Ian Dodson Snr : The Dodson Family Tree

It all started in the kitchen of my mother’s house in Shannon on a Sunday afternoon in the Spring of 1998. I was visiting with my wife Theresa, son Ian and some of my brothers and sisters were there. My mother was recounting stories of the war years, the nightly London blitz, meeting my father, falling in love and the deep sorrow when he was killed in Sicily. Tales of the blackout, bomb shelters, ration books, the struggle to survive, the funny moments and the sad moments.

They were all there – the Dodsons, the Robinsons, the Smiths and the Jones, the family intrigues, the births and the marriages, and the dates recalled with the precision of Big Ben striking the hour! Suddenly someone said “All of this will be lost if we don’t write it down”. I got a sheet of my mother’s notepaper and I recorded the first few names and dates. The Dodson Family Tree was born!

For several years it was left aside, a page added here, a name added there. However trips to Yaxley England, Canada and Southern Italy, where I knelt beside my father’s grave for the first time, have started me on an exhilarating journey into the past. What started as a collection of names and dates has come alive, for these are real people, my people, who experienced the same emotions, dreams, joys and sorrows as you and me. I hope that my children’s children will make this voyage of discovery with me. To contact me, please e-mail iansnr at iandodson dot com.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Tracing the Challis family in Canada


My Great, Great Grandmother Elizabeth Buckea (1835-1896), after her first husband Wm Collins died, married John Alfred Challis in 1873 in Bethnal Green. They had one son John Richard Challis born on 19th Oct 1875 in Shoreditch. He emigrated to Canada where he met and married Mabel Eugenie Black (born in Jamaica) on 12th Feb 1916 in Toronto. I located the marriage certificate. They had two children Mary,born abt 1920 and John(Jack) born abt 1923. They lived at 151 Langford Ave, Toronto for many years and John and subsequently Mabel corresponded with my grandmother Elizabeth Jones in London. John Challis died on 11th July 1929 and is buried in St John's Norway Cemetery Toronto. I have a copy of the death cert.

I have been in correspondence with Eileen White who is in charge of research at St John's Norway and she has kindly assisted me with further information. Mabel Challis died in Nov 1963 at the age of 74 and Mary Challis died in Oct 1988 aged 68 and they are buried together. Eileen has sent me a photograph of the gravestone, shown here, (with the snow brushed off) with the names of John and Mabel engraved on it. I am now trying to trace John (Jack) Challis who moved away from Toronto to work. He would now be about 84 yrs if he is still living. He or his family may have old family photographs or letters which would be of great interest.

posted by Ian Dodson Snr. | 9:38 PM