Updated June 2022 to include birth information.
When William Anthony Webb was born in August 6, 1914, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, his father, James Edward Webb (1887-1972), was 28 and his mother, Sarah Kathleen (née Payne) (1888-1947), was 27. He had one brother and one sister.
Canadian Border Services show William crossing into Buffalo, New York to visit a friend, Joseph Cummings, in 1932.
He married Margaret Stephen Barnetson on November 20, 1934, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Margaret Stephen Barnetson was born on January 28, 1914, the daughter of William Steven Barnetson and Helen Ann (née Duthie). They were both living at 95 Leeming Street, Hamilton at the time of the marriage.
The couple had three children:
- Helen Elizabeth Webb (1934-2022) married George Lambert (1932-2011)
- Doreen May Webb (1936-2012) married Robert West (1938-2006)
- Robert Leonard John Webb (1937-2003)
William Anthony died February 15, 1973, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 58. At the time of his death, William was living at 82 Frederick Avenue, Hamilton.
According to several Ancestry.com users, Margaret died in St. Catharines, Ontario in December 2003, but as of this time I have not been able to locate a record confirming.
Arthur Bird Griffin and Lily Moore
Just a week after enlisting, Arthur Bird Griffin married Lily Moore on September 8, 1915, at St. Luke’s Church in Hamilton, Ontario.
Frederick Samuel Gardiner and Mary Anne Whelan (and Clayton Loucks)
After being widowed with two young boys, Mary Anne Whelan remarried quickly, on September 26, 1922, to Frederick Samuel Gardiner.
4 Responses
Margaret Mary Ann Steven Barnetson was born Margaret Stephen Barnetson on 27 Jan 1914 in Hamilton (I have a copy of her birth record). Her mother was not Helen Bentley; she was Helen Ann Duthie (spelled Duthy on Margaret’s marriage certificate). William Barnetson & Helen Duthie married in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 16 Mar 1912 (I have their marriage record). Helen Ann Duthie was daughter of John Fraser Duthie & Margaret Stephen Fraser (my gg-aunt).
Curiously, Margaret Barnetson’s birth appears to have been registered twice: first by a hospital employee on 6 Feb, with the baby’s given name Nellie and a birth date of 28 Jan 1914; and secondly by her mother on 19 Feb, with the given names Margaret Stephen and a birth date of 27 Jan. Both records specify father as William Barnetson and parents’ marriage date of 16 Mar 1912 in Aberdeen. The record for “Nellie” got her mother’s name slightly wrong as Ellen Dutlin (Helen Duthie was also known as Ellen). There is no indication this was a twin birth and no further record (marriage, census, death) of Nellie, so it’s likely Margaret was Nellie, registered twice and renamed.
Thanks for sharing this Nancy!
Another interesting fact: Margaret Barnetson’s father, William, was not actually a Barnetson. On William’s marriage record to Helen Duthie, his parents are recorded as David Barnetson & Helen Milne Reid. However, William was born in 1891, five years after David Barnetson’s death in 1886. Further investigation reveals that David Barnetson was Helen Milne Reid’s first husband. After his death, she married a George McGregor in 1888, whom she subsequently divorced in 1892. William was born while his mother was still legally married to but separated from McGregor, and his birth record specifies his name as William Milne Reid or McGregor, with the added declaration by his mother that George McGregor “is not the father of the child.” So while William adopted the Barnetson surname, his father is unknown.
Very interesting! Thank you!