thebravestcanadian

by Sam McBride

Later in life, my paternal great-grandmother Fanny Morgan McBride`s brother Walter Clement Morgan (1861-1940) wrote an excellent seven-page story of his memories growing up in London, Ontario.   Based on correspondence with his niece Edith McBride Munroe, it appears he wrote down his memories in response to her request.   Edith (1884-1965) was the younger sister of my grandfather Roland Leigh McBride (1881-1959), as well as brother George Everett McBride (1877-1954) and sister Fanny Josephine McBride Rollins (1883-1965).

Walter Morgan was born December 14, 1861 in London, Ont., and died in 1940 in Buffalo, New York.  He was the youngest child of the Morgan family.  His eldest sibling, sister Fanny (born in Monmouthshire in 1848, died in London, Ont. in 1919) was a dressmaker and an outstanding soprano who sang as a professional before marrying Richard McBride, and then for many years in London churches.  The other siblings were Fred (born in 1851), Alice (born 1858), Bessie (born 1858) and Margaret (born in 1850 and died young).   They are mentioned in Walter`s memoirs, along with Fred Lashbrook, whose wife Ella McBride was a cousin of Fanny`s husband Richard McBride (1843-1921).   Walter worked as a railroad clerk and moved to the United States in 1881.

Walter`s parents — farmer James Morgan (1823-1907) and wife Margaret Hanbury (1818-1896) — emigrated with baby Fanny from Monmouthshire to Canada in 1849 and settled in London, Ontario, where the McBride family from County Down in Ulster had settled nine years earlier.   James Morgan was the son of James Morgan Sr. (1800-1843) and Anne Constance (1800-1845.  Margaret Hanbury was the daughter of Clement Hanbury (1778-1858) and Mary White (1798-?).   The documentation is not solid, but we believe Clement Hanbury was the son of Thomas Hanbury (1745-1819) and Mary Hetherton (1750-1813), connecting to a line of aristocratic Hanburys going back to the 1100s.

Here is Walter Morgan`s story about Life in London.

page 1 of 7 W.C. Morgan

page 2 of 7 W.C. Morgan

page 3 of 7 w.c. morgan

page 4 of 7 W.C. Morgan

page 5 of 7 W.C. Morgan

page 6 of 7 W.C. Morgan

page 7 of 7 W.C. Morgan

Walter Morgan also wrote a letter to his niece Edith which mentions his memories of growing up in London, Ontario.

page 1 of Walt Morgan letter to Edith McBride Munroe

page 2 of Walt Morgan letter to Edith McBride Munroe

Fanny Morgan as a young lady.  Family collection

At the 1917 marriage in London, Ontario of Edith McBride and Garfield Munroe, her parents Richard McBride and Fanny Morgan pose with the young couple.  Family Collection.

Fanny Morgan concert poster, 1868

obituary of Fanny McBride in 1919.

c. 1956, from left: Winnifred Foote McBride, grandson Sam McBride, Roland Leigh McBride, Edith McBride Munroe, and Dee Dee Dewdney McBride. Photo taken at Nelson, B.C. house with Central School in background. Family collection.