My Family Tree

Hello Colin,

Thankyou for responding. I will share some information that may shed anorher light on your tree.

My grandmother Gladys (who was in the small community of Winnipeg Beach) was ill when my mother was 3 and so she lived for periods time with her MGM Jessie and Hugh along with her uncles in Winnipeg.

According to the Family Bible Jessie or Janet was born in Dunblane, Perthshire,Scotland abt 1880. Hugh was also from Scotland immigrating with his parents and siblings about 1914. He returned to the UK in WW1 and met Jessie who was taking in recovering soldiers as borders to make ends meet. Her husband Arthur Allan died on 10 Jan 1918 in Eastbourne.

The story I was told is that Hugh caught mumps in the war and couldn't have children so he asked Jessie to marry him and he would raise her children as his own.

Records show that Jessie and Hugh and youngest children came to Winnipeg first, followed by the older ones. They were: Gladys Annie Morris, John Arthur, Allan David, and William Bert (called Bert). Douglas died in 1917. No wonder Jessie wanted to make a fresh start. She died when I was very young but apparently she was a very strong and fiesty person.

Hugh was a lovely man and I have fond memories of him. He was a tinsmith by trade and opened his own sheet metal business Hugh T Reid and Sons still in operation until the 1970s. The middle son Allan changed his name to Reid and inherited the business.

John and Bert Chatfield left Winnipeg in the 1940s and 50s. John went to Calif. with his family. Bert lived in various places and Canada. My family has lost touch with his branch but I am working on it.

I was contacted by email by the SIL of John who lives in Delaware just a few weeks ago through WiKitree. He has helped with that branches decendants. I am in touch with Allan's family as most still live in Manitoba. One cousin whose name just happens to be Hugh T Reid told me Bert's daughter still lives in the city.

I would know more except I grew up in Alberta and only returned to Winnipeg in 1969.

Regarding records:

My cousin in Eastbourne helped me obtain these certified copies. They show Jessie's fathers name as William Morris. Arthur Chatfield's father John was a witness as well as Mary Jane Morris (my mother's legal name was Mary Jane Morris Bergstrom)who is Jessie's younger sister.

I had trouble finding the Morris family's records but was helped by a local hobby geneologist that found most of the Scottish Census Records for the family.

I have copies of some Parish birth records including Jessie's in Logie Parish Dunblane. Still cannot find it in the Civ Reg. but I can find many for the rest of her family. At least four of her siblings died as toddlers or younger. The family moved around, living in Fowlis Wester, Paisley and several other residences.

My tree is a Pubic Tree on Ancestry should you want to see photos and other records.

Is Michael Chatfield 1780 to 1832 son of Robert and Mary Greenfield in your tree? I visited Greatham Church near Greatham Manor in Sept. It is outside the town not to be confused with the other town of Greatham near Hampshire. We got lost.Took some pictures. Robert's father was Samuel b. 1699. Perhaps that is where the connection may be.

Hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all this information.

I am sending a photo of Jessie and Arthur in 1917. I will need bit more time to rephoto the certified marriage and death certificate. The other is the wall memorial for the Chatfields.

Hope to hear from you again.

Ann