Tracing Roots

Hannah Whittaker

Hannah Whittaker was my maternal grandmother. She was born June 23, 1895, at 12 Smithy Green in Ince, Lancashire, England, to Peter Whittaker and Margaret Ellen Harrison. She was baptized July 9, 1895 at All Saints Church in Wigan. Hannah was the youngest of ten children born to Peter and Margaret according to the 1911 census. To date, I have only been able to account for nine of those children. Sadly, only five of them lived to adulthood. Of those five, only James William "Jim", Betsy Ann, and Hannah had children.

Hannah Whittaker was my maternal grandmother. She was born June 23, 1895, at 12 Smithy Green in Ince, Lancashire, England, to Peter Whittaker and Margaret Ellen Harrison. She was baptized July 9, 1895 at All Saints Church in Wigan. Hannah was the youngest of ten children born to Peter and Margaret. To date, I have only been able to account for nine of those children. Sadly, only five of them lived to adulthood. Of those five, only James William "Jim", Betsy Annie, and Hannah had children.

Annie

Thomas

James William

George

Betsy Ann

Nancy

Margaret Ellen

Hannah

b. Dec 1877

b. 4 Jan 1880

b. 22 Aug 1881

b. 26 Mar 1884

b. 8 Oct 1885

b. 13 Mar 1888

b. 20 Jul 1890

b. 10 Sep 1892

b. 23 Jun 1895

d. 22 Mar 1879

d. 17 Mar 1959

d. 1957

d. Nov 1884

d. 27 May 1956

d. 27 Sep 1890

d. 12 Feb 1892

d. 3 Aug 1985

d. 13 Apr 1983

Annie 1877 - 1879 Thomas 1880 - 1959

James William 1881 - 1957

George 1884 - 1884

Betsy Ann 1885 - 1956

Nancy 1888 - 1890

Margaret Ellen 1890 - 1892

Margaret Ellen 1892 - 1985

Hannah 1895 - 1983

Peter Whittaker

Margaret Ellen Harrison

While researching Grandma's family, I discovered that other members of her family had lived at 12 Smithy Green previously. Richard Ollerton, brother to Grandma's maternal grandmother, Ann Ollerton, had lived there with his family in 1881. Ann Ollerton and her husband, James Harrison, (Grandma's maternal grandparents) were located at 12 Smithy Green for the 1891 census. Also living with Ann and James was their daughter, Margaret Harrison, her husband, Peter Whittaker, and their children.

Grandma was born to a family of coal miners and weavers. Her father died of aortic syncope when she was quite young. Her mother, Margaret, ran a fish and chip business out of her home to support the family. At that time, she would have had five children still living at home, ranging in age from eight and a half to twenty-four.

Grandma had very little formal schooling as she had weak eyes. She explained to me once that, when she was little, she had had measles which had affected her eyesight. Subsequently, she had her eyes ‘painted’ with some kind of medicine and she said she had to sit at the back of the class and just listen. She always used to tease us with what she remembered learning in school, "This, that, these and those are distinguishing adjectives." She had no idea what this meant, but she could always remember it. Grandma didn't know what a palindrome was but delighted in telling us that she never missed not having a middle name as ‘Hannah’ was special because she was the same going as coming!

According to the 1911 census, Grandma worked, at age 16, in the card room at the cotton mill as a frame tenter. A frame tenter was someone who looked after the spinning frames. Eventually, Grandma became an excellent weaver.

Grandma married my grandfather, Frank Hilton, on Aug 21, 1918. Her married sister, Margaret Ellen Sharples, stood up for her at her wedding. Both Grandma and Margaret Ellen were married at St. George's Parish Church (Church of England) by Rev. John Lund.

My mom says Grandpa called Grandma Nancy or Nan as a pet name but I only ever heard him call her Hannah . Margaret Ellen called her Our Hannah which was common practice in Lancashire at the time. This portrait was taken on their first anniversary in 1919.

Grandma and Grandpa emigrated to Canada in December of 1920. They started out their new life in Hamilton. As Grandma was a crackerjack weaver, she landed the first job. She was able to weave as fast as the men and earned extra money for this ability. It is likely she worked in a cotton mill as that is what she did in England but I have no proof of that. Textile mills and cotton mills in particular had sprung up in Hamilton at the turn of the twentieth century.

After three years, Grandpa sent Grandma home to visit her family in England for a six-week vacation, just as he had promised her mother that he would. Great Grandma Whittaker was convinced her daughter would die at the hands of what she referred to as Indians in Canada. Grandma departed Montreal on September 1, 1923 aboard the SS Regina and landed in Liverpool September 9, 1923. She returned to Canada aboard the SS Regina, leaving Liverpool on May 9, 1924 and arriving in Montreal on September 18, 1924. Her six weeks had turned into the better part of a year! Grandma had spent all this time at home enjoying being the centre of attention, playing cards and winning money daily from her brothers who worked in the mines.

Grandma never worked outside the home once her daughter, Margaret (my mom), was born. She enjoyed her role as homemaker and was an excellent baker, the envy of all who knew her. She knitted and crocheted and kept her home spotless. She pickled and canned and washed her clothes on a scrubbing board for most of her life.

Blessed with a beautiful soprano voice, Grandma spent many years singing in the church choir and also in the Rebekah Lodge. The Rebekah Lodge, also known as the Rebekahs or the International Order of the Rebekahs, is an international service-oriented organization and a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It was initially designed as the female auxiliary of the I.O.O.F., but today allows both female and male members. Grandma and Mom were both members. I used to love seeing both Grandma and Mom dress up in their fancy lodge finery for special occasions.

Hannah never worked outside the home once her daughter, Margaret (my mom), was born. She enjoyed her role as homemaker and was an excellent baker, the envy of all who knew her. She knitted and crocheted and kept her home spotless. She pickled and canned and washed her clothes on a scrubbing board for most of her life.

Blessed with a beautiful soprano voice, Hannah spent many years singing in the church choir and also in the Rebekah Lodge. The Rebekah Lodge, also known as the Rebekahs or the International Order of the Rebekahs, is an international service-oriented organization and a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It was initially designed as the female auxiliary of the I.O.O.F., but today allows both female and male members. Hannah and her daughter, Margaret, were both members. I used to love seeing both Grandma and Mom dress up in their fancy lodge finery for special occasions.

Georgian Rebekah Lodge circa 1963

Hannah is the last person on the right in the second row. She was the lodge soloist. Margaret is at the very back centre left – obviously the youngest member of this lodge. She was the Noble Grand or head of the lodge at this time.

Grandma was a big woman, likely about five foot five inches tall in her younger years and well over two hundred pounds. By the time she reached ‘grandmother age’, she had shrunk by several inches but still maintained her weight until late into her 80's.

Because she mistrusted doctors, Grandma would never go for as much as a checkup. Sadly, this would be her undoing in her later years. Her best friend and my godmother, Daisy Ritchie, had died of stomach cancer. Grandma always said you should never go to the doctor because he always gave you bad news that would kill you. In her mind, the way to avoid this was to never see a doctor!

Hannah was a big woman, likely about five foot five inches tall in her younger years and well over two hundred pounds. By the time she reached ‘grandmother age’, she had shrunk by several inches but still maintained her weight until late into her 80's.

Because she mistrusted doctors, Hannah would never go for as much as a checkup. Sadly, this would be her undoing in her later years. Her best friend and my godmother, Daisy Ritchie, had died of stomach cancer. Grandma always said you should never go to the doctor because he always gave you bad news that would kill you. In her mind, the way to avoid this was to never see a doctor!

Eventually, two granddaughters arrived on the scene - my younger sister, Kim, and me. Grandma delighted in teaching us both to play cards, but only I shared her love of knitting and crocheting. I think my sister simply would not sit still long enough to learn either skill! That said, Kim readily picked up the card skills and has remained the family card shark to this day!

I hope my sister doesn’t kill me for including this family photo here, but I think it so perfectly shows our family dynamics at the time – Grandpa looking ever so proud, Grandma and Mom beautifully attired, me obviously complaining about something to Dad, who was taking the photo, and Kim, hat disheveled and one eye closed, likely one sock up and one down. Mom’s hands were on her shoulders so she would stay in place. I remember Mom’s outfit vividly, a chartreuse coat with black hat, long black gloves and scarf. I still have the scarf and gloves! I thought Mom looked like Audrey Hepburn, a popular movie star at the time.

I hope my sister doesn’t kill me for including this family photo here, but I think it so perfectly shows our family dynamics at the time – Grandpa looking ever so proud, Grandma and Mom beautifully attired, me obviously complaining about something to Dad, who was taking the photo, and Kim, hat disheveled and one eye closed, likely one sock up and one down. Mom’s hands were on her shoulders so she would stay in place. I remember Mom’s outfit vividly, a chartreuse coat with black hat, long black gloves and scarf. I thought she looked like Audrey Hepburn, a popular movie star at the time.

Grandma loved to play bridge and entertain her lady friends. She had a very distinctive laugh and was always the centre of every gathering. My mother delighted in sharing the story of the one and only time she skipped school to spend the afternoon at the movies. Partway through the movie, she heard this huge laugh from another part of the theatre and realized her mother had attended the movie as well. Naturally, she had to skulk out of the theatre before she was noticed and miss out on the ending. Unfortunately for Mom, the principal felt it was his duty to walk to Mrs. Hilton's to find out where Margaret was that day. Suffice it to say, my mom never skipped school again.

Lack of formal schooling often meant that Grandma confused similar words and would have us all in stitches. She would call Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia both Yugoslovakia, though in retrospect, now that they have changed names yet again, I see that her confusion was because they had undergone various name changes during her lifetime. Grandpa's Aqua Velva aftershave would always be known in our family as his Aqua Velma and his fedora a vedora. Grandma read only Harlequin romances, moving her lips as she read. She smoked Cameo menthol cigarettes for as long as I knew her, but NEVER inhaled. She was a real character.

Four Generations in December, 1981

Margaret, Hannah, Jennifer and Leanne

Grandma died on April 13, 1983, eight months after my grandfather. Sadly, if she had gone to see a doctor, she would have known that she had a very treatable stomach ulcer and not stomach cancer as she feared. In the end, it was fear itself that hastened her death. Her ulcer had perforated and she died from the ensuing septicemia.

Grandma Hilton was so very, very special to my sister and me. She made the best scones in the world and special chocolate brownies that were delectable. She dressed immaculately for a big woman and always had the softest arms to fall asleep on when we were in church. I was truly blessed to have her in my life for thirty-one years.

Four Generations in December, 1981

Margaret, Hannah, Jennifer and Leanne

Hannah died on April 13, 1983, eight months after my grandfather. Sadly, if she had gone to see a doctor, she would have known that she had a very treatable stomach ulcer and not stomach cancer as she feared. In the end, it was fear itself that hastened her death. Her ulcer had perforated and she died from the ensuing septicemia.

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