Welcome to the James and Jessie Laurie Family Blog

Please add your stories and photos of ancestors or decendents of James and Jessie Laurie so we can learn more about our family.
Currently this is a public blog. If you want it to be private for the family only we will need everyone's email address so they can be added as authors or readers. Thanks for helping to make this a successful way to share and strengthen our family.

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If you notice any thing that is incorrect or if you can tell us more please leave a comment under to post and I can edit the corrections or add.
Showing posts with label James Jessie Laurie family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Jessie Laurie family. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Marion Isobel Laurie - 4 Jan 1927 -12 Sep 1988

Marion Isobel Laurie is the fifth child born to James and Jessie Laurie. She was born with great difficulty in Prince Albert, Sasckatchewan. It left her with a mental disability but she was loved and taken care of by her family. Alice shared a bed with her and protected her when she was afraid. When they left Ladner she was not able to go with them so she was admitted to the Essondale Assylum in Coquitlam, BC and later went to Vernon, BC to the Vernon Assylum, and lived happily the rest of her days. She died Sep 12, 1988 at 61 years of age, and was cremated and sent to Taber for burial.


Saturday, March 19, 2011

James & Jessie Laurie Family

We are not sure why James decided to move to Prince Albert but the following history may give us some clues. His passenger list information says he was looking for work as a blacksmith. At some point he became employed by the Sick's Brewery in Prince Albert and worked for them for many years.

Prince Albert officially became a city on October 8, 1904, and by 1910 the new city was booming. In addition to having access to the wealth of the forest and agricultural industries, Prince Albert was a hub of steamboat and railway activity and a centre for commerce. The first train arrived in October 1890, and thus the town was opened to the newly emerging society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Prince Albert grew rapidly until the Canadian Pacific Railway assumed a more southerly route. Brewing began in Prince Albert in 1883. The most enduring ventures were the Sick’s Prince Albert Brewery and Molson Saskatchewan Brewery (1924–86). Fritz Sick and his son Emil Sick bought the defunct Regina Brewing and Packing Company and built a new plant in Prince Albert in 1924. Emil Sick and his father Fritz Sick managed their opperation from Lethbridge where Fritz had established his own brewery at the age of 32.

For 17 years they lived in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. James and Jessie started their family here with the birth of Gertie and all the kids were born while they lived there. The kids are as follows:
Gertrude Irene Graham Laurie born 8 Apr 1921-15 Dec 1995
William James Laurie born 3 Aug 1922-15 Mar 2003
George Alexander Laurie born 29 Apr 1924-17 Jan 2001
Dorothy Jean Laurie born 18 Nov 1925-23 Feb 2000
Marion Isobel Laurie born 4 Jan 1927-12 Sep 1988
Alice Eileen Laurie born 29 Dec 1929
Robert John Laurie born 4 Jan 1933-26 Oct 1986
Charles Daniel Laurie born 9 Nov 1934
Gordon Laurie born 19 Oct 1936-30 Mar 2011

They lived in a two story house with a beautiful oval window in the front door. Their kids went to school and did the many activities that were normal life at that time in history.



During this time James was active in "Football" known in North America as Soccer. He played and was a player/coach for the Prince Albert City Club for many years.
Here is a close up of the above photo. James Laurie is the first one on the left in the back row.
This is the picture of their club taken after they won the Western Canada Championship. James is the last one on the right of the top row.


James and Jessie purchased some land in Ladner, B.C. as an investment. When Gordie was 5 months old Jessie took all nine kids and with the help of Sandy Mitchell, drove out to their land in Ladner, B.C. They lived there for 9 years working hard to support themselves. James and Jessie divorced some time after she moved there.
abt 1944 - Ladner - Alice and Bob sitting on the front porch or their home.

James moved to Taber and worked for the Canning Factory as a mechanic. They sent him to the Vancouver cannery to work on the can line that kept jamming. While he was there he looked up Jessie. He and Bill help design a twist every so often in the can line to correct the jamming problem they were having. On Jan 14, 1946 James and Jessie were remarried at the Court House in Vancouver.



James and Jessie Laurie


Jessie MacPherson Laurie


Jessie MacPherson Laurie

They moved in March of 1947 to Taber where James was employed at the Cannery. By this time only Alice, Bob, Danny and Gordie were at home and made the move with them. Marnie wasn't able to make the trip so she was admitted to the home for disabled at Essendale. George took them to the bus station but remained in Ladner area.

Back L-R: George, Jessie, Alice
Front L-R: Dan, Gordie, Bob


L-R: Dan, Gordie and Bob Laurie

The three boys finished their school years in Taber. Alice was unable to finish High School because of the differences in the school systems of B.C. and Alberta. James and Jessie lived in Taber until their deaths in 1961.

In 1983 James Laurie, along with his club, was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. The shield and other memorabilia are located in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in down town Regina.


Friday, March 18, 2011

James & Jessie Laurie 1919 Marriage & Move

James Laurie and Jessie MacPherson met near Glasgow and were married there on July 18, 1919 at 21 Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland.
Their witnesses were William McGhie, blacksmith and Mary Morrison, domestic servant. James Laurie was a 23yrs old bachelor and a blacksmith living at 8 Leichlee St, Hamilton. He is the son of William Laurie, machineman and Marion Laurie, m.s. Kinnaird. Jessie MacPherson was a 21 yr old spinster and a domestic servant living at Wateryeltes, Kilmacolm. She is the daughter of James Macpherson, Insurance Agent and Isabella Macpherson, m.s. Dyker. They were married in the District of Blythswood in the Burgh of Glasgow, Scotland.
Below is the actual Marriage certificate:
Following their marriage there was an oppotunity for those who wanted it to immigrate to Canada. Jobs were scarse after the war in England and it is thought that veterans were given that opportunity. For some reason he went to Prince Albert to look for a job. He was a blacksmith so perhaps he thought that was a good place to look. He boarded a ship called the Haverford at Liverpool, England and arrived 21 Sep 1919 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He then prepared the way for Jessie to follow in 1920.
The "Haverford", operated by the White Star line, voyaged between Liverpool, England and Canada. This is the same company that owned the Titanic . . .fun to know. The journey usually took 7 days, weather permitting.


Even though this says Jennie Laurie we know it is Jessie because it lists her parents and the fact that she is going to Prince Albert to be with her husband, James. She applied for passage on March 20, 1920. They could not sail to Quebec City in the winter so they would arrange passage ahead of time and then leave when passage up the St Lawerence seaway was possible and when their turn came due to traveling quotas. She arrived in Quebec on 20 Jun 1920. From there she made her way to Saskatchewan where James was living at #202, 25th St 2nd Ave East, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
The "Megantic" was also run by the White Star Line to Quebec City, Canada.