William George Cowling. Where in the world?

[brentor boy]

William George Cowling was born in Devon on 27 Sept 1877. His parents were Henry and Mary Ann (Doidge).

He emigrated to Canada in 1904, heading for Toronto. He was then single and a stone mason/bricklayer by occupation.

I have not found him on the 1911 census, either in Canada or Britain, nor found any evidence that he returned Britain at a later date. There is no record of him crossing into America or arriving at Ellis Island, and no entry on Family Search later than 1904.

He had an uncle in N Z until his death in 1912. Might he have travelled "down under"?

My cousin has a photograph endorsed "William's wife". Unfortunately the bottom margin where the photographer's details would normally be found is damaged and nothing can be discerned. She appears to be 30ish.

Not be confused with other Canadian of the same name. I have no great expectations but have exhausted nearly all other avenues. Any suggestions will be carefully considered.

 

[Ellie7]

irst name(s)
William George
Last name
Cowling
Soldier Number
766793
Year Of Birth
1877
Date Of Birth
14 Sep 1877
Document Number
41373
Record set
Canadian Expeditonary Force Attestations 1914-1918
Archive Reference
RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2077 - 24
Category
Armed forces & conflict
Subcategory
First World War
Collections from
United Kingdom, Overseas / Unknown

 

[gibbo]

irst name(s)
William George
Last name
Cowling
Soldier Number
766793
Year Of Birth
1877
Date Of Birth
14 Sep 1877
Document Number
41373
Record set
Canadian Expeditonary Force Attestations 1914-1918
Archive Reference
RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2077 - 24
Category
Armed forces & conflict
Subcategory
First World War
Collections from
United Kingdom, Overseas / Unknown

This fella was born in Canada and his mother is Elizabeth Ann Cowling. So not the right fella.

http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B2077-S024

 

[DaveHam9]

There is a carpenter of Campbell's Creek in Victoria.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/200494282

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/242246734

That one looks to be ruled out by this 1941 death.

COWLING William George - James & Mary Ann (Harris) b. CAMPBELLS CREEK d. CASTLEMAINE Age75

Dave

 

[Ellie7]

I've been here before and he could not be found?

edit-"His brother, John, travelled to Canada three times between 1911-14 and visited St Thomas, Elgin West; London; Cobalt and North Bay, Ontario but I have no idea if he had any contact with William."

His father died in India


ellie

 

[brentor boy]

Thanks, each, for taking the trouble to look.

As Ellie points out, I have been looking for this guy for some while now, using various avenues, and getting nowhere. Every now and then I come at it from a different angle, just hoping against hope that something might turn up. I guess the time is fast approaching when I shall have accept that he is not to be found.

 

[Ellie7]

I woundn't say that, more records come online all the time. I would work round about him ,doing the rest of his siblings.

ellie



Do you know what his Father was doing in India?

 

[brentor boy]

I woundn't say that, more records come online all the time. I would work round about him ,doing the rest of his siblings.

ellie

Yes, I know. That's what keeps me going


Do you know what his Father was doing in India?

He was working for The Gold Fields of Mysore as a miner and died out there.

 

[horse]

Yeah, I remember some of the earlier attempts we had on your chap... Never getting past 1904

There is this from the OGS, there are a couple of possibilities worth checking, if it's possible..

HERE

Link has been checked.

Geoff

EDIT: It is Just an Index, you can re-search using variants, it should point to where you can find info re your searches.

 

[brentor boy]

Thanks, Geoff. I'll follow up the OGS suggestion. That's one avenue that I've not previously explored. It's encouraging to have somewhere new to look.

 

[horse]

Had another look...

Not sure what to make of this, seeing those names together
"Other old timers were:
William Cowling
William Doidge"

Can be found HERE, you need to scroll down. Not much info, but may be a lead.

Geoff

 

[horse]

Also this... Database Record Index A-Z [Ontario]

If you hit [C] and scroll down there are 5x William Cowling, you may have to subscribe to use the db, though it looks free of charge.

HERE

Geoff

 

[brentor boy]

Thanks, Geoff. I'll follow up your suggestions.He can't have disappeared off the planet without leaving a footprint somewhere. The question is "where?"

 

[horse]

Yeah, strange nothing concrete in Canada, he looks to have arrived and no obvious deaths at sea.

If he reached Toronto he probably didn't stay long, doesn't look to be in the 1911 census and no obvious marriage either.

Geoff

 

[brentor boy]

At long last, after a decade of frustrating and fruitless searching, I think I may have found a weak spot in this particular brickwall.

The Devore/Johnson Family Tree, Ohio/Michigan, published on Anc*, appears to include an entry for William Geo Cowling b 1878 Devon. As there was only one birth registered in that name in Devon between 1870-1885 this looks interesting but I have had too many false starts to get too excited.

I am reluctant to incur any further expense until I have reasonable prospects of a favourable outcome. Details of the " who, where and when" of the above entry, which I suspect relates to a marriage, would help me decide upon the focus of my future efforts.

 

[brentor boy]

I now realise that in my previous post I failed to make clear that I was hoping someone would provide me with details of the William Geo Cowling entry on the Devore/Johnson family tree. With this information it was my intention to obtain any documentary evidence that might be available and to further extend my search.

I am still in need of any help that is available.

 

[horse]

This public tree has nothing about him after 1881.

The only source cited is the 1881 census.

Father = Henry. Mother = unknown. On fathers page it has a Mary Callean as spouse.

There are 2x siblings and a number of of half siblings, not easy to work out as there is very little validated and the dates aren't necessarily viable.

Geoff

EDIT: Correction to word.

 

[brentor boy]

Hi Geoff, thanks for your response, the content of which is more than a little disappointing. I had hoped it might have given me details of a marriage, with names, date and location but that is clearly not the case. So what is the relevance of the entry, particularly if there is no detail after 1881? Does it even relate to my WGC? Your mention of half-siblings is not something I recognise.

I know your style is to be detailed and concise in your responses so I realise that it is the record that is lacking. However if you can provide me with some of additional details you mention, no matter how unreliable or unsupported, it will give me something to play around with and attempt to make sense of. At the moment , assuming it is my WGC, it is all I have.

 

[horse]

Hi Vic

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I have a couple of brick walls meself..

I'll put something together later if that's OK.

Geoff

 

[brentor boy]

I have just found the record of the marriage of Henry Cowling and Mary Callean in Camborne in 1763. This does not feature WGC's direct line and I am beginning to have severe doubts about the relvance/reliability of this source. Please do not spend too much time on what I fear is a lost cause.