William John OWLETT^{[1, 2, 3]}

1884 - 1917  (32 years)

• Name	William John OWLETT
  Born	23 Aug 1884	Milton District, Kent, England (Sept Qtr 1883, v 2a, p858)
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Aug 1917	France
  Buried	19 Jan 1920	LOOS BRITISH CEMETERY, Loos-en-Gohelle, Pas de Calais, France
  Person ID	I9657	Young Kent Ancestors
  Last Modified	13 Oct 2021

  
  

  Father	John William OWLETT,   c. 17 Jun 1845, Milton-next-Sittingbourne, Kent, England ,   d. Sept Qtr 1887, Milton District, Kent, England (v 2a, p469)  (Age ~ 41 years)
  Mother	Mahala Elizabeth R. STOWERS OR STOURS,   b. Abt 1853, Lynsted, Kent, England ,   d. June Qtr 1891, 2a, 581, Kent
  Married	Sept Qtr., 1873	Milton District, Kent, 2a, 1109
  Family ID	F1180	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Arrived Quebec, Quebec, July 1894 on board the Sardinian with his brother, as part of Dr. Barnardo's party of 59 boys destined for English Canada, see page 5. Sailed 23 June arrived 3 July. Both brothers were together and are listed as miners from their last place of employ, born England, destination Quebec ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the documentation with his military service file, initial reports had been that he was missing from base which was ultimately upgraded to a report of missing and presumed dead. However, on form H.Q. 1772-39-893, found within said file, there is an entry of a burial report on 19 January 1920 and a notation that William John had been killed in action. From the Canadian Virtual War Memorial at: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem/Detail&casualty=562615 In memory ofPrivateWILLIAM JOHN OWLETT who died on August 21, 1917 Service Number: 863129 Force: Army Unit: Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) Division: 29th Bn. Note: discrepancy in year of birth between civil registration entry and date as shown on WWI enlistment documentation. Grave Reference: V. D. 7. From Commonwealth War Graves Commission website: In Memory of Private W J OWLETT863129, 29th Bn., Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment)who died on 21 August 1917Remembered with honourLOOS BRITISH CEMETERY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OWLETT WILLIAM J. 863129 Private Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment) died August 21, 1917 vigil Nov 6 9:48 PM OWLETT, W J Rank:Private Service No:863129 Date of Death:21/08/1917 Regiment/Service:Canadian Infantry 29th Bn. Grave ReferenceV. D. 7. CemeteryLOOS BRITISH CEMETERY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email received from Dion Loach 10 Apr 2009: Hi Susan, I have no relationship to the Owlett family. My interest comes from researching the 50 names from WWI on my local cenotaph over many years. Thanks to the internet and the willingness of many people to share / exchange their research, I have been able to make great progress in the last 2 years and learn a great deal about the CEF. And I find it very gratifying to be able to help someone else with their own research. Pte. William John Owlett had, until recently, been one of the enigmas on my list..... I had very little on him. I was baffled as to why his name was on the cenotaph because I had such a difficult time finding anything to link him to my area. I was beginning to wonder if it was a misspelling or variation of a common French name, Ouelette. Finally I found a mention of him in our local newspaper from July 1919 which indicated he stayed at the home of a well known local family when he was here. As a locomotive fireman he probably would have travelled extensively. It also mentioned that he was with the T. & N.O., which is the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario railway, which finally linked him to New Liskeard in some way. Last year I acquired his CEF personnel file, and recently I began looking on Ancestry.ca to see what I could find. It was a pleasant surprise that things seemed to quickly fall into place. The Will (a form) in his CEF file named a brother Albert Arthur Owlett of Maleval, SK and a sister Mrs. Annie Miller (wife of Albert W. Miller) of Beachburg, ON. I was able to find Albert Arthur Owlett in the 1901 and 1906 Census, which both have him in Manitoba. I have also found that he received a Western Land Grant <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/western-land-grants/001007-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=cm2v6fa43hf3l9j6gkj8lt2fh5&q1=&q2=&q3=&q4=&q5=Owlett&q6=&interval=20> in Saskatchewan. Albert along with William appear on a passenger list of the Sardinian which arrived at port in Quebec City, Quebec 9 Jul 1894. On this list is written "Dr. Barnardo's party", which leads me to believe they were either orphaned or came from a family that was destitute. William appears in the 1901 census as a "domestic" with the family of James & Lavina Brodie in Whitchurch, ON. Annie appears in the 1901 census as the daughter of John J. & Annie E. James of Bridgeburg, ON. In the 1911 census she is a boarder at the Hawn household of Bertie Township, Welland County, ON. She marries Albert W. Miller on 12 Sep 1911 in Bridgeburg, Welland County, ON. Her record of marriage shows John J. James and Annie E. Hawn as her adopted parents, and it seems logical to conclude that the Hawn household she is living at in 1911 is a relation to her adopted mother. Annie appears with Emily on the passenger list of the Sardinian which arrived at port, either Quebec City or Montreal, 22 Oct 1892. The girls are also part of a Dr. Barnardo party, but they came over almost 2 years earlier than their brothers. Again, it was an assumption that they were sisters given that the name Owlett seems to be uncommon. Sadly, Emily dies 1 Sep 1897 in Emily Township, Victoria County, ON. Her record of death indicates she was born in Kent, ENG. At that point, I believed that I had only the parents and one other sister to identify to complete the immediate family of Pte. Owlett. I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to determine the parents or their fate. All that I had on the remaining sister was a card from William's CEF file which named a Mrs. Fowler of 72 West St., Faversham, Kent as a sister. As luck would have it, a fellow researcher pointed me in the direction of your site and those missing pieces were filled in! You can find a copy of Pte. Owlett's CEF file here <http://www.mediafire.com/?dd2t1kaqnyy> ..... it's approx. 55MB in size (28 pages). The various images, etc. regarding the Owlett family I have gathered can be found here <http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=329bb686571007428c9e7c56ba37815f444ad42ac5459ff3> One other thing of interest that I made a note of: Pte. Owlett was listed as missing, presumed dead which indicates his body was not recovered at or near the time of his death. However, his body must have been one of those recovered and somehow identified after the war as he is listed as being buried in Loos British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France here <http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem/Detail&casualty=562615> Based on what has been found so far, it would seem that the only possible living descendants in Canada from the Owlett family would come from Annie and Albert Miller. William and Emily both died fairly young, and so far there is no record that Albert ever married. Of course, I would be very interested in anything you might discover about William J. Owlett, and if you happen to know the cause of death of his parents. I am also generally interested in the immediate family (marriages, dates and cause of death, etc.) as they sometimes lead to interesting details that may never have been found otherwise. Sometimes following up and reading the obituary of a brother or sister who lived to be 80+ or 90+ years old turns up additional information on the soldier / family. I generally don't look into the next generation (ie: children of a soldiers' brothers and sisters), but I have noted that very often one of these children are named in honour of the fallen soldier. Ideally my co-researcher and I would like to be able to provide at least some basic background information on every man on our list so that they can be portrayed as something more than just another faceless name and number. I hope this information if of use to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions (or problems accessing the files). Dion Loach New Liskeard, ON ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email received from Dion Loach 9 Apr 2009 Greetings, I am researching William John Owlett who enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was killed 21 Aug 1917. I just discovered his family as part of your family tree <http://www.kent-opc.org/opcfamilydata/familygroup.php?familyID=F1967&tree=1> at the website mentioned in the subject line. It helps fill in some of the gaps I had, particularly in regards to his parents. If you are interested, I have images of a number of forms / documents in regards to William John Owlett (including his CEF personnel file), Albert Arthur Owlett, and Emily Owlett (who died in Canada 1897). As well, I have some for another sister, Annie E. Owlett who does not appear on your site. The 4 Owlett children who came to Canada appear to be some of the many Barnardo children. Dion Loach New Liskeard, ON ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email received from Dion Loach 16 Apr 2009 Hi Susan, I just came across the cemetery records <http://www.city.weyburn.sk.ca/pdfs/Hcdb_opqr.pdf> for Weyburn, Saskatchewan....... on page 4 there is an Albert Owlett listed, died 25 Feb 1923. 028-001 OWLETT Albert 25-Feb-1923 Dion Loach New Liskeard, ON

  
  

• Sources

  [S9] 1891 Census, England and Wales, Office of National Statistics, General Register Office, Kew, Surrey, England, (U.S.A., Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah), Stokenchurch, Oxfordshire, England, RG12/1141, ED 13, fol. 163, p. 21, GSU fiche #6096251, 5 Apr 1891. Town: StokenchurchCivil Parish: Stokenchurch Ecclesiastical parish: St Peter and St Paul County/Island: Oxfordshire Country: England Registration district: Wycombe Sub-district: West Wycombe Household Schedule #135, Village of Stokenchurch - Household Members: William Harding, head, married, 48, chair maker (benchman), employed, born Stokenchurch, Oxon Sarah A Harding, wife, married, 44, no occupation, born Stokenchurch, Oxon Gertrude Harding, daughter, single, 15, no occupation, born Stokenchurch, Oxon James Reilley, boarder, single, 9, scholar, born London Albert Owlett, boarder, single, 9, [born circa 1882], scholar, born Sittingbourne, Kent, EnglandWilliam Owlett, boarder, single, 7, [born circa 1884], scholar, born Sittingbourne, Kent, England  [S109] Obituary, New Liskeard Speaker and Temiskaming News Letter, 17 Jul 1919. Word has recently been received that W. J. Owlett, who went overseas with the Sportsman's Battn. had been killed in action about a year ago. The late Mr. Owlett was connected while in town with the T. N.O. and resided at the home of Mrs. Sirr. [S111] 1901 Census, Canada, Statistics Canada, (Ottawa, Canada: Statistics Canada), Series RG31-C-1, Whitchurch, Ontario (West), ED 99, SD F-2, p. 13. Microfilm #T-6428-T-6556. Household schedule #130, family schedule #130: Brodie James, colour white, head, married, born 25 Dec 1864, age 36, born Ontario, racial origin Scotch, nationality Canadian, religion Presbyterian, farmer, can read, write and speak English Brodie Lavina A., colour white, wife, married, born 6 May 1871, age 29, born Ontario, racial origin English, nationality Canadian, religion Presbyterian, can read, write and speak English Brodie Marie H., colour white, daughter, single, born 10 Apr 1886, age 5, born Ontario, racial origin Scotch, nationality Canadian, religion Presbyterian, can speak English Brodie Janet G., colour white, daughter, single, born 29 Nov 1899, age 2, born Ontario, racial origin Scotch, nationality Canadian, religion Presbyterian, unable to read, write, speak English Owlet William J., colour white, domestic, single, born 23 Aug 1884, age 16, born England, racial origin English, nationality Canadian, religion Presbyterian, servant, can read, write and speak English