Thomas Joseph Oldale and Elizabeth Anne Powell of Sheffield, England.

Thomas Joseph I was a piano player in Sheffield during between the years of 1861 - 1890. His wife, Elizabeth Anne Powell, died about 1890 while giving birth to her 11th child. (I am currently searching for both death certificates of Thomas and Elizabeth which should tell us more about the events leading up to their deaths) The boys care then, became the job of Thomas Sr. He was reportedly "consumed by the drink" and rarely at home at night. One of the boys, Arthur, was caught steeling, sent to court where the presiding Judge issued a harsh sentence, giving him with severe labels and sending him away from his family to be placed in an orphanage, an "example" to other delinquent boys who might be tempted to steel.

The older boys went to work went to work at a very young age. My Great Grandfather, Thomas Joseph Oldale II, told the story about their life after the sad and unfortuate death of their young mother - Elizabeth Anne Powell.

According to Grandfather Tom, after the death of his young wife - Elizabeth Powell, Thomas Joseph Oldale I, continued to work at the lead factory where he held a job as a "Chaser". A Chaser was an industrial engraver, which meant that he would do the detailed artistic work on the various items that the factory manufactured. Besides his "day job", Thomas Joseph I was reputidly a wonderful pianist, and he earned extra money (and no doubt beer) by playing piano in the pubs of Yorkshire in the evening.

Not long after his wife's death, he took in a common law wife who was reportedly very nasty by nature and mean-spirited towards the children. When my young Tom came home for lunch from his job (probably at the same factory his father worked in) he was not allowed to get any food being stopped by his newly aquired "step-mom". A debate broke out which turned into somewhat of a scuffle resulting in young Thomas Joseph pushing the woman down a flight of steps. He then took flight and ran away from home, immediately securing a job on a fishing boat at the Sheffield Shipyards and living and working on the sea for the next few years.

A few years later, his father, upon his death bed, sent for his son Thomas, who went to his father's side. Thomas Sr. vowed to "throw the woman out" and have his son's all back together again. Unfortunately, although the promise was in good faith, Thomas Sr. never came out of his illness and died soon after.

The boys would have had to work and support themselves, which was no easy task in this era in England. This undoubtedly lead to the decision to come to Canada and start a "new and better life" for themselves.

As stated above, the 4 brother's made their way to Thunder Bay, Ontario (then Fort William and Port Arthur) where they secured jobs with the CN Railway. The boys families remained in Sheffield awaiting word from their fathers (husbands) in the far off land of Canada..

My Grandmother, Lillian Oldale and her mother (Mary Ann Tyson) stayed in Sheffield while Thomas and his brothers came to Canada to find jobs and get settled in. The plan was then to send for Mary Ann and Lillian to join him. After a year or more, Mary Ann placed Lillian under the care of one of her brothers and set sail to find out what was happening in Canada. Family history tells that when she arrived, Thomas was working for the Railroad and had built a tiny hut on some of the Railway land, just out of town. In this "house" (which was little more than a 1 room shack) he had his living utensils, including: one fork, one knife, one spoon, one plate, one cup, and so on. Mary immediately went to work cleaning and cooking for one of the prominant Doctors in town, earning extra money to help the "new and better life" mandate.

It wasn't until 1907 that Mary hopped on board a ship and headed back to England to get Lillian. Mary was pregnant with Thomas Joseph III, and needed help with the raising and watching over the expected baby. Although my Grandmother was only 7 years old at the time, it was expected of a child to help out to that magnitude, just as it was for my Great Grandmother, who was put into "service" in England when she was very young. Lilian was to come to Canada and watch the baby while both parents worked.

The problem was, when Polly arrived back in Sheffield to collect Lillian, there was heavy resistance by Lillian and her Aunt and Uncle Tyson. By now, Lillian had been with the Tysons for 5 of her 7-year life, and thought them to be her parents. Lillian always talked about how well they treated her and how much she didn't want to leave them to come to Canada. The resistance wasn't all amicable either, with oral history telling of lawyers and money being involved - creating a bit of a resentment between brother and sister Tyson. I'm sure it wasn't a good feeling for Mother Polly either, having her eldest daughter rejecting her and the plan to return to Canada immediately. After some hurdles, Mary took Lillian and they set sail for Canada in 1907.

Please email me any Biographies you would like included on this page - one of an Ancestor you want remembered or one on yourself so that we can all get to know you a little.