Walker and Popplewell

Posting Member: Jenn
Topic: The Walker Family
Family Name Associations: Walker, Popplewell
Location: Home
Mood:  I’ve got an earache 🙁

James Black Walker died in Newmarket, Ontario, but was buried by McDougal and Brown Funeral Home down in Scarborough.  After we contacted them, we found out they lost all their records in a fire in 1949, so considering that dead end, we had to take a wild leap and start looking for cemeteries.  We lucked out, finding James and Catherine both in Prospect Cemetery.  A very helpful gentlemen confirmed their burial…  And so we quickly made plans to head to the city.

Saturday was a cold day but clear, we were lucky that rain and snow didn’t factor into our trip.  We copied a listing of FindAGrave photo requests before we headed out and had some luck, but for the most part we found Prospect to be an older Cemetery with poorly kept graves – And most of the graves didn’t have stones at all.  As we discovered with our own family down there…  Even the lot markers were hard to come by.  The Cemetery office did suggest that we make arrangements with their head office to review their records at a different location, but on the whole, it was a bit of a disappointment.

We’re continuing to try and learn more about the Popplewell family, as Angus McIntyre Popplewell, brother to Catherine ended up mining and foresting out in British Columbia, and as a FindAGrave volunteer confirmed, there’s a Catherine Walker buried in the same cemetery as him.  We have no idea if some of Catherine’s children ended up out by their Uncle, but at this rate, anything is possible.

The Popplewell family seems wide spread, they travel from Quebec to Ontario to Manitoba and British Columbia.  We’re working on tracing the lines, as well as pinpointing where Joseph Henry Popplewell originated from.  His children seem to claim England.  We think his wife Margaret McIntyre Popplewell was of Scottish origin.

James Black Walker’s death certificate almost confirms his mother’s name – It’s recorded as ‘Mary Woldendon’, and that back’s up Mary Ann Walker’s marriage record.  The record also suggests both parents were born in Ireland, and that James’ father’s name was also James Black, not Arthur like his grave stone and other records confirm.

James and Catherine had 9 children, so we’re excited about tracing and discovering where possible decadents might be and what they might know.
Once again cousin Marilyn deserves cookies for finding such an important record   🙂
We’ll be off and on, and make sure to update any huge finds!

Jenn

Always one for making things pretty, Jenn is our resident artist. Métis, British Home Child Descendant, family historian and genealogist, she is always looking into some new branch of research and encourages historical preservation and education.