Romance Indeed in this Happy Ceremony - Grooms Returned Soldiers - Met on Train on Way to City.
A real romance, in fact, two romances, culminated in a double wedding in the solemn quietude of Trinity church this afternoon when James Steadman of Calgary became the husband of Dorothy Tucker of Reigate, England and George Kerr of Moose Jaw wedded Ethel E. Masters of London, Eng. The grooms are returned soldiers and the brides returned nurses, all four having seen strenuous services in the late war from its earliest stages.
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| Tunisian - Annette Fulford collection |
I posted an article back in 2019 about the young women who travelled to Canada after the war to be married to former Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers.
The brides from the article were Ethel Emily Masters, age 22 and Dorothy Tucker, age 31. They arrived together on the Tunisian after the war, which landed at St.
John, New Brunswick on February 10, 1919. The ceremony was held at the Trinity Church in St. John, the following day.
Ethel Emily Masters was born in 1896 in Lewisham, London, England
to Hugh Edmond Masters, a Law Clerk, and his wife Ann Elizabeth Muckle. She
married British-born, George Kerr, a Commercial traveller who was born in
Dudley, Worcestershire, England in March 1885. He came to Canada on the ship
Victorian in October 1912 and was headed to his brother living at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
George Kerr travelled to England and enlisted in the 43rd
Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Birmingham in July 1915. This is
usual. Most British-born men returned home to enlist in the British Expeditionary
Force or joined the CEF in Canada. Was he travelling at the time or visiting
his brother Walter who lived in Birmingham?
He was wounded on March 31, 1916, just three months after he arrived on the Western Front. George was struck by eight pieces of shrapnel which included his left leg and ankle causing a fracture of his tibia and fibula. He was also hit in his elbow, buttock and his chest causing fractures to two ribs.
After repairs were done on his leg, his damaged leg was 3/4 of an inch shorter than his right leg and he was having difficulty walking. In December 1916 infection spread in his leg. He spent many months in hospital with a variety of additional issues before being invalided to Canada for further medical treatment on the Missanabie in October 1917.
The second bride Dorothy Tucker was born 1887 in Hackney, London, to
George Nathanial Goldsmith Tucker, a Printer, Publisher and Editor and his wife Emily Jane Williams. Dorothy worked as a nurse
before the war but I haven't located where she was during the war when she met James.
James Steedman was born in Japan in 1883 to Scottish
parents. The family returned to Scotland circa 1887 and James came to Canada circa 1907 destined for Winnipeg, Manitoba where he would
find work with the Canadian Pacific Railway as a Land Inspector.
James enlisted with the 56th Battalion in Calgary
in 1915 and while overseas was transferred to the 49th Battalion. He
was wounded in June 1916, a gunshot wound to the arm and returned home on the
Andania in January 1917.
The ladies were roommates on the ship and they both
indicated on the passenger manifest that they were going to Canada “to be
married.” The manifest pages even have details of their intended husbands
and where they lived. The men met on the train and discovered that they were
both travelling to New Brunswick to meet their sweethearts and get married.
I’ve love to know where the women were working during the war and if these couples remained friends. If you have any further info on them, please contact me at wwiwarbrides@shaw.ca
