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WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

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gnstill
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WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by gnstill » Wed Jul 06, 2016 5:21 pm

New Family Page: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Please post comments and queries about the WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE FAMILY here.

BarryDurie
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by BarryDurie » Sat Jul 16, 2016 3:19 am

Gary: Interesting. You say William Augustus was the grandson of William Smith Durie and Anna (Peel) Durie. William Lawrence Durie was born in 1847. William Smith Durie was born in 1813 and his wife Anna was born in 1856. People aren't born before thier mothers. I have spent 30 years trying to connect Grandpa Gus to William Smith Durie with no luck. My uncle Gordon spent a few years long ago trying, to no avail. Nowhere is there any proof showing old William Smith ever had a wife before Anna. Archives show only two children for them, William Arthur (1881) and Helen Frances (1883). We will probably never know.

Gus was 32 when he volunteered for the 5th Mounted Rifles for South Africa. He was 45 when he volunteered for W.W.I He fibbed both times, figuring he might be rejected as too old. I know his headstone says 1954, but he died on Feb. 12, 1952, five months before my 13th birthday, and six months before my Grandpa Jasper Fidlers death. I'll always remember that year. There was no Alexander Lawrence, born Dec. 1916. Bertie was Gus' last child. My dad used to talk about his youngest brother Bertie.

How did you know my parents knicknames? My whole life, thats all everybody called them. When you mentioned Allie and Babe, people knew who you meant. Have to get some shuteye, Gary. Talk later. Regards...........Barry.

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by gnstill » Sat Jul 16, 2016 5:24 pm

Regarding Anna PEEL born in 1856 as mother of William Lawrence born in 1847: The 1856 birthdate for her would also make her 43 years older than William Smith DURIE which is also a bit much to believe! It looks to me that Anna’s birth-date is most likely simply an error?

Regarding your parents’ nicknames: I can’t seem to find where I got their nicknames. I’ll dig a little deeper when I get a chance.

BarryDurie
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by BarryDurie » Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:33 pm

Gary: There is no mistake about the Anna Peel info. I have read hundreds of pages of info about her life and escapades. She was 44 years younger than William Smith Durie, not older. Try this site:
http://digital.lib.sfu.ca/ceww-587/durie-anna-peel
She was so obsessed with having her son's body buried in Canada after he was buried in France, that when the French government was reburying bodies of dead soldiers to a different location in 1925, she smuggled his body back to Canada and buried him in St. James in Toronto. Old William Smith Durie had his daughter when he was 70 and Anna was 27. Regards: Barry

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by gnstill » Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:34 am

All I can think of after reading all that is that the Anna who was the mother of William Lawrence DURIE (1847-1885) simply was not Anna PEEL but rather an Anna with some other maiden name.
By the way I found Widow Anna DURIE (b-1856) in the Toronto census records of 1901 and 1911 which you probably already know.

BarryDurie
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by BarryDurie » Sun Jul 17, 2016 12:18 pm

Gary: William Lawrence Durie, surveyor, was the father of William Augustus Durie. What evidence is there out there that links William Lawrence Durie to William Smith Durie (QOR of Canada) and a wife with the name Anna or anything else, prior to William Smith Durie's marriage late in life to Anna Peel. There was very little known about the old soldier from 1838, living in Barrie, ON. until 1855. Something probably happened during these years to resolve my 30 year search. I would give anything to know the truth. Regards.....Barry.

gnstill
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by gnstill » Sun Jul 17, 2016 3:16 pm

Barry: It was quite a few years ago when I first gathered information about the DURIE families, and in my notes I referred to my source as Coldwell.. Now, when I need it I, cannot for the life of me where I got Coldwell’s information.
I had: William Lawrence DURIE was born 1847 in Toronto (ON), the son of Anna and Lieutenant Colonel William Smith DURIE (1813-1885), a notable resident or Bloor West Village in Toronto, founder of the Queens Own Rifles. William’s brother was Captain William Arthur Peel DURIE b-1881, who enlisted in 1915; was wounded at Ypres in 1916; died in action in 1917 at Lens, France.
You say that is incorrect, so who do you have as William Lawrence DURIE’s parents?

BarryDurie
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Re: WILLIAM AUGUSTUS DURIE (1870-1954)

Post by BarryDurie » Sun Jul 17, 2016 4:37 pm

Gary, we seem to be passing right by each other. I have NO parents for William Lawrence Durie. He was born in 1847, long before Anna Peel, his SUPPOSED mother was born. William Smith Durie (B:1813) married Anna Peel (B:1856) in 1881. Thier son William Arthur Peel Durie was born in 1881 and thier daughter Helen was born in 1883. William Smith Durie died in 1885. William Arthur Peel was killed in action in 1917. Anna Peel Durie died in 1933. If William Lawrence Durie was a brother to William Arthur Peel Durie, he was only a half brother, because Anna Peel Durie could not have been his mother. If William Lawrence Durie's father was William Smith Durie, then it was with some unknown woman during the old soldier's unknown days in Barrie, ON. (1838-1855). Like I said, I have been trying for years to connect William Augustus (Grandpa) with the old Colonel. One day, I will put that connection in my database, and die happy. I have a picture of William Smith Durie sitting with his QOR uniform on. I also have a similar picture of myself taken by George Freeman (You must know him). The resemblance is eerie. Please solve this for me. Gratefully.....Barry

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