Obituary - William Huxtable Ball, 1971

I've been on bit of mission lately to track down details about my grandfather, William Huxtable Ball, and his siblings. One of the things that I realized is that I didn't have his obituary. Having grown up on the other side of the continent, we did not have a copy of his obit - so, I tracked down the microfilm and had a look.

This is a transcription of his obituary from the Victoria Times Colonist, 7 April 1971:

BALL - William Huxtable, a resident of Seacrest, R.R.#1, Nanoose Bay, passed away in the Nanaimo General Hospital, Tuesday April 6, at the age of 67 years. Born in Leeds, England. He came to Canada in 1906 and was district manager for the Shell Oil in many places in BC, including Victoria. He is survived by his loving wife, Mary, 2 sons - [name omitted] Kamloops, [name omitted] Toronto, 3 sisters, Mrs. John (Gwen) Hynds, White Rock, Mrs. A. (Evelyn) Nursey, Surrey and Mrs. Marjorie Sigismund, Coquitlam, 6 grandchildren also survive.

Funeral services on Thursday April 8, at 1 pm, from the Westwood Chapel of Flowers [illegible], Rev. W. Dormer officiating, cremation to follow. Kindly omit floral memorials. Donations in memory of Mr. Ball may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, P.O. 292, Victoria, BC.

In rediscovering the obituary, I was reminded of several things - that my grandparents had named their home "Seacrest" and the house was situated on Nanoose Bay. I remember the large balcony and picture window that over looked the backyard and waterfront.

This is a photo of their house from the back:

I am also reminded of the all to familiar mention of the Canadian Cancer Society in the obituary notices for my family - Granddad, Nana, Dad and my dear uncle - all has similar notations in their notices.

Cheers, K.

Charlotte (Ball) Down - Obituary 17 Apr 1947

There were two short death notices for Charlotte (Ball) Down, which appeared in the Penarth Times of 17 April 1947. The first one read:

DEATHS
DOWN - On 14th April, at 140 Plassey
Street, Penarth, Charlotte, beloved
wife of the late Wm. Down and much
loved mother of Sharley and Will.
Funeral, Friday, 2:30, for Penarth
Cemetery.
The second notice read:
OBITUARY
MRS. C. DOWN
The death occurred at her home,
140, Plassey Street, of Mrs. Charlotte
Down, at the age of 78. She had been
in ill health for many years, and was
the wife of the late Mr. William Down,
who was in the employ of the G.W.R.
one daughter, Mrs. Sharley Nichols, and
a son survive. The funeral takes place
on Friday.

The G.W.R. reference for William Down means that he had worked for the Great Western Railway.

I found it curious that William Spickett Ball ('Will' in the first notice), was not mentioned by name in the second notice. Had there been a falling out between brother and sister? Did one notice get put in by one sibling the second by another? I know that William was working as a caretaker at the Penarth Library by this time - so he was around. Or was the omission of his name in the second notice purely an oversight?

Always something to think about. What are your thoughts?

Cheers, K.

Elizabeth Ann Ball - Obituary 3 Jul 1956

The announcement of Elizabeth Edwards' death appeared in the South Wales Echo in early July 1956. The headline of the news story read "FATAL BURNS Woman's Nightdress on Fire." According to the article, Elizabeth was found in the early hours of one morning by her son-in-law, Arthur Fear, with her nightdress in flames. Her death was ruled "accidental" by the coroner, Mr. Gerald Tudor. Arthur is quoted in the article as saying that his mother-in-law generally used a night light, but on this particular night, there was no night light in the room, only a box of matches. The article finished by stating that Mrs. Edwards died of shock due to extensive burns.

A later notice in the newspaper noted that Elizabeth died in hospital on 30 June 1956. She was the "beloved wife of the late Robert Edwards" and "dearly-loved mother of all her children and grandchildren".

Cheers, K.

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.

Annie Amelia Ball - Obituary - 14 Apr 1947

I have also found the obituary for Annie Amelia Ball for her death on 14 Apr 1947. It was shown on the front page of the 14 Apr 1947 edition of the Columbian:

I am still a bit puzzled by the reference to two sisters living in England. As far as I am aware, there was only one sister (Alice (Turner) Boyle) left in Cardiff, Wales.

Her other sisters, Eva Byatt (deceased), Sarah Elizabeth Hewlett(deceased) and Edith Steed (Mrs. R.E. Steed) had all come to Canada with or shortly after Annie arrived here with grandad. Should I chalk it up to my grandfather's lack of accuracy? Or is there some truth to the matter?

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.