Wordless Wednesday

65th. Spitfire Squadron(1944 or 45); Lancaster crew of the 426th. Squadron(1944 or 45)

Lt. Col. Daniel Hillman

Daniel Hillman was born to William James Hillman and Margaret Patterson on November 6, 1877 in Aldborough Township, Elgin County, Ontario. He was a civil engineer who spent most of the years before 1915 working for the railroads in Northern Ontario.

In 1914 the French were responsible for all railway construction in Belgium and France. By 1915 the French realized that they needed help. In the spring of 1915 Canada responded to the call from Britain for a Corps of skilled railway construction workers. The Corps of Canadian Railway Troops would lay 1880km(1169 miles) of broad gauge rail and 2275km. (1414 miles) of light track. They played important roles in the battles of Vimy , Passchendaele, Amiens, and the 100 Days battles.

Daniel Hillman joined in January, 1915. I have always found attestation papers interesting for more than just dates. Daniel’s attestation papers show him to be 5’4” tall with grey eyes, and dark brown hair. He was commissioned a Lieutenant and left for England in June, 1915. Before the battle of the Somme he was lent out to the Royal Engineers. He was made a Lt. Col. In 1918. After the Armistice he was involved in work to salvage railway equipment from the Western Front. He returned to Canada in July 1919.

Veterans Week (Nov 5th to Nov 11th

It’s Veterans Week and I will try to keep to this theme this week. The National Archives have a virtual exhibit online at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/faces-of-war/index-e.html called Faces of War. It is well worth the visit, and you would be surprised at the information that is there.

Surname Saturday-Cannom

The Cannom’s only lightly touch my family tree. My grandmother’s sister Maude Maria Beatrice Thomas(2 July 1886-unknown) married John Earnest Cannom(22 February 1882-13 February 1919) in London, Ontario 28 July 1908. They had three children William Anderson(17 May 1910-1970), Nora(2 December 1912-1970), and Ida May(17 September 1917-unknown).

The Cannom’s were from London Township, Middlesex County, Ontario. John Earnest’s grandfather John Cannom(1816-17 September 18870 immigrated from England to London Township sometime before 1871.
John Cannom married Ann Smith(1826 in Ireland-unknown) at an unknown date. Their son Obadiah was born 16 May 1846 in England and died 13 August 1927 in London, Ontario. He married Isabella Anderson(unknown birth and death dates) 18 October 1871 in Huron County, Ontario. They had four children John Earnest, Ida May(1876-unknown) Drusilla Ruth(16 March 1893-unknown), and Wilhelmina Ethel(16 October 1897-unknown).

I remember Aunt Maude(her photo is in an earlier blog post) quite well. She lived in a little house on East Street in London just six or seven blocks away from my grandmother. My grandmother and her sisters used to get together to play Scrabble, and fight over the spelling of words. Looking back I think none of them were that interested in the game. They enjoyed the verbal battles much more.

Musicians in the Family

As far as I know only recently has musical talent reared its ugly head in my family. I remember with some trepidation the attempts by my mother to get me to play the piano. In grade nine I attempted to learn the euphonium. No go. It held no interest for me when measured with the joys of hockey, baseball, and wrestling.

My ex-wife’s family was naturally a different kettle of fish. She was and is a professional musician. When we were married she played percussion for our local London Symphony orchestra. My two sons, as a result, inherited some musical talent. Andrew plays the violin and percussion. Anthony plays the cello and guitar. Both boys at one time or other have played for London’s Youth orchestra.

Mother played the piano; but as far as I know no one else in my family line have showed any musical talent. Interesting considering the number of Gaelic Scots that appear in my past. Oh well, I expect that the farmers in my line viewed a field of corn as a symphony in itself.

Photo:Anthony and his guitar

Black Sheep Sunday

Black sheep in the Hillman family line? I wish. I have looked long and hard for just such a person. So far all I have been able to find are hard working Baptists and Presbyterians. If another researcher has been able to find a black sheep in the Hillman tree I would very much like to find out who that person is.

The closest I can come up with is John James McLellan (29 April 1855-April 1910). He immigrated from Scotland in 1872, and was the second husband of my great grandmother Maria Gartrell Rickard Thomas(she is mentioned in a previous blog post).

He died apparently of ‘ an overindulgence of alcohol’. Not an uncommon problem in nineteenth century Ontario. During this period there was a growing Temperance movement which eventually led to Prohibition during the Drury Premiership(1919-1923).

The Wiltshire Crowd

Very many thanks to Cora Hillman in sending me information that helps me to round out the various lines of Hillman’s that immigrated to Upper Canada at around 1831(still an approximate date as the are no records to date of when they landed. This date is taken from the Canadian Census returns from various members of the family. But even these are not consistent.).

It all starts with George Hillman and Elizabeth Harman who were from around Westbury, Wiltshire, England. They had two sons George(born 1798 in Westbury-died sometime before 1855 in Middlesex County, Upper Canada) who married Susana Browne 24 December, 1818 in Westbury, Wiltshire England. They had eight children John(born 4December, 1819-died 3 October 1906), James(1 December, 1821-died 17 March 1900), William(born 3 November 1824-died 10 August 1888), Elizabeth(born 1829-died 1884), Reuben(born 20 October 1828-died August 1899), W. Nathaniel(born 6 January 1844 -died 1935), and Mary Ann(born 1844-died?).
George Hillman and Elizabeth Harman’s second son James(born 1800?-died before 1859) married Mary Smith on 29 January 1824 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England. They had eight children. John(born 21 May 1827-died March 1888), Esau(born 31 January 1831- died ?), William( born 1834-died?), George(born 1836-died?), Laura Ann(born 1841-died?), Samuel(born 1843-died?), Matthew(born 1845-?).

From these two immigrant families the Hillman’s spread throughout South-Western Ontario, Northern Michigan, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

I wish though that they used a wider variety of Christian names! It would have made it easier.