WILLIAM ROBERT SMITH (1797-1869)

[BVH]

I'm Ken Lang. I've received the geneology material from Margaret Anne Inkster (1883-1971), Jean Gibson Lang (1930-2015), James Alexander Lang (1905-1987), Stuart Neil Lang (1935-1999), and Gail Inkster (1950-). I have 20 boxes of material to still process into Ancestry.CA and then send off to the Alberta Archives. I should have just transcribed the material under the original collector's name, but I'm attempting to verify the info before I enter it.

Margaret Anne Inkster (1883-1971) seems to be the one that started this family addiction back as early as 1920. She said "The history of the Inkster Family is the history of Western Canada".

Ken Lang

Hi Ken and Gary just to be clear, my name is Barb Van Haute (Gary I've communicated with you before), and I'm from the second WR Smith family.

Ken I've followed some of your posts on ancestry.ca and found them very useful! But, as per usual on ancestry, it's very difficult to find the 'right' information on any individual with a name such as Smith. If you're considering archiving all of your collected material (20 boxes, wow!) to the Alberta Archives, is there we could share some of that information in Manitoba? All of my information originated with Patricia Smith (Vancouver), who began her work in the late 1960s I believe. I was also able to meet with Marnie Inkster before her passing. Amazed to find out she was my mother's cousin (don't know about 'times removed') and lived only 2 or 3 miles from her - never knowing they were cousins.

Barb - barb.vanhaute@gmail.com

[Nancy]

Hi all!

I had ancestry completed by the St. Boniface Historic Society.

William Robert Smith b. 1795 d. 1869 married Marie Anne Swain.

Has the DOB been entered wrong on my documents? It was completed in 2015.

Also recorded are his parents, my 5th great grandparents.

William Hart Smith who married Hannah Woodman.

Maybe that’s where the ‘Hart’ comes from.

Anyone with info, I would love to know!

Nancy

[SLang1148]

Hi Nancy. Welcome to Red River Ancestry forum.
William Robert Smith had 21 kids so a lot of us in western Canada are his descendants. Although he was a teacher, a lot of his kids did not learn to read and write.
The Hart question pops up alot. What we are looking for now are original records in England that show William Smith Sr.'s middlename. I have not been able to find any supporting documentation for a middle name, even Hart. Did the St. Boniface Historic Society include a source document or reference material?

Your distant cousin, Ken Lang.
Calgary.

[brett]

Patricia and Ross Smith (both from Vancouver) have passed away within the last two - three years.
Ross/Margaret had three children. 2 males, one female. there are also a couple of daughters, compliments of Ross/Patricia's brother, Stan.
My (now deceased) father, Lawrence, was a sibling of Pat, Ross, and Stan. Curtis is my brother. my dear sister Darlene passed away prematurely at age 13 - she is buried in Killarney.
Laurence/June adopted us three children. we are not genetically related.
afaik, Ross's two sons are the only ones that can carry the Smith name forward. does anyone have other additional intel?

Patricia took a keen interest in genealogy - wish i had paid more attention, as a youngster.

btw - Patricia and my mother (June Smith) organized a reunion in Killarney Manitoba. (circa 1974,1975?) - with close to 100 relatives in attendance.
i drove from Calgary to attend - glad i made it. got a huge pic somewhere, if anyone is interested.

[BVH]

Hi Brett,

Many of my family members were at that re-union in 1974. I wasn’t because I was overdue with my first child. I like many of us ‘old’ family researchers have tons of information about the descendants of William Robert Smith. Unfortunately, there is much confusion within, or because, of it.

Perhaps another re-union is possible once the Covid pandemic is dealt with.

Barb

[SLang1148]

Hi Brett. Thank you for the update. I found Harold Ross Smith's Obit , 1940-2020.

Ken Lang
Calgary.

[SLang1148]

Patricia Joan Smith made a huge contribution to the William Robert Smith genealogy. It's strange that we don't know much about her, other than she was in Vancouver and born in 1932. Do you have any more info about her?
She made a significant contribution to "Branches - Chapter 1 - Grandfather Tell Me a Story" by Marnie (Smith) Inkster, published in May 2000.

[BVH]

Yes Patricia (Pat) was a great lady/family genealogist. I had many written and phone exchanges with her. And yes I still have the old hand written letters. She moved with her family to BC, but many of her vacations were spent interviewing William Robert Smith’s descendants. She never married or had children, and died a few years ago in Vancouver. I believe her genealogical work was donated to UBC - I think

[brett]

Patricia worked at Woodwards for her entire life. started at the downtown location - the cheese dept. moved to the newer store in South Vancouver in later years
she had a great sense of humour and an infectious laugh.
Ross's children were the "apple of her eye" she dedicated herself to those children.
genealogy was her passion. she had a dedicated room - filled with papers and charts. lived in an nice old apt (still standing) at Davie and Nelson St - this was the location of was my very first ride in an elevator. no elevators in Killarney Manitoba. : )
she did have ownership in half a home in England - i believe it was left to her by aunt Bea, iirc.
she travelled there a few times - i have no idea as to what happened to that house.
she was a good sport - got her on the back of my old chopper, in '71 - wish i had a pic!


.

[brett]

does anyone know the name/history of Patricia's grandparents ?
i never even actually knew my grandparents (P's mom and dad) on the Smith side - although we did visit them in Chilliwack when i was very young. the family story is that the Pat's mom died of a broken heart, after her husband died. around '64 or '65?
i believe Patricia's father served in both world wars - not certain.