Death of Robert Gordon Hynds - 1933

After a bit of digging, I found the obituary for Robert Gordon Hynds. He was the son of Gwen and John (Jack) Hynds. Gwen was Grandad William Huxtable Ball's younger sister. Originally, I had found the Bowell Funeral Home record for Robert Gordon.

Hoping to find more details on this tragic death, I ordered the British Columbian newspaper and searched the late November and early December editions. While all varieties of accidents were reported, I couldn't find any details of Robert's accident. What I did manage to find was a simple notice of his death in the 9 December 1933 edition of the Columbian, which read:

"Hynds - Passed away at his home, White Rock, B.C., on December 9, 1933, Robert Gordon Hynds, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. John Hynds. Besides his parents he leaves to mourn his passing one brother, [living] at home.

The funeral will be held Monday afternoon, December 11, at 1 o'clock from the funeral home of S. Bowell & Son to the New Fraser cemetery, Rev. J.L. Sloat officiating."

As far as I am aware, Robert's brother is still living - so I haven't included his name. I found the small pieces of Robert's story very sad - so young and what seems to have been an awful accident. It must have been very hard for his parents to have lost a young child so tragically. It makes you think about how precious live is.

Take care of each other. Cheers, K.

Thomas Ball - Laid to Rest Notice - 10 Nov 1941

I wanted to wish everyone all the best for 2012. Thanks for following the Ball Bureau. If you have information to share or would like to comment, please feel free. If you wish to contact me off the blog, please do so at oldbookgal[at]gmail.com.

The following burial notice appeared for Thomas H. Ball in the 10 Nov 1941 edition in the British Columbian on page 5:

The pallbearers included sons-in-law, Jack Hynds and Hugh Sigismund, brothers-in-law, Albert Hewlett (husband of Annie Amelia's sister Sarah Elizabeth Turner), Richard Edward Steed (husband of Annie Amelia's sister, Edith Turner) and J. Hewlett - who is likely related to Albert and Sarah Elizabeth - and another mystery to solve.

Cheers, K.

Obituary - Thomas Huxtable Ball 1875-1941

In doing some more research on my great-grandfather, Thomas Huxtable Ball, I made an interlibrary loan request for the British Columbian newspaper. The Columbian covered New Westminster and the lower mainland of British Columbia. The film arrived in mid-December and I happily spent my morning off at work, trolling through the microfilm.

I was able to find the following obituary for Thomas in the 7 November 1941 edition (pg. 5):

The obituary helps to confirm that Thomas and Annie moved to White Rock in the late 1930's, which was was hinted in the city directories. I suspect that they may have moved in with daughter, Gwen Hynds and son-in-law, Jack Hynds, who resided in White Rock, but I will try to confirm.

The reference to two sisters in England is a bit puzzling. He did have two sisters still living - Charlotte Down and Elizabeth Ann Edwards - however, I believe that they were living in Penarth and Cardiff, Wales respectively. The reference to England may have been an error.

Cheers, K.