The Ironic Life of William Cheesman

The Ironic Life of William Cheeseman
Tuesday, 24 March 2009 08:16 - Last Updated Tuesday, 24 March 2009 19:16
Beginnings

London, England is both the capital of England and of the United Kingdom. In the west side of
central London lies the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, created in 1965 from the
former boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. It lies just west of the City of Westminster, the
heart of modern London and hosts major museums, universities, embassies, department stores
such as the famous Harrods and some of the most exclusive residential districts in the world. A
stark contrast to the district in the 18th and early 19th Centuries.
Brompton is a locality within this borough defined by the triangle of Brompton Road, Sloane
Street and Sloane Avenue. Today it is the most densely populated local authority in the United
Kingdom. In 1879, Brompton was almost exclusively an artist quarter.
Near the tip of the triangle of Sloan Street and Brompton Road was a small street called New
Street. New Street was a middle class, comfortable neighborhood. It was here that on February
16th of 1878 our Grandfather, William Cheesman, would be born to Ellen Hally, a housewife,
and her husband William Cheesman, a carpenter. Ellen was born about 1843 in Caher, Ireland
and William, Sr was born about 1834 in Hawkhurst, Kent. Ellen was William Sr's second wife.
Hiis first wife had been Elizabeth Cheesman, born about 1836 in Hawkhurst, Kent. Together
William Sr and Elizabeth had had two girls, Fanny J., born about 1862, and Mary A., born
about 1864. These girls would be half siblings to our Grandfather William and his full siblings,
Rose H. (born about 1874), Matilda (born about 1875), Mary E. (born about 1880), and Edward
(born about 1881). At this time no more information is know about Elizabeth and the two girls.
As the city of London grew New Street became swallowed up by commercial development,
eventually the name disappeared and it has became no more than a service alley for the
surrounding businesses. William Cheesman Sr. was the son of Richard and Jemima
Cheesman. Richard was born about 1798 in Hawkhurst, Kent and died in 1861 at the age of 71.
Jemima was born about 1797 in Healthfield, Sussex and died in Kent in 1865 at the age of 68.
William Sr's siblings were Sarah (born about 1838), George (about 1840), Jesse (1843) and
Stephen (about 1829).
Little is known at this time about the family of our Great Grandmother Ellen, but it is known that
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she had a brother named Edward. Edward was born in about 1834 in Catier Coy, Tipperary,
Ireland. In 1871, Edward was lodging with the family of George and Caroline Starbuck at 12
Sherrard Street in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England. George was a tailor and draper.
Edward worked as an animal painter.
Loss
Our William Sr's Grandfather, William's father, died of indigestion at the age of 57. His death is
registered in the 2nd quarter of 1890 in the London Borough of Wandsworth. At the time of his
death the family was living on Speke Road, Battersea, Wandsworth. Speke road was classed
as a “comfortable” neighborhood.
Following William Sr's death the family took lodging with Mrs. Roberts at 13 Farmer Street in
Notting Hill Gate. Notting Hill is located in West London close to the North West Corner of Hyde
Park. It lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Farmer Street was found on
the southern edge of Notting Hill.
Although a very affluent area today, in fact London's most fashionable area, in our ancestor's
day it was a very impoverished area once described as a “massive slum full of multi-occupied
houses, crawling with rats and rubbish
”. This area was better known as the Potteries (because of the nearby pottery works) &
Piggeries (three-to-one ratio of pigs to people) and formally called “Notting Dale”. Notting Hill
was decrepit, disease ridden, dirty and rife with criminal activity, drinking and gambling.
Although there were some improvements over the years, this area did not improve significantly
until the slums were cleared in the 1960's and 70's.
Not long after the family relocated here, their situation deteriorated even more with the death of
William's mother. Ellen died of dropsy and her death was registered in the 1st quarter of 1891.
This was within a year of the death of her husband.
The comfortable middle class life that the family had lived was ultimately shattered following the
death of their father. Because of misfortune and circumstance, they went from living as a family
unit in a nice area to living in the slum area of Notting Hill. Unfortunately with the death of their
mother, matters became far worse. The children, once described by Mrs. Roberts as “respectab
le and well conducted
” found themselves negativity effected by these circumstances. William and his sisters Matilda
and Rose were drawn into immoral and unlawful lifestyles. Their brother Edward was placed in
the St. Mary's Orphanage, a Roman Catholic Home in Brentwood, Essex, and sister Mary
placed in the Carmelite Home, Church Street, Kensington. One can only wonder if these
children were to ever see each other again. In 1901 Edward had enlisted with the Royal Navy
and was working aboard HMS Dasher as a member of the crew. No other information is known
at this time regarding Williams brothers and sisters.
In light of these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the normal morals and family values
we take for granted today were simply not a part of the upbringing of these children. This would
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have repercussions in our family for years to come.
Barnardos
Two years following his mother's death William, homeless and trying to earn his keep in the
streets, was arrested for trespassing. Seeing good in this boy and with hopes that he could be
helped and as an alternative to jail he was handed over to the Dr. Barnardo's Home, a shelter
for destitute children. He would spend one night at the Receiving House in Stepney Causeway,
East London and on 7th October 1893 was moved to the Youth's Labour House.
William was the 14,841th child taken into care by the Barnardo Homes. By 1932, they had
admitted 108,500 children. William's date of birth was
erroneously recorded as 9th July 1876. He was in fact 2 years younger than his recorded
admission age of 17. His true birth date 16th February 1878 would not be discovered for many
years to come. The spelling of Cheesman also
changed with this admission, as, originally, that name did not contain the middle “e”. This
mistake also took many years to discover. William was uneducated and unable to read or write
which may help to explain why these mistakes were not caught.

William would remain at the Youth's Labour House for just shy of 6 months. On 29th March
1894, he boarded the SS Sarnia and sailed to a new life in Canada. William was 16 and listed
as a “laborer.” He arrived in Portland, Maine, USA, on 11th April 1894 at 16:00 hours. The 240
Barnardo boys aboard this ship brought the total number of Barnardo children brought into
Canada at this time to 6,810. There were 542 Home Children
on this ship, all listed in the Steerage section of the ship.

William was taken to Barnardo's Training Home in Russell, Manitoba, Canada. Russell was the
choice for the older boys, who were growing up on the streets of London, and, therefore
“rougher” in character. The idea was to remove them far from the destructive influence that
city's like Toronto might have. Out in Russell ,they would be trained as farmers with hopes that
they would be hired throughout the West or given land by the government and become
successful farmers on their own right.
Farming

Shortly after his arrival he was placed in a work “situation” with Ed G Short as a general farm
hand. Farmer Short was to pay him $55 per year. Mr. Short was pleased with William, stating, “I
think I will like him
”. This favorable report was also repeated in a letter from Mr. Short 29th March 1895. This was
not to last, however, and on 12th January 1896 William wrote Barnardo's to tell them he had left
his situation with Mr. Short and that he was having problems obtaining his wages. Ensuing
correspondence shows Mr. Short now complaining about William's conduct and William
complaining of Mr. Short's treatment of him.

March of 1896 William placed in a situation with a Mr. Ferguson. In a letter dated 23rd March
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1896 to Barnardo's Mr. Ferguson states “Wm Cheeseman is about house – he is well and is a
splendid boy, a credit to the Home (Barnardo's) of which he speaks so highly
”. On 31th March 1896 Barnardo's wrote William praising him of his good conduct and their
pleasure at receiving such a favorable report from Mr. Ferguson. This was also not to last.
William absconded from care on 20 July 1896. In his letter to Barnardo's informing them of the
situation, Mr. Ferguson writes that William was a good worker although very rough with the
stock. He also expressed his opinion that another fella by the name of Wainwright had been bad
influence over William. William doesn't surface again until 1901 when he's found working on a
farm in Brandon, Manitoba for the family of John P Jones.

On 28th April 1905 William applied for and gained entry to a homestead property which was
situated just north of Rosetown. He was granted the South West Corner of section 22, Township
30, in Range 15 West of the 3rd Meridian. He would received the patent for this land on 25th
March 1909. Under the Land Dominion's Act. William's cost for this property was the $10
registration fee. As required two of his neighbors, Joseph Woolsey Heartwell and William Wiles
provided sworn statements in support of his application for patent. In May of 1906 William built a
14X16 ft sod home worth $130 and a 14X16 sod stable worth $100. Between the years of 1906
and 1909 he also worked threshing in Delisle, Saskatchewan (74.1 km from Rosetown), and in
the woods in Prince Albert (252 km from Rosetown).

The 1906 Cenus of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and the 1911 Canadian Census show
William as a single male living on this homestead property. The post office location for William
would be that same small community called Zealandia where his future bride, Annie, would
arrive in 1912.
Annie

March 27th of 1912, 26 year old Annie Reta Marion Prince would board the ship Grampian in
Liverpool along with a large group of other single women, whose occupations were listed as
“spinsters”. This ship was bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia and would arrive on April 4th 1912. On
board this ship was also a group of Home children headed for Toronto. Annie's occupation was
listed as “spinster” . Her intended occupation listed as “wife” and her reason for immigration was
“to be married”. Her destination was the village of Zealandia, which lays 17.9 km north east of
Rosetown.

Annie Reta Marion Prince and William Cheesman were married on 11th April 1912 in Rosetown,
Saskatchewan, Canada. This marriage taking place a mere week after Annie arrived in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. Her marriage to William was in all likelihood an arrangement as the couple could
not have known each other prior to this event. William and Annie would settle on his homestead
in Rosetown and nine months later, on 28th January 1913, their first child Archibald William was
born. Their second child Edward Ralf was born on 23rd December 1914.

Life was not easy for the new couple and by the time their third and fourth children, twins
Gwendoline Grace and Helena Mary, were born on 13th January 1917, they were under a
considerable financial strain to keep the farm going.

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On 25th June 1917, unable to keep the farm going, the property was sold. The family would
move to a neighboring section and become tenant farmers there. It is on this section that their
fifth child, Sidney Basil Cheesman would be born.
Return to England

Late in the fall of 1919 the family would board the ship Metagama in Montreal bound for
England. Their reason given on the Ship's Passenger List for the trip was that the family was on
a holiday. They arrived in Liverpool, London, England on 10th November 1919.

Four months after the family arrived in the UK, on 19th March 1920, William boarded the ship M
elita
in Liverpool and headed back to Rosetown alone. The trip to England was never meant to be a
permanent move and William had headed back to tend to the family's farm back in Rosetown.
Sometime late in the fall of 1921, William returned to his family in England. Sometime in
September of 1921 the couples 6th child was conceived.

On the 11th April 1922, coincidentally the 10th anniversary of their marriage, William, once
again alone, boarded the ship Empress of Britain in Liverpool. Plans had changed. The
decision was made that the family would remain in England. William would return to Canada,
sell the family's belongings and was then expected to return to his family. After he left, Annie,
close to 7 months pregnant, remained at Brook Cottage with the children awaiting the birth of
their baby and the return of her husband. On the 27th June 1922 she gave birth to Olive June
(Muriel) alone (the author's mother), William never returned. For reasons we will never know or
understand, when he boarded that ship he sailed out of his family's life forever.

In the fall of 1922, Annie along with 9 year old Archie, Ralf almost 8 years, twins Gwen and
Mary 5 years, Sidney almost 4 years, and Muriel Olive, just a few months old, left Brook Cottage
and entered the Kington Union Workhouse. They would never live together as a family again.
There they would remain until June of 1924.
Canada
It was considered by the guardians in 1923 to send Ralf and Archie to Canada alone. When you
entered the workhouse you forfeited your rights to your children. If they had immigrated the two
boy's alone in all probability Annie would have had no say and no knowledge of it. The boys
would have “vanished” from her life, their whereabouts kept from her. The boys also would not
have been told what happened to the rest of their family, a fate suffered by many home
children. Then, on 16th March 1924 ,Annie was admitted to the infirmary at the Workhouse, ill
with flu and a nervous break down.
On June 18th of 1924, Annie and the children were placed together aboard the Ship Ausonia,
under care of the Salvation Army, with passage paid by the Kington Board of Guardians.
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Though their mother was to be on the same ship, the children were considered Home Children.
They underwent medical tests at the Kington Union Workhouse just prior to their departure.
Annie was separated from her children on this voyage with the exception of the youngest child
Olive June. They arrived in Canada on June 27th of 1924, Olive Junes 2nd birthday. They were
taken to the Salvation Army's Sheltering home, Clinton Lodge in Toronto, Ontario. Annie was
processed for work and the children, with the exception of Sidney and Archie who were situated
in an orphanage under care of the Children's Aid Society in Oshawa, were placed in Foster
Homes. Eventually the 4 children in foster care were adopted, but the children in the orphanage
were not. The Children's Aid Society wrote to Annie in February of 1925 telling her that Sidney
was having problems and that they would not be able to place him. They asked that Annie come
and get him as he really needed his mother. Annie did, taking Archie as well. By March of that
year she had taken the boy's and headed to the West. Soon after, she marrried Jesse James
Rule and would have two more children with him. Annie and Jesse would raise the 4 children
on his homestead property just outside of McCord, Saskatchewan. Our family have wondered if
she was looking for her husband when she first went back out west. There is evidence that she
searched for him when she first arrived in Canada.
William's Fate
There were many rumors about what fate William had suffered after he left the family. The
theory that he had sold their belongings and had been murdered for the money was one. When
we retrieved his records from Barnardo Homes, they contained letters written between them and
William in 1945. Through those letters we were able to trace him to Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada.
What ever the reason was that he left the family, William's final years were spent (in my opinion)
as a broken man. There is no evidence that he ever remarried or had any more children. He
was a pauper, wandering from place to place. William was ill. When he contacted the Barnardo
offices, he was seeking a copy of his birth certificate so that he could apply for his pension
(often very difficult to obtain in those days). Not knowing his true age, William was under the
impression he was about 69 years old at this time. I wonder what his thoughts were when he
found out he was only 67 and he had to wait another couple of years before applying for
pension.
In April of 1948 William was ill and admitted to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton,
Alberta. He was just 2 months past his 70th birthday and, therefore, 2 months past the
qualifying age for the pension. On April 15, 1948, William left this world the same way he
arrived in Canada. Alone. Nobody there to love or care for him. Nobody to mourn him. Nobody
to comfort him in his final days.
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He was buried by the City of Edmonton in a communal unmarked pauper grave in the St.
Joachim's Cemetery in downtown Edmonton. For 60 year's, William laid in his unmarked grave,
unclaimed. Not one person in all those years had even called to inquire about him. But, on
April 15th 2008, (60 years to the day of his death) , I called the Holy Cross Office to inquire
about the William Cheesman buried there and what they told me that day will haunt me forever.
In 1948 when you were buried under these circumstances your were quite often placed in a
communal grave, which means he is buried with a number of other souls. Quite often, where
there was a still born birth, these children were slipped into one of these graves. William was
given 6 stillborn babies with whom to share his eternal rest In life, William had lost his 6
children: Archie, Ralf, Gwen, Mary, Sidney and Olive June. In death he was given 6 children to
watch over.
Conclusion
The tragedy of a Home Child is not only what happened to them once they were taken in by the
sheltering homes. It is also the suffering endured in their lives which caused them to reach that
point in the first place. Yet, the greatest tragedy was what many suffered afterward, lacking the
fundamental life skills taught in loving homes. This suffering rebounds for generations to follow.
My grandfather through the Barnardo Homes was given a chance for a new life, but what good
was that chance when he did not have the fundamental understanding and knowledge to know
how to use that new life? In October of 2008, I, along with another of his grandchildren, Murray
Cheesman visited William's grave in Edmonton, the first descendants to be there. Just prior to
this visit, my mother Olive June (renamed Muriel Olive after her adoption), William and Annie's
last surviving child had claimed her father and had a marked placed on his grave. She
understands and forgives him for leaving her. Through this understanding and forgiveness, she
had finally found peace in her life and truly is in a better place now in her life at the age of 86.
We will never know or understand why he left his loving wife and family, but as a member of the
descendants he would never know, I forgive him too. I grieve for that young child, orphaned
and forced onto the streets, and for that boy, placed on that ship and brought into a strange
country. He would never know what had become of his siblings. He would never see them
again. I grieve for his lack of a loving home, kind words, education and nurturing which we all
,as children, need and deserve. These are basic things which would be unthinkable to live
without today. I grieve for my mother and her brothers & sisters for what they had to endure.
For the years they spent in the horrible environment of the Workhouse, for the separation they
endured from their mother, the loss of their father, the loss of each other and the resulting
burdens they have carried in their hearts and souls all their lives because of it all.
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Yet it is only through knowledge and understanding that we can forgive and lay the suffering to
rest. God bless the makers of this web site for allowing other families to finally start to put their
piece's together. FINALLY.
At the end of it all, I look at my children and my grandchildren (all descendants of two
generations of British Home Children) and I am grateful and respectful of that which our
ancestors had to endure. It is only because of their suffering that we are here.
© Lori Oschefski, 2009
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The Ironic Life of William Cheesman

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have repercussions in our family for years to come.

© Lori Oschefski, 2009

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