A Rose by any other name...

I wasn’t sure what to write about for this week’s prompt “Flowers.”  I have no prominent stories about ancestors with a flower name, or who may have owned a flower shop, or loved to garden.  So, I decided to pick a female ancestor with a flower name and do a profile on that person. 

It’s probably not a shock that the most common flowers in my tree are roses, lilies, and violets. There is also a scattering of myrtle, daisy, heather, and ivy with a few floras and a bella. I found several versions of rose including Rose, Rosamund, Rosemary, Rosena, Rosalie, and Rosa a few variations of lily - Lily, Lilly, Lillian, and Lillias.  Most of the others are spelled the same as the flower and in one instance I have a Viola that I grouped in with violets.  My Woodman/Wood family represent half of the flower names in my tree and most of those were some forms of Rose.  There are two instances of Ivy, and both are my paternal grandmothers: Ivy Irene Pearce (biological) and Myrtle Ivy Oikle. 

Rose Ellen Holder (Pearce)

Photo shared on Ancestry by D Rhymer

I decided to profile my paternal great-grandmother Rose Ellen Holder (Pearce).  This line is new in my research and thankfully, I’ve learned a bit about the family from my ‘new’ siblings and cousins to help me get started on my journey.

Rose Ellen Holder was the daughter of Stephen Holder and Mary Jane Mosely.  She was born in Stedham, Sussex, England on April 19, 1874, and baptized there on June 21, 1874.  Her baptism record indicates her first name is Rosa and this is also supported on the 1881 Census of England.  She is living with her father, a “Housemaker,” older brother Stephen age 9, and her two younger sisters, Cathleen, and Edith Jane.  There is a notation that her mother is “away from home attending sick Aunt in Stedham”

1881 Census record from Ancestry

I am still trying to source their marriage date.  I found an index record for Philip Charles Pearce that indicates he married sometime between April and June 1898.  On the 1911 Census of England and Wales it says the duration of marriage is 12 years. The census was done on April 2, 1911 and I think it is safe to assume that their 13^th anniversary was coming soon.  On the 1911 census the head of the family signed the page of family details so I am confident that the information is correct.  It also looks like the handwriting of the family details is the same as Philips signature and I suspect he completed the questions himself.

1911 Census Record from Ancestry

Together they had 11 children.  Two died very young, Leonard Stephen (b: 4 Oct 1901 d: 19 May 1903) and Edith Rose (b: 6 Dec 1905 d: 4 Apr 1906) and they lost their eldest son Phillip Alexander on 11 Jul 1917 at the age of 18, to diphtheria while he was serving in the British Royal Navy in WW1.  Rose Ellen is listed as the next of kin on his Pension Record and it was she that was the “relative notified” of his death. 

Both of the above images from Fold3

Rose Ellen, Philip and five of their children appear in the 1921 Census of England residing in the Parish of Martyr Worthy, Regional District of Winchester in the County of Hampshire. This is the last census they appear on in England.

Image from Google search images

On Friday, April 2, 1926, Rose Ellen and her husband boarded the Cunard ship Andania with their five youngest children.  At the time Cunard was offering “Special Fares for Approved Settlers.”  I suspect this term may be referring to settlers approved under the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 which was an agreement between the British government and several commonwealth countries to facilitate the resettlement of agriculturalists, farm labourers, domestics, and juvenile immigrants.  Reduced transportation fares, agricultural training and financial aid was offered as well as payment plans to help purchase farms. On the passenger list for the Andania the occupation given for Philip, Edward, and Alfred is Farming.  

Clip from The Western Daily Press (Bristol, Avon, England) 

Date: 24 Mar 1926

Source: Newspapers.com

                                        Passenger List from Ancestry

They arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 11 April 1926 with $250.  From Halifax they were heading to the Govt. Offices in Drayton, Ontario, travelling inland on CN Rail.  Each entry is stamped LANDED Immigrant.  And so began their life in Canada.  

I did find a fun story about the Anadania on the day they arrived about the gangway falling away early.  I guess they are lucky they had already disembarked!

 

Clipped from The Evening Mail newspaper, Halifax  

Date: 12 Apr 1926

Source: Newspapers.com 

I’m still learning about Rose Ellen and her family.  I know they settled around Inverary, Ontario.  On their daughter Ivy Irene’s marriage record her occupation is “Farmers Daughter” and her groom; Ronald Alfred Gordon is a “Farmer.”  I’ve been told that they met when he was working on her father’s farm.

I don’t have an exact date or record for Rose Ellen’s death.  I know it was after 1950 because I have a picture of Rose from that year.  Some family tree hints give November 1957, but none have sources.  That will be something new to disover as I continue to learn about this branch of my family tree. 

Rose Ellen Holder, 1950

   Photo shared on Ancestry by D Rhymer

Sources:  

Ancestry, Fold3, Newspapers.com; Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

1881, 1901, 1911, 1921 England Census

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975

England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915;

 Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935

Ivy Irene Pearce Marriage:

        Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1928

Philip A Pearce records:

        UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919

        UK, World War 1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923