Walter John Waddelow
(18th July 1897 - 24th December 1998)
Walter John Waddelow was born at Scotton,
Lincolnshire, England on July 18th 1897. Walter was the second child of
John and Sarah, (nee Morden), Waddelow. He had an older brother Alfred
William and a younger sister Emma May. Walter enjoyed a happy
childhood. He states that although they were poor, his mother had been a
cook prior to marriage and their family had the best meals of all his
friends. As boys, Walter and his brother saw Haley's comet
(1910). Walter and his mother attended the local Church of England, while
his father was Methodist. Upon leaving school at about twelve years he left home
to work as a farm labourer (as was his father). When he was 18 years old (1915)
he joined the army and served with the Lincolnshire Regiment in Ireland in 1916
in connection with the Easter rebellion. After Ireland he served in France for a
short time, where he was injured and gassed, and invalided back to England.
On returning to civilian life he was unhappy with
the opportunities available in England, to realise his dream of owning his own
land he cast his eye to Canada. A friend had gone to the Province of
Saskatchewan in Canada, and Walter headed there. The destination at least where
he got off the train, was Govan, Saskatchewan, a small prairie town 60 miles
north of Regina, the Provincial Capital.
Walter told the Railway Station Agent at Govan
that he was looking for work. The agent suggested he should go to the local Cafe
and inquire if any hands were needed. Fortune surely shone brightly on Walter
that day, and he was immediately hired by Peter Hill, a local farmer. He worked
willingly for Peter and was considered as a valued family member. While working
on this farm he learned about farming and Canadian ways. Walter considered his
experience with the Hill family to be one of the high points in his life. Peter
Hill was a 'fiddler' and performed at square dances. Walter learned to
"call" dances, although he never learned to square dance.
Walter stayed with the Hill's for three years and
then went to Calgary, Alberta, a City in the south central part of the Province.
This would be about 1924. In Calgary he found a job as a deliveryman for a
laundry. While working as a deliveryman in Calgary he met Mary Vagg, a
widow living with her relatives. Mary had a little girl named Isabelle. Walter
and Mary were married, and he now had a wife and a daughter. Isabelle was born
in County Ayr, Ireland on February 8,1922. Little Isabelle was to become known
as Isa all her life.
Mary's brother worked for the Canadian Pacific
Railway, (CPR). Walter was attracted to this work and got a job as a brakeman,
(guard), with the CPR. He would have started this railway job in the later 1920s
when he was near 30 years old. Although Walter had a long railway career
it wasn't without some rough spots. Soon after he started the brakeman job the
depression bit and he didn't have enough seniority to hold full time work. The
railway offered to keep him employed on an 'as needed' basis thereby maintained
his seniority position. Walter made the best of the situation and at the same
time had started to realise his dream of owning land.
As a means of augmenting his income and to make a
start at owning land. Walter took out a homestead near Bluffton, Alberta; a
small town located about 40 miles north and a little west of the City of Red
Deer. Homesteads were grants of 160 acres of un-improved land made available at
very low cost. The homesteader was obliged to clear trees and break a specified
area of land. and erect a basic dwelling to qualify for title to the land.
The land division system in Western Canada saw
land set out in divisions called "sections", (A section is a square
piece of land, one mile on a side, having an area of 640 acres). One quarter of
a section was one half mile on a side with an area of 160 acres, and this
comprised the basic homestead farm unit. Taking out such homesteads was the
choice of many immigrants coming to Canada in those times.
Mary and Isa would have been involved with the
early homestead scene, and this would be a primitive existence for the family.
In any event, Walter and Mary made a go of it and prospered. Isa would have had
many experiences on the farm, one of which was to act as the veterinarian for
her pet cat.
Walter liked to relate stories. and he tells of a
remarkable coincidence involving a neighbour. It seems that he got to know a
German fellow across the common fence and they swapped stories. It turned out
that they had faced each other across the trenches in France and were delighted
that they could now be friends in the new land. The homestead scene for
Walter's family would have lasted into the late 1930s at which time railway
business picked up and Walter was called for full time work. He sold the
much-improved farm and moved to Edmonton. Walter lived in both Edmonton
and Calgary during his railway days, always owning a house wherever he lived.
Walter took his railway work seriously, but at
the same time he found it rewarding and enjoyable. He doesn't need much
encouragement to start talking about this important part of his life. He much
enjoyed cooking in the caboose, where he prepared quite "superior"
meals for the crewmembers. The train crew (three men) lived and worked in the
caboose while on the road. Cabooses were fitted with beds and a simple kitchen
arrangement with a combination heating and cook stove. Walter knows that his
biscuits were the best ever made. In the early part of his career he had only a
few minutes to make biscuits and according to Walter. They were the best he ever
made. Later, when he had more time to cook they were inferior things.
After a number of years service, Walter was
promoted to conductor. It is understood that he was a conductor for only a few
years. when he accidentally pulled his shoulder, This injury resulted in a
disability that prevented him from continuing to work as a conductor. For the
balance of his career he worked as a trainman (the brakeman on passenger
trains), primarily on regular passenger trains, and later on "Bud' cars
(sprinters). This wasn't all bad for Walter because he liked people and related
well to passengers. He retired from the railway in 1962 at age 65.
At the time the family moved from the farm to
Edmonton, Isa would have been a teenager. After completing schooling she got a
job as a clerk at the CPR yard office in south Edmonton. She married Bert Wynn
Feb. 16, 1946 and they lived at various locations in the West Coast, as Bert
followed his naval career. Bert retired and they moved to White Rock on the
southern mainland British Columbia coast.
Tragically, Bert died suddenly Auq.18, 1988, at
67 years. Isa continued to live at White Rock. but largely lost interest in life
after Bert died. Isa died at White Rock on May 8, 1995, following a lengthy
illness. Bert and Isa had no children. Soon after Walter's retirement he
and Mary moved to Esquimalt, B.C. on Vancouver Island, where Bert and Isa were
living at that time, and bought a house. Esquimalt is adjacent to the City of
Victoria on the south end of the island. Retirement brought an entirely new and
actively, involved life for Walter.
He took up an interest in coin collecting, and
generally buying and selling almost anything. He became what he had always
wanted to be - an auctioneer. Because of chest weakness from his war gas
experience. his voice couldn't hold out for the long calls required of a pro
auctioneer. but he did ok on a part-time basis. Right up to the last few years
he maintained his Interest in merchandising and turning a profit. Isa said
"he was born with dollar signs in his eyes. Walter smoked a pipe for
a good many years, but following a coughing bout put the pipe away for good.
He operated the passenger elevator In the Douglas
Hotel in Victoria for a time. One day in the hotel a woman inquired if he was
Walter Waddelow. She replied that she was Mary Hill from Govan, Sask. and
recognised him from his "pouchy" cheeks - after over 40 years.
Walter was a congenial person and enjoyed contacts with people. He was snappy in
conversation, a great story teller who knows lots of 'one liners', referring to
himself as a "first liner". He took up golf in Victoria and is
proud of his hole-in-one accomplishment. He never was a long hitter, but he had
a great putt. His son-in-law Bert cautioned other players to "watch out for
Walter, he'll chip and putt you to death."
Mary died in 1977, after over 50 years of
marriage, and Walter moved to a condominium in the Shelburne area of Victoria.
In 1981 Walter met Ruby Faulder whose husband
Fergus, also a railwayman, had died in 1979. Following a whirlwind courtship,
Walter and Ruby were married on August 15.1981. They lived in, and bought. and
sold three condominiums over a number of years. They were quite active in the
earlier years of marriage; traveling to Europe, Hawaii, Reno USA and to visit
Ruby's family around Canada. Ruby has a large extended family, living mainly in
Western Canada.
When living on Lampson Street, Walter was struck
by a vehicle and badly bruised, but over time recovered nicely and hasn't
suffered any permanent effects. A number of similar experiences over the years
have shown Walter to be a very resilient man.
The Lampson condo worked out well until 1994,
when the couple realised that looking after themselves had become too much.
Walter and Ruby, who were 97 and 89 years respectively, moved into a retirement
residence (The Victorian). At the Victorian they have a spacious, one-bedroom
suite, and the convenience of a fine common dining room. The couple enjoys the
Victorian and it has been good for them.
When it is considered that Walter and Ruby were
each married for over 50 years to their first spouses and has now been married
for 16 years, this is remarkable in itself. Ruby's daughters, Carol Evans and
Sandra Vance live in Victoria and are able to support the couple as needed. Her
son George and his wife Kay live in Edmonton, Alberta.
In 1997 Walter celebrated his hundredth year and
had a grand birthday celebration in Victoria on July 18th .1997, with both
Walter and Ruby partaking actively in all events. The Celebration started with a
noon dinner at the Victorian. which the family guests attended. A birthday party
with a cake was also held at the Victorian in mid afternoon, attended by
Victorian residents and family guests. Later in the afternoon the celebration
continued at the Evans home. Everyone thought the couple would be played out by
that time and would want to rest. Lo and Behold to everyone's surprise, a phone
call from Ruby and they shortly arrived at the Evans home by taxi. ready to join
the party in progress.
Walter was very proud to have received 100th
birthday greetings from the Queen, the Governor General of Canada, and the Prime
Minister. The Victoria daily newspaper had an article and photograph of Walter
in the following day's edition. Walter exclaimed that he has had a
"Wonderful Life".
Twenty people came from near and far to wish him
well, including a very welcome party of six relatives from England representing
the Waddelow family. The English visitors were two of Walter's nieces Ethel and
Dora (sisters) and Ethel's husband Claud, and their daughter Valerie-Parsons,
(from Spain), and Walter's nephew Cecil French and his wife Mildred. The balance
of the guests were Ruby's friends and relatives.
Walter was in reasonably good health, until
February 1998. In mid December 1998, his health deteriorated rapidly and
he died on the 24th December 1998 at the Gorge Road Hospital, Victoria BC,
aged 101 years. In March 1999, Walter was posthumously awarded The French
Legion of Honour by the Consular General of France for serving in France during
the Great War which Ruby accepted on his behalf. He was also awarded
a framed Queens Commemoration Certificate signed by the Queen and an Armistice
Lapel Pin, specially minted for the occasion
* * * * * * * *
* * * * *
In 1984, Walter and his second wife, Ruby,
visited relatives in England for the first time in 15 years. He took great
pleasure in seeing all his relatives once more and recounted many tales of when
he lived in England. I found his stories of the Great War most
fascinating. One tale which I found amusing was the time during the Great
War, when he and my grandfather, Alfred, (who was in the Navy), swapped uniforms
before going down for breakfast. Their mum, Sarah, talked to each as if
they were the other, according to their uniforms. It was only when they began to
laugh that she realised they had played a trick on her.
(Note entry by Susan Waterhouse).
