Beyond the Names: Peden

Showing posts with label Peden. Show all posts

Friday, 10 November 2017

Remembering Ernest John Peden (1874-1947): A Fine Uncle and a Dedicated Soldier

Ernest in a uniform likely from the Boer War

(Updated from the original post October 2017, with additional information about Ernest - November 2020)

My grandmother, Isobel, and my father were somewhat estranged - by geography and emotional connection both. In her later years, my father would visit and managed to get some scrawled notes from her on her family background. She spoke fondly of her uncles, none of whom we knew or had met. One in particular I wanted to research, likely due to the Canadian connection. She wrote: “Ernest went ranching and lumber-jacking in Canada (Alberta?), enlisted in 1914 and came over to France with the Canadian Contingent. Survived most of the 4 years but was wounded several times and then shot through the head. A quiet, good, thoughtful, kind man – well-named Ernest.”

Isobel's hand-written note regarding her Uncle Ernest Peden

Thus began a many years long effort of learning what happened to Ernest. I learned first a lot about his family background, and difficult childhood. I was able to track down some military records of his time with the Hussars in South Africa (the photo of him in uniform is from that era). I lost track of him for a while, then found him again very near to where I live on Vancouver Island in Canada. He must have joined some cousins here, as there are Pedens who settled in and around Victoria (but I haven't been able to conclusively link them yet). I was excited when his records for the Canadian Expeditionary Force were posted on Ancestry, and I learned so much about him then. More records started trickling in until I learned that he had in fact survived the war and landed back in Canada. I could find nothing of his life after his release from the war for about a year. Then, records surfaced in New Zealand - where he had clearly gone to visit his father. There was no question that Ernest spent time there, but it was years before I found his death place - back in Scotland. This year Remembrance Day I decided to fully update this blog in memory of Ernest.

The eldest Peden brother, born to Alexander Peden and his then wife MaryAnne Emily Holtum, was true to his name – earnest in demeanour and serious by nature. His childhood was marred by his father, who was a drunk who first mistreated and then institutionalized his wife, took up with a nurse, then abandoned the whole family to move to New Zealand in 1896 (Ernest would have been 22). It can’t have been an easy childhood near the turn of the century England. They were not a wealthy family, and hoped, apparently, to make their fortune in the brewing industry when Ernest was a young boy. It was no wonder that Ernest seemed to fare best as a soldier.

Boer War

Ernest was 5 foot 8 inches, of dark complexion, with black hair and grey eyes. He joined up with the British side in the Second Anglo- Boer War (1899-1902) and fought for the 18^th Hussars. He was severely wounded near Boschpoort on the 30^th of June 1901, after surviving the battle for Talana Hill eighteen months prior (the participation in which garnered him a medal). It would appear that Ernest joined the war effort early, when he was about 25, and stayed for the duration. The one thing that I have from Ernest is his Talana Hill medal.

Ernest’s return from the Boer war was short lived. In 1903 he left Liverpool for Halifax, eventually making his way, via the United States, to the west coast of Canada. He worked a short way from where I now live (a small world indeed) – in Comox on Vancouver Island. After his family dysfunction and the madness of the war in Africa, the peace of the tall trees on the rugged Canadian west coast must have provided some solace. It seems that other Peden relatives were living in Victoria, but I have been unable to confirm who (other than a cousin James that Ernest mentioned in his travel documents).

Ernest’s quiet Canadian life was interrupted when war broke out in Europe. The call for help from his English homeland must have been strong.

On September 21, 1914, Ernest joined the war effort, this time for the Canadian side, just over a month after Canada, as a result of the UK declaring war, joined the fray. He was assigned to the 8^th Canadian Battalion, 90^th Winnipeg Rifles in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). Ernest joined as a private and stayed a private throughout the length of the war. He was relatively older when he did join up (40 years of age), although his records show that while he spent some time as a clerk, he spent most of the war in the trenches.

Class A War Service Badge

Ernest’s record shows that he received the Class A War Service Badge, denoting his service at the front in France and Flanders. His battalion fought, among other places, at Ypres, Vimy Ridge, the Somme and Passchendaele. He wore the Good Conduct badge for his four years in the CEF: a chevron worn on the left sleeve of the dress uniform.

His records also contained hints about his experience in the First World War. He was occasionally commended, sometimes punished for disobedience, worked as clerk (presumably to take a break from the front) and sent back to join his unit. He suffered with the front line soldiers, and was hospitalized for illness, dysentery, and trench fever several times over the course of the war. He had had five months in hospital due to shell shock, and suffered typhoid fever. He had lasting effects of these injuries and illnesses: he suffered from prostate problems and hemorrhoids, and undoubtedly other unseen mental illness compounded by his complex and traumatic childhood and youth. While his record may be normal for a private in WWI, it is a sobering thing to read in the comfort of your living room, not too many kilometres from his peaceful existence as a forestry worker on Vancouver Island.

Ernest identified his oldest sister, Jessie Lloyd Stevenson (née Peden) as his next of kin. Jessie and Ernest were the oldest of the nine Peden children. Ernest had left for the Boer war before his sister Jessie had married and left home in 1907, but as the eldest, and given his parents’ troubles, it is no wonder she was the one he most identified with. His mother, Mary Anne Emily Peden, née Holtum, had long since left her husband Alexander and was living on her own means. Ernest, ever the conscientious eldest son, sent her money.

Ernest John Peden's discharge from the CEF was on May 7, 1919. His travel documentation from his return to Canada after the war shows that in May 1919, Ernest sailed with other soldiers on the Empress of Britain, arriving in Quebec City with the intent of travelling to Vancouver. He was 44 years old and had spent most of his life at war. He had been injured multiple times, received medals, and had spent only a brief time in Canada between wars. The first hint of what happened to him after his discharge is contained in his Canadian military records, which contain a card which says c/o Returned Soldiers Club, Albert Street, Auckland, New Zealand.

It is through New Zealand military records that we can track some of what happened to Ernest next.

In September 1918, J.T.M. Hornsby, then Member of Parliament in New Zealand, writes to the Minister of Defence. He had just been to the local library where he was waited upon by the librarian, Alexander Peden (an extraordinary change in careers for Alexander the brewer to have late in his life). Hornsby was asking the Defence Department to help Alexander seek a furlough for his son Ernest from the Canadian military to New Zealand. I gather that Mr. Hornsby and Alexander had had a long conversation as the letter included reference to his two other sons, one serving as second officer on a transport, and George, his third son, having been killed in Mesopotamia. Mr. Hornsby concludes his letter as follows: "The old folks (Scots people) would be glad if you could help them to have furlough granted to New Zealand of the eldest son." The return letter from the Minister of Defence directs Mr. Hornsby to have Alexander write to the Canadian government.

Ernest's father Alexander Peden died in Carterton, New Zealand in October 1919. Since Ernest was discharged in May, if we assume he made his way directly to see his father, Alexander would have died shortly after Ernest's arrival. It is also possible that Ernest went to New Zealand upon learning of his father's death. Regardless, Ernest had made his way to New Zealand after the war. In July 1920, Ernest was admitted to Dannevirke Military Hospital in New Zealand, and released in August.

In 1921 Ernest wrote a letter to New Zealand's Defence Department from the Returned Soldier's Club in Auckland. He was inquiring about an advertisement he had seen in the New Zealand Herald referring to War Medals, specifically the General Service Medal and Victory Medal. He had received his 1914-15 Star, but not the other medals from the Canadian Government and was wondering how he could receive them. He was hoping the New Zealand Government could contact their counterparts in Canada on his behalf. The letter has a note on it from the administration in receipt of it suggesting he make his own inquiries of the Canadian Government. This letter is the first time I have found something that belonged to Ernest, that included his handwriting and signature. It was a moving find after years of trying to uncover what happened to him. We don't know what he was doing in New Zealand after the death of his father. He was 47 years old, had been through two ugly wars, severely injured and a half a world away from the rest of his family.

What we do know is that Ernest was in New Zealand until 1921 at least. I spent many more months occasionally returning to my search for Ernest to find what had happened to him.

Perusing the newspapers on FindMyPast for obituaries for the Peden clan, I stumbled upon Ernest's obituary. He died November 27 1947 at Maryfield Hospital in Dundee, Scotland.

In 1947 Isobel Maxwell, my grand-mother and Ernest's niece, was living in Scotland. When I discovered that Ernest had died in Dundee, and his niece, who adored him, never knew he survived the war and lived not too distant from her, I was very sad. The Peden family was broken by alcoholism, domestic violence and dysfunction. I know that my grand-mother (Ernest's niece) did not get along well with her mother, and that the family dispersed over time. Someone went to the trouble of posting his obituary, presumably a family member who knew of his military service.

In a longer reminiscence, my grand-mother, Ernest’s niece, Isobel Maxwell, described him – I think it is an excellent way to end this Remembrance Day dedication to Ernest John Peden:

Uncle Ernest, the eldest brother, was a still, quiet man with a lean sensitive face and patient thoughtful eyes. I never could imagine him as a cowpuncher or a lumberjack, yet he had been both in Alberta and British Columbia Canada. I used to picture him alone by the side of a swiftly flowing river deep in the Canadian woods. He had a … canoe beside him on the bank, and perhaps a campfire waiting to discourage blackfly and mosquitoes…

I don’t remember that he did actually smoke but I should like him to have had a pipe and maybe a dog. His thoughts would be contented thoughts but I do not think they would be gay.

My mother said to me once in rather serious tones, “Ernest is good, you know.”

I only saw him in uniform, a strangely gentle soul to be a good soldier which it seems he was. He came over with the 1^st Canadian Contingent. Everything unpleasant happened to him, from trench feet to a bad head wound. He did not complain. I hope that as a lad he had some real fun and happiness because I do not think his latter years brought him much. He deserved better.

One of my letters to him began “Dear Uncle Earnest.” My mother smiled but would not let me re-write it.

Monday, 7 September 2015

The Mystery of Alexander Peden: International Brewer

I admittedly enjoy a good pint. What I didn’t know, before digging into the family tree, is that beer is in my blood.

Early 19th century brewing

Two of my ancestors, both on my father’s side, were involved in the brewing industry: Alexander Peden, who ultimately became a brewer after a difficult youth, and William Henry Bond, who was a clerk for a rather famous brewing establishment: William Younger. Alexander and William were a generation apart. The former Peden, my second-great-grandfather, was born in 1847 in Edindurgh, Scotland. The latter Bond was born 1875 in Bermondsey, England. Thirty years may not seem much, but growing up in the middle of the Victorian era on a farm in Scotland would have been a much different life than being raised in the latter part of the 19^th century in the bustling city of London.

You may remember Alexander Peden from an earlier blog. Alexander didn’t have much of a childhood (as we would imagine it) and worked for his uncle at the Peebleshire farm. In his teenage years he worked in his father’s grocery. In 1871, Alexander left his home, married Mary Anne Emily Holtum and began to have a family. Ten years and six children later, Alexander was a brewer in Castle Gresley.

A number of breweries operated in Burton on Trent

Castle Gresley is in Burton on Trent, which was famous for its brewing history in the 19^th century. The brewery there took advantage of natural spring waters, which were rich in sulphates. This added a distinctly hoppy flavour and smell to the brew. At the time, the brewing of India Pale Ale was gaining some prominence in Britain and being shipped to its colonies around the globe. Samuel Alssop was the father of Burton on Trent, having discovered the delicious mysteries of the springs and then perfecting the sulphate-infused brewing technique (now known as Burtonisation). By 1888 there were 31 breweries in the town of Burton on Trent, and it was known as the beer capital of the world. The brewers essentially ran the town politically, socially and economically.

Alexander and his family moved into this town just as it was incorporated in 1878. A long list of brewers in Burton, however, does not include Alexander, suggesting he likely worked for another brewer rather than being one of many owners in the town. The nearest brewery was the short lived Gresley Brewery operated by the Beard Brothers from 1887 to 1895.

Alexander Peden didn’t stay long in Burton, and by 1891 found himself living with a nurse and his children in Edinburgh, working for the Usher brewing company. In my earlier blog I conjectured that Alexander died in the period between 1891 and 1901, because he no longer appeared in the census documents. Researching this article on beer, however, led me to a whole different conclusion based on newfound evidence.

A newspaper advertisement from a law firm acting on behalf of Pedens was published in June 26, 1906 in the New Zealand Herald. The advertisement says that the courts will declare Alexander Peden dead unless anyone presents evidence to the contrary prior to October 15, 1906. Later that year, in August, another newspaper advertisement was posted upon the death of Thomas Peden (Alexander’s father) in a bid to settle his estate of £600, once again looking for Alexander and clarifying that it was thought he was headed to New Zealand in 1898.

SS City of Rome which brought Alexander
from Glasgow to New York in 1896

A search of travel records shows an Alexander Peden, brewer, heading to New York in 1896, on his own, with one piece of luggage. An Alexander Peden shows up in New Zealand voting records in 1900 in Wanganui. The Wanganui brewery was owned and operated by Hopeful Gibbons, a rather famous businessman and bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer originally from Tasmania and eventual Mayor of Wanganui. When Alexander was living in Wanganui, the brewery was a going concern in New Zealand and a brewer with experience in Burton on Trent and Edinburgh would no doubt be welcomed to that company.

Alexander Peden, the Wanganui resident, appears to have married a Jane Anne. In 1900, 1905 and 1906 they are identified as married on the voter registration, and Alexander is still listed as a brewer. There are no marriage records confirming the relationship. There is no way of knowing with certainty that this is the same Alexander, however a review of records in New Zealand fails to come up with any other explanation.

Alexander Peden was buried on October 11, 1919 in Aramoho cemetery in Wanganui. This Alexander is absolutely our Alexander Peden. For reasons I will have to discover through further research, Mary Anne Emily, the wife he left behind, is listed as having been buried there in 1940 (many years after her death in Kent in 1923). Even more mysteriously, the headstone for Alexander Peden reads: In loving memory of ALEXANDER PEDEN beloved husband of Mary Anne Emily Peden, born at Peebles, Scotland 3^rd May 1846 died at Carterton Wairarapa 8^th October 1919. ‘Thy will be done.’

So we know absolutely that Alexander brought his brewing expertise from Burton on Trent to Edinburgh and then to New Zealand. We know that he abandoned his family in Scotland in 1896. We know he made his way to New Zealand via New York. We know that he died in New Zealand and his grave bears the name of the wife he left behind. What we don’t know is whether he did, indeed, marry again in New Zealand. Perhaps his new wife, Jane Anne, stumbled upon the newspaper advertisements and discovered that her Alexander was actually married and had a family in Scotland. Alexander couldn’t escape his past if he wanted to access any of the £600 from his father’s estate. What we do know is that his wife Mary Anne Emily is named on his headstone, and he is still, in stone anyway, “beloved”. Some time after 1906 Alexander appears to have been acknowledged by his family in Scotland and possibly reunited with his wife Mary Anne Emily in death.

I am finding myself oddly thirsty – further research on the Pedens will have to wait.

Postscript: I was going to write this blog about both my brewing ancestors, however Alexander’s story was more exciting than I expected. As a result, I will write about William Henry Bond, brewer and my great-grand-father in another blog.

Afterword (February 2016): During a recent free weekend at findmypast.com, I looked through some newspaper articles and found one that explained some of what happened. Apparently Alexander has his wife Mary Anne Emily (Molly) committed. He did, in fact, have an affair with his nurse, and he was intoxicated through most of his very unhappy marriage. This may explain why his sons never married and chose lives of adventure instead. From the Dundee Advertiser February 7, 1898, just before Alexander abandoned his family and responsibilities and ended up in New Zealand: