Lineage of Alice Rimmer

Lineage of Alice Rimmer

The Lineage of

Alice Rimmer

Compiled by Nancy Watson

for HIST 350-M001

1. Alice Rimmer, daughter of Thomas Rimmer and Margery Formby, was born on 5 November 1879 in the hamlet of Ainsdale, Lancashire, England, and died 12 August 1934 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She was married in about 1814 to Thomas Watson, the son of William Watson and Sarah Ann Hays.

Since there was no local Church of England in Ainsdale, Alice was christened in the Church of England at St. Peter’s Formby, Lancashire, England on 18 November 1879. In 1881 Alice’s father, Thomas Rimmer worked on a farm. Alice’s unmarried aunt, Margaret Formby and her daughter, Marjery Formby, lived with the family at 56 Liverpool Road in Ainsdale. The fact that Marjery is listed as “sister-in-law” to the head of the household helps identify the maiden name of Alice’s mother.

In about 1886 the family moved to 10 Wallasey Building on Furlong Street in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. In the 1891 England Census, Alice’s father worked as a carter—a driver of a horse-drawn wagon. The men of several of the neighboring families are also listed as carters. The location is only a short distance away from the Liverpool docks.

In 1901 the family lived at 12 Haylock Street in Toxteth Park, Liverpool. The location was closer to the docks than their former address and about two blocks from the railway. Alice’s father is listed in the 1901 England Census as a “railway carter.” Alice would have been about 21 years old at that time, and is not listed in the census with her family. A diligent search for her in some other location or with another family did not reveal any credible results.

On 23 July 1909 Alice, age 29, emigrated from Liverpool to Canada aboard the RMS Empress of Ireland. The Empress was owned by the Canadian Pacific Steamships company and offered a six-day voyage across the Atlantic between Liverpool and Quebec City. Alice Rimmer was listed as a “servant” with a destination of Montreal. According to the memory of Rowland Watson (her son), Alice lived in or near Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada after her arrival. Back in England, her parents and siblings moved once more without her, and in 1911 they are found at 37 Pickwick Street in Toxteth Park, Liverpool.

Sometime in 1914, Alice married Thomas Watson, a Canadian immigrant from Durham, England. Thomas was a widower with two children, Lily Watson and Nora Watson. His first wife died in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada in childbirth in October 1913. Family tradition says that Alice was a nursemaid to Mary and later to the children and baby. The child, Thomas Watson, died on 27 January 1915 and was buried with Mary, his mother, in Medicine Hat.

Meanwhile, on 28 July 1914, war broke out in Europe, drawing into war all the world’s major economic powers, including Canada. The British declaration of war on 4 August 1914 automatically included Canada because it was a British dominion at that time.

Sometime in 1915, after the death of little Thomas, the family moved to Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada where, on 21 August 1915, Thomas’ daughter Lily (Alice’s step-daughter) married John Phillips of Duncan, British Columbia. They were married in Victoria, British Columbia.

Two days later, on 23 August 1915, Alice’s husband, Thomas, signed up in Victoria to serve in the Canadian army overseas. His Attestation papers list Alice as his wife, living in Sooke (a seaside village near Victoria on Vancouver Island). His battalion, the 1st Canadian Pioneers, shipped out to Europe later that year, leaving Alice with his daughter, Nora, who was just eleven years old at that time. However, Nora and Alice did not remain in Canada for long (if at all), but traveled to England where they stayed with Alice’s parents, Thomas and Margery Rimmer, still living at the 37 Pickwick Street address. On 18 April 1916 Alice gave birth to her first child, Rowland Watson, while living at that address.

Although ocean travel during the war was hazardous at best, on 5 October 1916 Alice sailed back to Canada on the RMS Olympic, a British steamship (sister to the RMS Titanic) that had been commissioned as a troop transport ship during the war. She brought her step-daughter, Nora, and her new son, Rowland, with her. Although she is listed in the ships list as the wife of Corporal Thomas Watson, there is no record that he was also on that ship. His enlistment for service required him to serve for one year or the duration of the war, so it possible he remained in the service with his battalion at that time. However, he must have returned to Canada sometime before the war ended on November 11, 1918, because on 1 January 1919, Alice gave birth to their second son, Gordon Lewis Watson, in Saanich, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. My presumption is that sometime around April 1918, Alice and Thomas must have been together somewhere. On 30 May 1920 they were blessed with the birth of May Enid Watson in Duncan, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

By 1921, the family had moved to Nanaimo, still on Vancouver Island, about 30 miles north of Duncan. Alice’s husband, Thomas was a farmer at that time. Alice’s step-daughter, Lily and her husband John Phillips lived next door to them in Nanaimo.

Nora married Robert Watson of Durham, England, on 17 November of 1923. The couple moved to the state of Washington in the United States. That left just Alice’s children, Rowland, Gordon, and May, living at home.

On 1 September1931 Thomas Watson died following a bicycle accident on the streets of Victoria. Alice passed away on 12 August 1934, also in Victoria. Their three children were still living at home. She never got to see them married or know her grandchildren. Thomas and Alice are buried in the Oak Bay Cemetery near Victoria, British Columbia. Canada.

Alice Rimmer and Thomas Watson were the parents of the following children:

i. Rowland Watson, born 18 April 1916 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He died 9 August 1974 in Livermore, Alameda, California. Rowland married Dorothy Isabel Johns of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada at Victoria, BC, Canada on 8 May 1937. They had two children: (a) Rowland Douglas Watson, born 20 December 1937 at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and (b) John Thomas Watson, born 16 April 1941 at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Rowland divorced Dorothy Isabel Johns in about 1945. He married Mabel Dorothy Garrison in 1949. They moved to Livermore, California, where Rowland worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Rowland and Mabel had two children: (a) Robin Watson, born 13 Jun 1950 in Livermore, California, and (b) Margaret Watson, also born in Livermore. Rowland died 9 August 1974 in Livermore.

ii. Gordon Lewis Watson, born 1 January 1919 in Saanich, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. He died 21 July 1982 in Burnaby, British Columbia. He married Edith Evelyn Machay in about 1945 in Victoria, British Columbia. Canada. They had two children, (a) John Thomas Watson, born in 1946 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and (b) Robert Watson, born in 1948 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

iii. May Enid Watson was born 30 May 1920 in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. She died 29 March 1996 in Bellingham, Washington, United States of America. She married William J. White in 1943. They had no children.

Alice Rimmer was the daughter of Thomas Rimmer and Margery Formby.

2. Thomas Rimmer, son of James Rimmer and Mary Sumner, was born in 1859 at the hamlet of Ainsdale, Lancashire, England. He died between 1919 and 1934. He married Margery Formby on 30 August 1879 at Walton on the Hill, Lancashire, England.

He was baptized in the Church of England on 6 February 1859 at St. Peter’s Formby. At that time the family lived at 25 Ainsdale Road in the hamlet of Ainsdale. In 1871 the family lived at 44 Liverpool Road in Ainsdale. His father, James, was a farm worker. In 1881, after Thomas’ marriage to Margery in 1879, he and his new wife lived at 56 Liverpool Road in Ainsdale. Also living at the home were their daughter, Alice Rimmer (age 1) and Thomas Rimmer’s sister-in-law, Margaret Formby. His parents, James and Mary, now lived at 64 Liverpool Road. Margaret was unmarried, but her daughter Marjery (age 3) was living with her in the home. It is because of this sister-in-law relationship that we know Thomas’ wife’s maiden name was Formby. Thomas’ and Margery’s first three children, Alice, James, and William Lewis were born in Ainsdale.

In about 1886 Thomas and Margaret moved to Liverpool, Lancashire, England in the sub-district of St. Martin. Their address was on Furlong Street in 10 Wallasey Building. Their next child Mary, was born in Liverpool in 1886. The next children, Margaret, and Thomas, were also born in Liverpool. Thomas now worked as a carter, carrying goods and sometimes passengers through the town in a horse-drawn cart.

Sometime between 1891 and 1894 the family moved to Toxteth Park, a new suburb in the south of Liverpool. Thomas’ occupation at that time was “Railway Carter” for the London and Northwest Railway (L&NR). Toxteth Park was close to both the Liverpool docks and the railroad, a convenient location for a person in the occupation of railway carter. Although the area had many beautiful avenues with large Gregorian-style homes, it also had rows and rows of “terraced” houses for lower income families. The Rimmer family, while not living in poverty, lived in terraced housing. In 1891, their address was 12 Haycock Street. But by 1894 they lived in a terraced house at 37 Pickwick Street. Some of the old terraced homes in the area have since been torn down as a blight on the city. But the 37 Pickwick Street still stands today (2015).

In 1894 Margaret gave birth to a son, Lewis Rimmer. He lived only three months and died. He is buried in the Toxteth Park Cemetery. The existence of this child was not known until research on the 1911 Census. For that census there is a column titled “Total Children born alive.” In that column Thomas Rimmer marked the number 11. The next column lists “Children still living.” This is marked 9. A final column in that section lists “Children who have died.” In this column is the number 2. This number sent me searching for children who might have died. I saw a gap of seven years between Thomas Rimmer (born in 1889) and Lewis Rimmer (born in 1896). There was also a six-year gap between Lewis and his sister Florence (born in 1900). I went searching for possible Rimmer children born during those gaps and who might have died young. I found Lewis Rimmer (born in 1894), son of Thomas Rimmer and Margery. I also found he died of bronchitis in 1895 while the family lived as 12 Haylock Street in Toxteth Park..

As for the other gap, I am still searching to fill it.

I worried that one of the children who died might be their first child, Alice Rimmer, because she was not found in the 1901 or the 1911 census. However, we know that she was back at the family home in 1916 for the birth of her first son, Rowland.

On 1 January 1914 Thomas Rimmer’s son Thomas married Sarah Ellen Nancollis in Toxteth Park. On June 7, 1919, Thomas’ daughter Margery married Harry Whalley in Toxteth Park. For both marriages Thomas Rimmer is listed as the father, still working as a carter, and not listed as deceased. In 1934, the year his daughter, Alice died in Canada, Alice’s obituary did not list her father as having survived her. It did list her mother and sisters “in England” as survivors. Thomas Rimmer must have died sometime between June 1919 and August 1934. I have searched death records and burial records, including probate records and cannot find any credible reference to a death for Thomas Rimmer.

Alice’s mother, Margery Formby, died 1 December 1945. Her cause of death was noted as “senile carditis.”

Thomas Watson and Margery Formby had these children:

i. Alice Rimmer, born 5 November 1879 in Ainsdale, Lancashire, England, died 12 August 1934 in Victoria, BC, Canada.

ii. James Rimmer, born 1881 in Ainsdale, Lancashire, England.

iii. William Lewis Rimmer, born about 1884 in Ainsdale, Lancashire, England, died in March 1962 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

iv. Mary Rimmer, 7 November 1885 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

v. Margery Rimmer, 3 October 1887 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, died in September 1948 in Wirral, Cheshire, England.

vi. Thomas Rimmer, born about 1889 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, died in March 1961 in Liverpool North, Lancashire, England.

vii. Lewis Rimmer, born 20 December 1894 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, died 13 April 1895.

viii. Lewis Rimmer, born 24 September 1896, died September 1982 in Walton, Cheshire, England.

ix. Florence Rimmer, born 4 April 1900 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.

x. George Rimmer, born 10 December 1903 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, died 09 September 1981 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England.

Thomas Rimmer was the son of James Rimmer and Mary Sutton.

3. James Rimmer, son of John Rimmer and Ellen Longton, born about 1819 in the hamlet of Birkdale, Lancashire, England, died about 1900 in Lancashire. He married Mary Sumner 27 June 1842 at Everton, St. George, Liverpool.

James was baptized at Formby, St. Peter, in Lancashire on 25 July 1819.