Edward James Balsden - Harness Shipper 169 Elizabeth Street Stratford, ON 1920
Edward James Balsden was born on February 22, 1892 in the small village of Melbourne located in the southwest corner of Middlesex County, Ontario. He was the son of Christopher James Balsden, the village tailor, and Georgina Elizabeth Dawson.
By the time Edward was nineteen he was working as a salesman, according to the 1911 census, which also recorded that he was living at home with his parents in Melbourne. Shortly, thereafter, the family moved to Stratford where Edward’s father continued to work as a tailor, while Edward took a position as a harness shipper with the firm of G. L. Griffith & Sons, which was located on Erie Street. The family lived at 40 Britannia Street.
By 1917, Edward’s parents had relocated to London where his father would ultimately establish a men’s fine clothing store. Edward, on the other hand, remained in Stratford. He was conscripted into the Canadian army under the provisions of the Military Service Act of 1917, though he did not serve overseas. His attestation papers show that he lived at 55 Elizabeth Street was five foot eight inches with blue eyes, fair complexion and brown hair.
During this time Edward met Ethel Esther Atkinson who was working as a stenographer in Stratford. She was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1896 in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County. Ethel was the daughter of Robert Atkinson who farmed in the township and Jane Flynn Hamilton. Edward and Ethel were married on December 12, 1920 in the Village of Lucan.
There were a number of branches of the Atkinson family who had originally emigrated from Ireland and settled in the township not far from the Village of Lucan. A number of Atkinson’s are mentioned in thehistory Biddulph County and in one way or another, Ethel’s grandfather and father lived through the tragedy of the Donnelly family, who were at the centre of turmoil and lawlessness in the township for a number of years, which resulted in the murder of the family’s patriarch James Donnelly, his wife Johanna, their sons Thomas and John and a niece Bridget in the early hours of February 4, 1880.
Leading up to their marriage, Edward purchased the lot on Elizabeth Street from James Ballantyne who was a co-worker at G. L. Griffith & Sons and who lived at 165 Elizabeth Street. The young couple movedinto the house after their marriage and lived there for the rest of their days. They had one child, a daughter Dorothy Ethel who was born about 1930.
Edward continued to work for G. L. Griffith & Sons in various capacities until his retirement. He died on September 30, 1960. Ethel and Dorothy, who never married, continued to live in the house until Ethel’sdeath in 1978.
Dorothy graduated from Stratford Teacher’s College and taught at Juliette, Romeo and Shakespeare public schools in Stratford, Central Public School in St. Marys and Emily Carr public school in Londonuntil her retirement in 1985. She died in London on October 27, 2013 and is buried along with her parents at St. James Anglican Church, Clandeboye which is about one mile north of Lucan.
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