Canadian deaths 1960s

[Eileenlc]

I'm trying to find a death record for my great uncle Charles Edward MEYERS. He was born in Sligo, Ireland, 1885; migrated to Canada and married Gertrude Agnes WALKER in New Brunswick in 1910. They are shown as living in Montreal at the 1921 Census, and I can find nothing more until the 1963 and 1965 electoral rolls on Ancestry, where Charles is living in Dollard, Montreal, Quebec, with Anne, his wife, who is described as an accountant. I can find no record for this marriage or the (supposed) death of Gertrude. I have a family letter confirming that Charles had died by 1968 but I have no other details.
There seem to be very few Canadian resources online for the second half of the 20th century so I'm hoping someone can suggest where to look.
Thank you, Eileen.

[meekhcs]

Morning

Canada adheres strictly to the 100 year rule for records which is why you are drawing a blank. Newspaper records may be your best avenue of research as BMD's were often reported. Try www.newwspapers.com this is a fee paying site but if you have a full Ancestry membership you should be able to search for free.

Failing that have a look at www.cyndislist.com This is an amazing site if you haven't come across it before. It contains details of loads of helpful websites.

Another option is an email to the local state archives who may be able to suggest an avenue of research.

.....and finally the Rootschat Forum. A post on their Canada page may be useful. BUT if you do this please keep your post on here updated so that others do not spend time covering research that has been carried out elsewhere.

[Eileenlc]

Thanks Sally. I'll give those sites a go.

Eileen

[Eileenlc]

Hi Sally

I hit gold with your suggestions on the Rootschat forum. I posted a message there after drawing a blank with newspapers and following links from Cyndi's list. I had several replies that helped to piece together Charles' last years. He didn't make it easy for us, except that his wife's family appeared to be prominent in the Catholic church in New Brunswick. He seems to have written his surname as MYERS rather than MEYERS, and added the given name Pat(rick), either as a saint's name when he converted to Catholicism or possibly because as an Irishman he was called Pat or Paddy so often. On the basis of much searching, the posters on Rootschat and I have decided that the electoral roll listings in Montreal for mid-1960s with wife Anne were for another person, and that Charles and his wife Gertrude returned to NB in about 1961, possibly when he retired. There are more records for NB than Quebec online, including a death certificate which showed Gertrude died in 1968, and a transcription of cemetery entries that showed Charles died in 1972. The 1968 letter in which my grandfather said that Charles predeceased him possibly suggests that my grandfather had confused Charles' death with his wife's death, or that they had lost contact with each other, possibly because they both moved house at around the same time and letters may have gone astray, or perhaps Gertrude was the letter writer. They were (still are) an interesting family. Born in Ireland to an Irish mother who was a teacher and a father who was an English solder (REs) in Ireland doing survey work, Amy, the eldest, remained in Ireland all her life, Ambrose (my grandfather) followed the family tradition and joined the REs, moving to England, Charles went to Canada and Eva, another teacher, came to Australia. The cross-over between Protestant and Catholic in the family is interesting too, over a couple of generations.
I'd never used Rootschat before, so I'll keep an eye on it. Many thanks for your help.
Eileen

[meekhcs]

Good news Eileen.

I also have a protestant/catholic cross over in the 1840s that are proving difficult to track down but I live in hope!