Home Boys and Family–Mallindine Family — Larry Clark

My grandfathers photos, the first, taken on his admittance to Barnardos — Larry Clark

Larry Clark’s Grandfather–Alfred Henry Mallindine

This first piece was found here (Lynwen Clark, no relation) historian’s remarks. the Her web page is here

Alfred was born in Plaistow, Essex on 7 September 1889; he was the second son of Joseph Mallindine and his wife Alice Manhood. After his father died in 1898, his mother was unable to care for her three youngest children and placed Alfred and his brother Stephen in the care of Dr. Barnardo’s Home on 1 May 1899.

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~nzbound/genealogy/arawa86.htm

Alfred stayed in Barnardo’s Leopold House in Stepney for six months before sailing for Canada on the SS Arawa on 11 September. Two weeks after arriving, ten year old Alfred was placed with Marshall Armstrong on his farm near Maberley, Ontario and an update to Barnardo’s reported that Alfred was ’in good health, a bright lad, willing and useful.’ He stayed on the Armstrong farm for four years before being moved to Robert Donald’s farm in Mount Forest but this placement was not a happy one and Alfred was moved on again six months later.

In November 1904, Alfred was placed with Edward D. Foster in Ingersoll but this was another short stay and he was moved again in February 1905 and sent to work for Thomas Adams who had a farm in Hawthorne in Gloucester Township near Ottawa. He remained there for almost three years before moving to his last placement under Barnardo’s guardianship on a farm in Bolton ( This was Quebec- read Canadians Just Wanted to Use me as a Scullery-Maid). Once he reached legal age, he was no longer bound to Barnardo’s and was free to make his own decisions.

Photo-British Home Children in Canada—Knowlton Distributing Home, Quebec — near Bolton- this is where Alfred would have been sent first

In January 1910, he was working in a lumber camp, operated by the V.A. Lumber Company, in Wahnipitae near Sudbury but later that year, he returned to the Ottawa area when he obtained a position as a moulder with the Findlays Foundry in Carleton Place. On 4 October 1911, twenty-two year old Alfred married Violet Thake at St John’s Church in Weston, now a suburb of Toronto, with Violet’s aunt Daisy and uncle Charles acting as witnesses. Violet was born in Putney, south London on 30 September 1893, the daughter of Henry Thomas Thake and Flora Wacey, but she was raised by her maternal grandmother and emigrated to Canada in 1908.

***Findlay’s Foundry Workers***
***c. 191***

Alfred returned to Carleton Place with Violet following their wedding and on 25 July 1912, Violet gave birth to their first daughter, Eleanore Emma. Their second daughter, Kathleen Violet, was born in Carleton Place on 13 January 1914 but she lived only one hour. On 5 April 1915, their son Frederick Alfred was born followed by daughter Evelyn Lillian on 3 October 1916.

The family suffered a devastating loss when Violet died of Typhoid Fever on 5 September 1917 at the public hospital in Smiths Falls, about 30 kms south of Carleton Place. Typhoid is an infection caused by the salmonella typhi bacteria and it is most often contracted by drinking water or milk contaminated with feces carrying the bacteria. In 1911, a typhoid epidemic in Ottawa left 987 people ill and 83 dead and a second epidemic in July 1912 affected 1391 people and left 91 dead. The epidemics were traced to raw sewage that had been released into the Ottawa River and later entered the city’s drinking supply and it was typhoid epidemics like this that forced many cities and towns to improve city sewers and build water treatment plants.

Violet was sick for five weeks before her death and she may have been moved to a hospital in Smiths Falls in the hope of better treatment and an eventual recovery. She was only 24 years old when she died and left three children aged five, three and 11 months; Violet was buried in the cemetery at St James’ Anglican Church in Carleton Place on 7 September — Alfred’s twenty-seventh birthday.

In a letter dated 14 February 1969, Alfred explained that he did not know what to do following Violet’s death but eventually hired a housekeeper from Ottawa to help care for their children. The arrangement worked well until Alfred fell ill with influenza and pneumonia and despite an initial recovery, he was told by doctors that he only had six months to live. After his experience in the Barnardo’s Home in London and as a home child in Canada, he had no wish for his children to be placed in an orphanage and so in 1918, he agreed to let neighbours, Dan and Tilley Bennett, have his youngest daughter Evelyn while son Fred was placed with another local family, Harris and Katherine Bennett, although they were not related to Dan and Tilley. Alfred’s eldest daughter, Eleanore, came home from school to discover her brother and sister were no longer there but had been given up for adoption and she was told not to speak about them or her mother — a traumatic experience for a six year old who had lost her mother only one year before.

Alfred left Eleanore with her great-grandmother, Emma Wacey, in Weston and despite the prognosis from the doctor, he took a physically demanding job in a lumber camp near Blind River on Lake Huron and worked on the river drive where the raw logs are floated down the river to the sawmill for processing. With his health seemingly restored, he returned to Carleton Place and claims that he tried to get his two youngest children back but the Bennett families were not willing to return them. He left the town and got a job as an Iron Moulder in Guelph, 100 kms west of Toronto, but he occasionally returned to Weston to visit his daughter and on one of these visits, while travelling on the street car with Eleanore, he met Lilian Richardson. (Lynwen Clark, no relation) historian’s remarks. the Her web page is here

Alfred (Alf) was employed in Findlays as a moulder and lived on Moffat St. for a time; was living there when my mother was born in 1916, at home.–**, shortly after (or before, circa. 1920) my grandmother Violet’s death.** Larry Clark–**(photo courtesy of Jason Porteous and Linda’s post**

I have added to this family (Lynwen Clark, no relation) historian’s remarks. the Her web page is here — Larry Clark

My grandfather’s story by Larry Clark:

On 4 June 1898, Joseph (my great grandfather) died of tuberculosis at their home at 51 Tucker Street in Canning Town (London) and he was buried three days later at the West Ham Cemetery in Newham; he was only 47 years old and due to his illness, he had been unable to work for six months prior to his death. His death left his family in a dire financial situation and although Alice received some relief from the parish and found employment, she did not earn enough to support herself and her children. Fifteen year old Alice Eliza was working as a domestic servant and twelve year old Joseph was sent to live in Norfolk but it is not known if he went to live with family or to work in exchange for food and lodging.

With no other options, Alice made the difficult decision to place her two youngest sons, Alfred and Stephen, in the care of the Dr. Barnardo’s organisation. On 1 May 1899, Alice took the boys to Barnardo’s, possibly the one in nearby Barkingside, and they were admitted that very same day. The boys were separated when ten year old Alfred was transferred to Leopold House in Limehouse where he remained for four months before being sent to Canada.

Leopold House on Burdett Road opened in 1883 and after it was extended in 1887, it could accommodate over 450 boys between the ages of 10 and 13. Five year old Stephen was considered too young for emigration so he was boarded out first at Messing near Colchester and then at Palgrave near Diss on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. He returned to Leopold House and was sent to Canada in July 1904.

Stephen George Mallindine Born December 26, 1895- Died Feb 17th 1930

Stephen went to the home of a doctor in Toronto and was then employed by the CPR as a telegrapher. He joined the army in WWI, served in Europe, winning the DCM: returned to the CPR after the war, married in 1926 and was stationed in Chapleau, where he succumbed to cancer in1930. I have not been able to find an adult picture of him. We have no knowledge of Alfred ever meeting his brother after his arrival in Canada.

Stephen George Mallentine

Name:	Stephen George Mallentine
Gender:	Male
Age:	35
Birth Date:	abt 1895
Birth Place:	Plaestow, England
Death Date:	17 Feb 1930
Death Place:	Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Cause of Death:	Carcinoma of Colon (Sigmond Flexure)

Name:	Stephen George Mallindine
Birth Date:	26 Dec 1892
Birth Location:	Illford, Essex, England
Residence:	Apry, Sudbury
Relative:	Allice Talbott
Relationship:	Mother
Regiment Number:	754671

Name:	Stephen George Mallindine
Gender:	Male
Age:	31
Birth Year:	abt 1895
Birth Place:	Plustow, England
Marriage Date:	7 Apr 1926
Marriage Place:	Canada, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Father:	Joseph Mallindine
Mother:	Alice Marie Manbood
Spouse:	Mary Ethel Buckley

The only known photo of my grandmother, with my aunt Eleanore

My Grandmother’s Story- Larry Clark

In May 1893, Florrie married Henry Thomas Thake at the Emmanuel Church in Putney south London and four months later, she gave birth to a daughter, Violet Daisy Emma (my grandmother). Violet was baptised on 14 January 1894 at St Stephen in Clapham Park but instead of remaining with her parents in Putney, she was placed in the care of her grandmother. It is not known why or when Emma Wacey started caring for her granddaughter but Violet never returned to live with her parents.

In early 1899, James Wacey died in Hull, East Yorkshire at the age of 50; Hull was a major fishing port and it is likely that James died there while working. By 1901, Emma (James wife) had left Yarmouth and moved to 41 Willow Grove in Plaistow, Essex and she appears there in the census along with her five youngest children, granddaughter Violet and a boarder named Joseph Dumsday.On 24 December 1905, Daisy Ann (Emma’s daughter, Violet’s Aunt), married William Joyce in West Ham and shortly after, they emigrated to Canada and settled in Weston near Toronto.

In 1908, Charles Frederick Wacey, his mother (Emma Wacey) and his niece Violet Thake also emigrated to Canada. On 29 July 1908, they sailed from Liverpool on board the Lake Manitoba bound for the port of Quebec City and after taking the train to Toronto, they joined Daisy and her husband in Weston. In 1911, they were living on Main Street in Weston and Charles was working as a labourer, Violet as a shop assistant and Emma was receiving a private income.

Later that year, Violet met and married Alfred Mallindine in Weston and moved with her new husband to Carleton Place near Ottawa.

The family started to grow and in 1912 Eleanore Emma was born; 1914, Kathleen who died 1 hour later; 1915, Alfred Frederick and lastly, my mother, Evelyn Lilian in 1916. At the time of my mother’s birth, the family were living on Moffat St., street number unknown.

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
01 Feb 1969, Sat • Page 40

I did find them in the CP assessment rolls, 1916/17 at the town hall but found no further info other that they owned a dog. Looking back I think there may have been a lot number but in any event I have lost my notes and will try again sometime in future.

The only known photo of my grandmother, with my aunt Eleanore followed by my grandmother’s grave marker in St. James Cemetery, lastly, Alfred and first born Eleanore in CP-perhaps Moffat St.

I was disturbed by the fact that Violet was not mentioned by name (no one in the family knew her name), also, Mallindine was misspelled (perhaps, I could fix it with a chisel). (One of the first things I want to do when covid is over is to correct this situation).