|
George William Hiderc Married Sarah Ann Amelia Freemanc | ||||||||
| Albert (Bert) Edward Hider [CFT #4141] Born: 1893 Died: 1960 |
| |||||||
| b Essex d Ontario, Canada Granddad and Grandma (Bert & Bessie) married Aug 16th, 1914. Emma, (Bessie’s mother ) was not about to lose her chief bread winners, in the persons of Bessie, her younger sister Dolly, and their half-brother Will Jaggs. Since Bessie had Bert and Dolly had the interest of Bert’s cousin Roy Hider, Emma packed up the family right after Bessie’s marriage and took them back to England. Needless to say, Bert and Roy were upset. The war started and they figured the only way to get free passage to England was to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. However, Bert’s eyesight was not the best. He was myopic and had a slight astigmatism. Therefore, with Roy’s help he memorized the eye chart, and was initially accepted. They were shipped off to the training camp at Val Cartier, Quebec. The eye charts there must have been different, because Bert couldn’t fool them a second time. He was rejected, but Roy passed. Undaunted, Bert volunteered to go as a groom in the horse transport, so both Hider lads made it to England. They reunited with their sweethearts, much to Emma’s disgust. In due course, July 14th, 1915, George was born to Bert and Bessie, and Roy Hider married Dolly Elliston in 1915. They had a son; Roy born in 1916. Bert was finally accepted in the Canadian Reserve unit at East Sandling as a motor driver, so he qualified for pay, and any of the army benefits. As stated in Bessie’s biography on her page in the family tree, when things got dangerous for those living in the east end of London, Bert arranged for Bessie and baby George to be shipped home on a ship carrying wounded soldiers. Once she was safely back in Toronto with Bert’s parents and aunts, he “suddenly” developed really bad eyesight and had to be discharged. He came home on the sister ship of Titanic, called the Olympic in 1918. Since he had not really served in France, he concocted the story that his poor eyesight was the result of a leaking gas mask, which was a plausible story. The Canadian equipment was notoriously bad. As veterans, both he and Roy were given building lots in North Toronto (on what was then the open fields outside town- it is now in the middle of Toronto) They both built houses across from each other. The houses were without cellars at first, but as Bert earned more money working at various government jobs, and Roy continued his army career , they improved their houses. Bert dug the basement under the house by hand, however he encountered a huge glacial erratic (boulder) about 1.5 metres in diameter. He could not extract it, so he dug a big hole on one side of it, and tipped it in. As far as I know, that boulder is still there in a crawl-space under the kitchen. My Granddad was inventive and resourceful. He always took care of his family. He worked as a chauffeur, a camera technician for the National Film Board, and the manager of an LCBO (Liquor Control Board) store. Sadly, just after he retired, and he and Bessie had moved to their new dream home in Orillia, Ontario, he developed cancer and died in his 60’s. Bessie was a “lost soul” after that. Shirley Fowley August 2015. |
1: 1916 George Edward Verdun Hiderc W/C 2: 1919 Margaret (Peggy) W Hiderc H/C | |||||||
| 2 Children | ||||||||
To notify corrections or updates to this page, please contact the Webmaster
or return to the Index2 Index1
Thanks