Thread: William G Cowling (1877) - landed Montreal 1904

William George Cowling was born 27 Sept 1877, Brentor/Mary Tavy, Tavistock, Devon. Son of Henry and Mary Ann (Doidge) Cowling.



Arrived Montreal on board "Dominion" on 5 June 1904. Eventual destination stated to be Toronto. Bricklayer/stone mason by occupation.



I can find no record of him after this. No trace in either Canadian or U K census in 1911. Have eliminated WGC of King, Seattle and WGC of Papes Ave and Worts Ave. Toronto. Is known to have had relatives living in London, Ontario. His brother visited them in 1911.



Any suggestions, hints or clues would be most welcome!

Hi there,

If you haven't found him already, you may want to check out the 1911 census for Calgary, Alberta Canada. There is a William Cowling born June 1883, immigration year 1903 & with him is a Harry Cowling born Oct 1885.

Hi brentorboy;
I found four William COWLING's on the Western Canadian Land Grants. I don't know if any of them are yours or not. You can figure out the date of the grant form here the Liber numbers correspond to the volume number of the grant.

I hope this helps.

Al Parsons
Duncan, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks, that looks very interesting. The first three all fall within a reasonable time frame, although I think I can ignore the fourth in the name of William Frank Cowling. Have you any idea what personal information may be included on the grant application form that might help me confirm the identity of the applicants? I am reluctant to apply for copies if the details fail to show a connection.

Interestingly William George's brother visited Canada at least three times between 1911-1914. On one occasion he went big game hunting and returned home with a mounted moose's head as a trophy. To date I have only traced his movements in Ontario, which I do not associate with the natural habitat of moose so perhaps he may have visited his brother in frontier country. In some ways I am more interested in solving the origins of the moose's head, which was part of my childhood, than finding the destiny of William!

Thanks, but I do not think he is mine.

Originally Posted by brentorboy

Thanks, but I do not think he is mine.

For lisaw

I've now had a look at the maps attached to the Land Grant records and see that they relate to properties in the Moosejaw, Calgary and Saskatoon areas. Checking the William Cowlings recorded in these locations in 1911, including the one noted by Lisaw, leads me to have doubts that any of this refers to my ancestor but I have made a note in case anything occurs later.

Originally Posted by brentorboy

Thanks, that looks very interesting. The first three all fall within a reasonable time frame, although I think I can ignore the fourth in the name of William Frank Cowling. Have you any idea what personal information may be included on the grant application form that might help me confirm the identity of the applicants? I am reluctant to apply for copies if the details fail to show a connection.

Interestingly William George's brother visited Canada at least three times between 1911-1914. On one occasion he went big game hunting and returned home with a mounted moose's head as a trophy. To date I have only traced his movements in Ontario, which I do not associate with the natural habitat of moose so perhaps he may have visited his brother in frontier country. In some ways I am more interested in solving the origins of the moose's head, which was part of my childhood, than finding the destiny of William!

Hi brentorboy;
There definitely are moose in Ontario.
According to the Collections Canada website

Land patents contain only the name of the grantee, the description of the land and the date granted. They do not contain other personal information. Homestead applications and files, which are more detailed, are held at the provincial archives.

Here is a list of records for COWLING in the Saskatchewan Archives, if you click on the file number on the left a new page opens with instructions or you could contact one of the volunteers at RAOGK.

Al Parsons
Duncan, British Columbia, Canada