The Shill-Bartholomew Family

Immigrants from England:

The working class Shill-Bartholomew family were immigrants from England who arrived in Montreal, Canada separately between 1906 and 1908. Father, John Shill, arrived first. Next, their eldest son, Jack (John) Shill, arrived several months before his mother, Ellen Mary (née Bartholomew) with his siblings, May (Marion), Annie, Bert, Grace and Nell (Ellen).

The eldest daughter, Cara (Caroline), stayed in England.

Before coming to Canada, the Shill-Bartholomew family lived in London, Middlesex and the towns of Melton, Bredfield, Woodbridge, Felixstowe and Ipswich, in Suffolk. Daughters Cara and Anne Shill and Ellen Shill Waddell tell the story of their life in England before coming to Canada. 

Shill Family History

Bartholomew Family History

Photo of the Shill-Bartholomew family, product of the union of John Shill and Ellen Mary Bartholomew, taken in Woodbridge, Suffolk, apparently around 1903.

Ellen Mary is on the left, beside her husband. On the right,
Marion is standing with her father's arm around her waist.
Annie is in front of her mother. Grace is in front of Annie
and Nell, the youngest, is in the middle.

On the right, Bert is in front and Jack is behind him.

Life for the Shill-Bartholomew Family in England

Nell Shill Waddell talking about her family members and her parents' occupations.

My father, John Shill , was born in Clerkenwell, London, England. He was a tailor to start with and he finished up being a male nurse. He went around to houses and helped people being a male nurse. The last thing he did before we came over to Canada, he and my sister, Cara, who was a nurse at that time, they took a house down at Ipswich, Felixstowe, which is a seaside place, and they had patients at home. – Nell Shill

Money was always short as you perhaps know and mother did midwife work bringing babies into the world and usually when this happened, May came home to look after us. When we were young, mother did everything to get a little money and got us all to help her - I remember going gleaning with her and picking up acorns and other things also. I know the wheat was taken to the miller and he thrashed it and gave the flour back to us, am not sure whether the acorns were sold or given to our pigs.
From a letter by Anne Shill to her cousin, Alfred Bartholomew (a Home Child) – Written July 18, 1965

The Family

My mother and father had 9 children but two died when they were young and 7 of us grew up.

The first child, Hannah Ellenor, died very young, about a few days old and the fourth child, Violet Elizabeth, she had a fall and then died of something. My two brothers, Jack (John) and Bert (Herbert) were killed in the 1914 war, and that left 5 girls. My eldest sister, Cara, was a Maternity Nurse too. She stayed in England. She didn't come over here, when we came over. Bert was the youngest brother. – Nell Shill

Shill-Bartholomew Family Group:

Husband:	John		Shill
Born:	May 13, 1857	in:	Bagnige Wells Rd, Clerkenwell, London, Eng.
Married:	May 25, 1878	in:	St. James Church, Milton, Portsea, Hampshire, Eng.
Died:	May 04, 1924	in:	Montreal, Quebec, CA
Father:	John Shill	Mother:	Hannah
Wife:	Ellen Mary		Bartholomew
Born:	February 18, 1857	in:	Fratton, Portsmouth, Hampshire, Eng.
Died:	May 08, 1929	in:	Montreal, Quebec, CA
Father:	James Bartholomew	Mother:	Jane Willis
Children:
1. Daur.	Hannah Ellenor		Shill
Born:	April 12, 1879	in:	9 Hopkins St., St. James, London W, Eng.
Died:	April 14, 1879	in:	St. George’s Cemetery, Hanwell, London, Eng.
2. Daur.	Caroline Ellenor Francis (Cara)		Shill
Born:	March 1st, 1881	in:	St. James West, London, Eng.
Died:	January, 26, 1957	in:	Fareham, Hampshire, Eng.
3. Daur.	Marion Harriet Willis (May)		Shill
Born:	May 20, 1883	in:	38 Dukes Terrace, St. Pancras, London, Eng.
Married:	June 21, 1910	in:	Church of the Ascension, Montreal, Quebec, CA
Died:	December 17, 1968	in:	Valois, Pointe Claire, Quebec, CA
Spouse:	John (Jack) Lee
4. Daur.	Violet Elizabeth		Shill
Born:	July 28, 1886	in:	45 Roderick Rd., St. Pancras, London, Eng.
Died:	November 13, 1887	in:	Marylebone Cemetery, Hampstead, London, Eng.
5. Son	John Bartholomew (Jack)		Shill
Born:	February 24, 1890	in:	5 St. John’s Gdn., Queen’s Cres., St. Pancras, London, Eng.
Married:	April 26, 1913	in:	St. Michael’s, Mile End, Montreal, Quebec, CA
Died:	May 24, 1916	in:	Zillebeke, Belgium
Spouse:	Florence Amy Whitworth
6. Daur.	Annie Matilda Elizabeth		Shill
Born:	November 13, 1892	in:	Melton, East Suffolk, Eng.
Died:	August 13, 1980	in:	Cote St. Luc, Montreal, Quebec, CA
7. Son	Herbert Edward (Bert)		Shill
Born:	December 30, 1894	in	Ufford, Suffolk, Eng.
Died:	September 22, 1917	in:	Barlin, France
8. Daur.	Grace Evelyn Margaretta		Shill
Born:	January 18, 1897	in:	Ufford, Suffolk, Eng.
Married:	September 6, 1922	in:	Church of Good Shepherd, Montreal, Quebec, CA
Died:		in:	Ottawa, Ontario, CA
Spouse:	John Henry Hardy
9. Daur.	Ellen Maud Agnes (Nell)		Shill
Born:	March 08, 1899	in:	Melton, Suffolk, England, Eng.
Married:	April 05, 1926	in:	Trinity Memorial Church, N.D.G., Quebec, CA
Died:	January 14, 1991	in:	Pointe Claire, Quebec, CA
Spouse:	James Verner Waddell

Shill Family History

Bartholomew Family History

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