John and Sarah (Hyder)

John Hasler was born on October 6, 1876 in the east London borough of Bromley, in the county of Middlesex, in England. John's occupation, as indicated on the birth certificate of his son William, was 'Laborer Bricklayer.'

Sarah Hyder was born on March 18, 1876 also in the county of Middlesex, in England. The address given on her birth certificate lists her family address as 17 Ernest Street in Mile End Old Town, London. Ernest Street is just west of Blackthorn Street in modern day London. According to the 1881 census, the family was living on Rose Place in Mile End Town, London. Her father (John Hyder) was a baker, who was born about 1845 in Prussia, her mother (Mary Ann Watson) was born about 1848 in the city of London. Sarah had at least one sister, Louisa, who was born about 1878 in Whitechapel and she had at least two brothers, John born about 1874 in St Georges East and William, born about 1880 also in St. Georges East.

As kids, the two lived within a few miles of each other, and they would have been about twelve or thirteen when Jack the Ripper killed six women in Whitechapel, only a few miles further west of where they lived.

According to the 1911 Canadian census, John immigrated to Canada in 1911. His cousin, Herbert had immigrated to Canada in 1909 and was living in Guelph at 188 Waterloo Ave. John does not appear with the listing at that address but appears at the bottom of the census. He listed his address with Herbert and his occupation as Street Labourer (same as Herbert). There is no mention of Sarah or their children in the 1911 census so he probably came over first by himself.

On Feb 8th, 1915 at the age of 38 and with Sarah pregnant with their sixth child, John enlisted to fight in World War I. John went missing and was presumed killed on June 13th after an attack by the Canadian 3rd battalion to regain about one mile of trenches that had been lost to the Germans ten days earlier. The attack was at Zillebeck, near Ypres, close to the French-Belgium border. The attack was a success as the Canadians re-took the lost trenches and held them, but the casualties were heavy on both sides. John's name appears on the Menin Gate memorial in Ypres, Belgium. His oldest son (John) also enlisted on Sep. 4th, 1915 which would have made him only 16, but his birth date on the enlistment form had been changed and cannot be read now. Beside it is written 18 years.

John and Sarah had six children, four of which were born in England and two in Canada. The last child was born five days after John went missing in action. They have thirty-one grandchildren.