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Stanley's Journal |
Leaving for Canada |
20 High Street, Feltham |
Life in Canada as Arthur Connor |
Hilda Green and Adrian Barbra Connor |
Return to London |
Stanley Arthur Edward Irving is Teresa's great uncle. He was born in 1908 in Hounslow, Middlesex. For a short time Stanley lived in Canada and whilst there was known as Arthur Connor. It was this alias that created the confusion as to the true identity of Arthur Connor. This page tells the story of this episode in his life.
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Stan and Elsie were both about 18 or 19, living close by one another in Bethnal Green in East London when, in 1927 or 1928, they decided to get married. They started saving hard for the day but Stan saw an opportunity to significantly add to the wedding fund when he was invited to put their savings on a 'dead cert' in a horse race. Taking the advice, Stan was horrified to see their savings disappear when the 'dead cert' proved to be nothing of the sort, and lost - taking Elsie and Stan's hopes for the future with it. Without informing anybody, Stan left early the next day for Southampton to board a ship to somewhere. It is likely that he had no firm destination in mind, just the urge to get away and leave the episode behind him. He had some time on the journey to the coast to develop his plan and realized that he would need to supply his name and contact details for the ship's manifest. As he was under 21 he would not have wanted any suggestion that he was under age and so he 'raised' his age to 22. Emigration to Canada was being promoted at this time and the country needed young men who were fit and able to work. Stan arrived in Southampton and the "Empress of France" was due to sail for Quebec on 30th June 1928. Stan gave his details as a passenger and booked his third class ticket Whilst Stan didn't want to be found, for him it was necessary in the event of some catastrophe, that news of any such event reached his family. Stan knew from his childhood in Hounslow that members of his family lived nearby at 20 High Street in Feltham, Middlesex and he chose to give that as his last address in the United Kingdom with his contact there being an 'aunt', Mrs Irving, as shown on the immigration record below. These details were placed on the ship's manifest against his new name of Arthur Connor. He chose Arthur because Arthur was his father's given name and he chose Connor because that was his mother's maiden name. These details would be enough for the family to put together a narrative in the event that one was needed. Arthur Connor, a waiter, as he was now to be known, boarded the "Empress of France" bound for Quebec in Canada on the 30th June 1928.
Back in England, Stan's family became more and more troubled by his disappearance. They waited for him to return but inevitably with no news of Stan, the family's patience ran out. At the time the News of the World newspaper had a regular feature on the back page where missing people could be featured, encouraging someone to provide some news. Stan's photo and his disappearance were published and there was Stan, unbeknown to himself, staring out from the page. No information was reported to the family and Stan's whereabouts remained a mystery. |
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20 High Street, Feltham in Middlesex had been the Irving family home since around 1890. George Irving, a boot and shoe maker, moved into the shop and house with his wife, Ann Letitia (née Carter), and nine surviving children, to carry on his business. One of the sons of George and Ann was Arthur Irving, whose childhood had been spent in 20 High Street, Feltham. Arthur married Margaret Mary "Molly" Connor in 1906 and they lived in Hounslow where their son, Stan, was born before they moved their family to Bethnal Green around 1915. George died in 1923 and Ann died in 1926, at which point the house was taken over by their son Albert. At the time of Stan's departure as Arthur Connor from Southampton in June 1928 the house was occupied by:
If Stan had an 'aunt' living at this address in 1928 she would have been either Miss Daisy Irving or Mrs Ellen Bundy, there being no Mrs Irving there at the time. The 'aunt' named Mrs Irving was, therefore, part of Stan's fabrication as described above. |
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On the journey across the Atlantic, Arthur (we can't call him Stan in this episode in his life), with a degree of good furtune, fell in with the family of Dr F Wilkins of Coburg, Ontario and they arrived in Quebec on 6th July 1928.
The immigration record tells us that Arthur Connor (22), born in Hounslow, Middlesex in 1906 was recorded as single. He was travelling alone although this was later changed at Immigration to suggest he had befriended the Wilkins family whilst shipboard. Arthur’s occupation was a waiter, which of course he wasn't, and he planned to be a waiter in Canada. He had no contact in Canada other than at the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railroad) office. The fact that he could provide no definite address and that being a waiter rather than something more productive like a farmer, may have been an issue for the immigration officials. The record page was typed and then amended twice by hand. It seems that fellow passenger Dr F Wilkins came to Arthur's aid by declaring that Arthur was not to become a waiter of no fixed abode, but a farmer who could be contacted through Dr Wilkins of Port Hope, Cobourg, Ontario. This would appear to have satisfied the official and Arthur "landed" as an "immigrant". Consistent with his new identity, Arthur gave his English contact as an "Aunt, Mrs. Irving, 20 High Street, Feltham, Middlesex." Stan wrote in his journal that he had various jobs in Canada including farm work and as a stoker on a ship that plied between Toronto and Buffalo across Lake Ontario. It is likely, bearing in mind the proximity to Coburg, the home of the Wilkins family, that they were instrumental in him obtaining these jobs. He recounts that the farm work was not to his liking and that he disliked the farmer who he thought was cruel. The job as a ship's stoker was more to his liking. At some point he may have met a lady named Hilda Green with whom he may have forged a relationship, After a few months, though, he got in touch with Elsie who asked him to return home, which he did in November 1928. Under a year later, in October 1929, they were married. |
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The episode in this section that relates the events surrounding Hilda Green and her daughter Adrian Barbra Connor was completely unknown to Stan and took place after his return to England. Hilda's story, however, embroils Stan (as Arthur Connor) in her efforts to demonstrate that she was not a single mother and her daughter was not illegitimate. We are indebted to Raymond Storey of Ontario whose research has provided this part of the narrative. Hilda Green was born in Small Heath, Birmingham in 1902 and baptised there when she was about four years old. The 1911 census reveals that her mother had died and she was living with her father and three brothers in Small Heath. In 1927 Hilda, single and aged 24, obtained an assisted passage to Canada, giving her English contact as "A friend, Mrs. Williams, 341 Green Lane, Small Heath, Birmingham." Hilda arrived in Canada and her immediate destination was the Salvation Army's Woodside Lodge at 480 Jarvis Street in Toronto. In 1927, the Salvation Army ran an assisted immigration program for those at risk, offering fresh starts to war widows, orphans, and unwed mothers in Canada. Whilst Raymond can find no documentation to further support this, the fact that Hilda’s immigration was assisted by the Salvation Army is not inconsistent with her having had an earlier child out of wedlock in England. This child, if it exists, has not been identified and cannot be seen on the ship's passenger list. The Salvation Army helped hundreds of young women start new lives – it was one of their trademark charities.
At this stage it must be stated that Arthur Connor boarded a ship from Canada, bound for England, that arrived in London on 4th November 1928. Any events attributed to him in Canada after this date cannot be his responsibility. The registration of the birth of Adrian Barbra Connor, the daughter of Hilda, took place on 6th August 1930 at 50 Cowan Avenue, Parkdale, Toronto, Ontario which was the Grace Hospital in Toronto. Founded in 1889 as a rescue home, Toronto Grace became the Salvation Army maternity hospital for unwed mothers. It moved to its present location in 1909. By 1930, it had expanded to admit all mothers but remained a primary hospital for SA maternity homes. The registration document of Adrian's birth cites that Arthur Phillip Connor, maintenance worker, had married the child's mother, Hilda Green, in London in 1923. No such marriage ever took place in England under the name Arthur Connor or Stanley Irving or any such combination, and Hilda had told this story for the reasons outlined above. The time lapse between the birth and registration of the birth was not noted when the document was sighted some years ago but Raymond Storey has determined that registration was within a few days of the birth, at most. This time lapse is important when establishing that Adrian could not have been conceived by Arthur Connor / Stanley Irving. In 1933 Adrian, aged 3, was left in the care of Hylda and Boyd Adams, poultry farmers of Caledon East, Peel, Ontario. At this time the child's name was recorded as Adrian Barbra Green which suggests Arthur Connor was not in either of the lives of Hilda or Adrian. Hilda has used Arthur Phillip Connor's name to legitimize Adrian's birth. As a single mother, at the height of The Depression, one has to believe that Hilda Green felt she was doing the best thing for her child. Adrian was formally adopted by the Adams family in 1937 and her name was changed to Adrian Lynette Adams. A published family tree on Ancestry by a lady “ihamilton43” appears to show that Hilda had more children and that some are potentially still around the Toronto area. The lady in question appears to be Hilda’s granddaughter and if she can be found, could be willing to share information. Adrian died in 2022 in Canada and her daughters asked Raymond Storey to see if he could help trace Arthur Connor, their father recorded at Adrian's birth. Adrian herself had not wanted to seek her father out during her lifetime and once it became evident to the daughters that Arthur Connor could not be their grandfather, they chose to stop the search. They were also unwilling to take DNA tests to see if there was a match on a database and in respect of their wishes our involvement in the narrative ends here. |
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He owned up to Elsie and as could be expected their conversation descended into a blazing row. Stan was shamed by his action and decided to leave this problem behind him by getting away, post haste.
Although backed by the British and Canadian governments, the immigration of unwed mothers was very contentious with the Canadian public in the 1920s. Tough rules were enacted to address public sentiment against Canada being used as England’s “dumping ground”. As Hilda was neither married nor bringing a child with her, she would have been classified as a single woman. A second baby conceived out of wedlock would have been sufficient to have Hilda classified as incorrigible and deported. Beyond the social stigma around single mothers and illegitimacy that existed at the time, it may also explain why such lengths were taken to maintain secrecy around the birth of any other child to unmarried Hilda.
