph purportedly taken onboard the Cassandra.
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| from British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association website |
But I still couldn't find any record of Andrew leaving Scotland in late March or early April 1923 on the Cassandra, or any other ship.
Next, I contacted Quarriers Home at Bridge of Weir, and they confirmed to me that the August date is the correct date Andrew left Scotland.
What happened? Remember, Andrew's granny died at Christmas 1922. Was he sent immediately to Quarriers? Or early in 1923? I think there were too many children at Bridge of Weir, and I have a theory about what probably happened. His aunt Kitty was already the legal guardian of her handicapped brother, Alex, whom I wrote about here. Kitty was from my great grandfather's first marriage, and in 1923 she was 54 years old. But Kitty wasn't for whatever reason able to take on raising a 15 year old, when she herself was childless and her husband was a Glasgow police detective.
Aside from Kitty and Alex, my grandfather and great uncle were the only family members Andrew had left. I wonder if Quarriers moved that quickly to organize for Andrew to be sent to Canada, that when his interim guardian, his aunt Kitty, found out, she leapt into action and contacted her brothers in Montreal. It seems to me that it was a very lucky break for Andrew that he was pulled off the April 1923 manifest. But not soon enough for a photograph to be taken -- not on the Cassandra or on arrival in Brockville.
Quarriers have a small amount of records about Andrew's time there, but wanted 60 GBP to copy and send these to me. As this is over $100 Canadian for me, I decided against getting his records.
Andrew served overseas in the Canadian Army in the Second World War, married afterwards, but was childless. I met him a few times. Andrew was a very kind, gentle, and soft spoken man. He wrote me letters addressed "Dear cousin Margie".
The never ending story continues....
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