(William) Sydney Compston and Eva Punch Cumbria to Alberta, Canada

Catharine Compston is an artist in Canada whose work can be seen at www.compstonart.com  She has a brother Michael Compston in Calgary, Alberta.

I emailed Catharine in Alberta and she replied to me on 5th May 2011 with the following information which I have filed under Cumbria as county of origin.

Her grandfather was Sydney Compston (note my addition in gold - his full name was William Sydney) and his wife was Eva Punch. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Catharine has records of William Sidney Compston's mother as Isabella Brooks and father as Robert Compston. She also has Eva Punch's  mother as Mary Golding. The census however (see below) has her as Elizabeth. I shall do further work on this!
 
They had 3 children, her father Charles Roy Compston, Elizabeth and Gertrude.

She remembers that her grandparents both had northern English accents and they emigrated to Alberta. 

Catharine's father Roy (Charles Roy but he used Roy) was a captain in the Canadian army during WW II. He met her mother there and they married in England in Jan. 1943.
 

Catharine adds an interesting point about her own name - she was named Catharine after St Catharine's Ontario...her mother was a Hamilton before she married; and was descended from the Hamiltons who came to Canada in the 1700s and founded Hamilton Ontario. George Hamilton's wife was Catharine, and he named a town after her!

Thanks for all this wonderful information Catharine - see my further research into Sydney and Eva Punch.

I have found their marriage in Canada: Eva Punch & William Sidney Compston
13 Jun 1907 Vancouver BCA Number: B11373 Registration Number: 1907-09-053973 GSU Number: 1983530

Marriage Mar 1943
Hamilton Constance Neville Aileen and Compston registered in the Eton registry area 3a 2452

Note - my research in gold boxes

1881 CENSUS Middlesbrough UK

Name: Eva Punch  Relation: Daughter Gender: Female Where born: Mbro, Yorkshire, England under 1 year

Father's name: Burton Punch age 32 a cabinet maker born Sedbergh Yorkshire
(Note - this was wrongly transcribed as Sadbergh) See his details in the next box

Mother's name: Elizabeth Punch age 29 born Kirkby Stephen Westmorland

There was also a sister Gertrude Punch 11 years born in Middlesbrough

Civil parish: Middlesbrough County/Island: Yorkshire Country: England
Street Address: 59 Newport Road
ED: 18 Piece: 4849 Folio: 37 Page Number: 18

1891 Census UK

Eva Punch Age: 10 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1881 Relation: Daughter
Where born: Middlesborough, Yorkshire, England
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note there is no mention of her father Burton PUNCH as he died in 1888

Births Dec 1848 Punch Burton Sedburgh 23 537
Marriages Sep 1878 PUNCH Burton E. Ward 10b 825
Deaths Mar 1888 PUNCH Burton 39 Middlesbro' 9d 360
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mother's name: Elizabeth Punch aged 39 Living on own means >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Gertrude Punch 11 born Middlesbrough >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Eva Punch 10 born Middlesbrough
Olive Seddon Punch 8 (Birth Dec 1882 Middlesbro' 9d 564)
Florence Mary Punch 3 (Birth Sep 1887 Middlesbro' 9d 552 and married Dec 1918 to Mattocks  E.Ward 10b 1361)

Residing at Civil parish: Church Flags, Kirkby Stephen Ecclesiastical parish: St Stephens Westmorland England.
Registration district: East Ward Sub-registration district: Kirkby Stephen
ED: 12 Piece: 4324 Folio: 120 Page Number: 32

Is this Elizabeth's death?
Deaths Dec 1919
Punch Elizabeth 67 Lancaster 8e 811

PHOTOGRAPHS - TEXT

1. 1898. of COMPSTONS when still in England. Front Sitting- L is Ted, died young, Grandmother in middle (name?) and then Lena (mother ) and father. Back L is Royden sitting, middle is Sidney grandfather. Right is Hart (oldest).

2. On November 3rd 1916, The Times hailed the Duchess of Connaught Hospital as "one of the two best hospitals in England" and amongst its many visitors at this time were King George V and Queen Mary.

3. WWII & Beyond: 1940 - 1948. During the Second World War, the Canadians built a larger, more substantial hospital on the same site. These buildings were to remain in use, largely unchanged for 45 years. Further equipment was sent from Canada and put to use in treating more casualties. It was at this point that the building aquired the name Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital for the first time. The stone tablet which once stood just to the right of the entrance doors commemorated the event.
See http://www.crcmh.com/abandonment.htm  for a fuller history.

4. Charles Roy during WW II about 1943 in Cndn army uniform

5. Newspaper account of the marriage of Charles Royden Compston RCA and Constance Aileen Neville Hamilton, Lieut. (P/A) RCAMC, Taplow January 30 1943.

6. Photograph of above

7. Sidney Compston and Eva PUNCH from the 1960s standing outside their home in Stony Plain Alberta (near Edmonton) Canada.

8. Death Notice for Charles Roy Compston Nov 1 1979.

9. Catharine Compston

10. John and Michael Compston in 1999. Sons of Charles and Constance COMPSTON.
Michael lives in Calgary alberta and John in Edmonton Alberta.