Help send W.T. Waterston's Medals Home

Photo courtesy Gerry Lister

Photo courtesy Gerry Lister

Photo courtesy Gerry Lister

Friday mystery. My cousin has a World War I war medal that was in our family collection. The medal was issued to a W.T. (William Thomas) Waterston, regimental number 429616. We do not know of any family connection to our own family. The possible connections are that W.T. could either have served with Thomas Lister or known Carl Grossman through the Westminster Regiment.


His Attestation Paper is available at Library and Archives Canada but his service file has not been digitized yet.

According to this record he was born in Woodstock, Ontario June 17, 1882.

He is living with his parents and siblings in Vancouver in the 1901 Census. Father: Thomas Waterston, age 46, occupation mining; mother, Francis E., age 40; sister, Mattie, age 21; sister Katie, age 17, and brother Albert, age 11. (Year: 1901; Census Place: Vancouver (City/Cité), Burrard, British Columbia; Page: 14; Family No: 150)

Photo courtesy Gerry Lister

There is a marriage record for a William Thomas Waterston, age 30. Residence, Milner, BC. He married Ruby Miller Florence April 15, 1912. Says he was born in the United States. Parents: Thomas W. Waterston and Frances E. Bristol.



I am not sure what happened to wife #1 as his lists himself as no married on his Attestation.

He enlisted March 13, 1915 at New Westminster, British Columbia. Civilian Occupation: Farmer    

Next of Kin: Mrs. McKane, sister, of 6052 Hornby Street, Vancouver, British Columbia

Invalided to Canada for further medical treatment in Aug 1917 on the Letitia.

Married Eliza Jane Biggins at Vancouver December 9, 1918. Residence, Huntington, BC. He lists his place of birth as Morris, Minn, USA. Father, Thomas William Waterston, Lawyer and Frances Elizabeth Bristol.

I can find him in the directories living in Huntington in 1919.


He and Eliza lost their son, Harold Malcolm Waterston, born 12 Jul 1921 and died Jan 9, 1923.

Died at Sumas, British Columbia December 20, 1940 and is buried in Hazelwood Cemetery in Abbotsford, BC. His registration of death lists his birth as Woodstock Ontario, June 17, 1881. His father having been born in Scotland and his mother in the USA.

How is Your Story Built? Editing for Structure

I started a series of posts a while ago about the different types of editing. Today I am going to write about editing for structure.

How is your document organized? Keep your fingers off your keyboard and read it as a reader. A large part of my work is editing non-fiction articles, but the same questions can be applied to memoirs, family history, fiction, and even business writing.

1. Does the introduction prepare the reader for what follows?
2. Does the introduction captivate?
3. Are there confusing transitions?
4. Does the timeline flow logically or does the piece move back and forth in time?
5. Is there extraneous information that distracts the reader from the main point? Do all of the parts relate to the whole?
6. Does the piece have a solid through-line that takes the reader from introduction to conclusion? 

Once you have answered these questions, you can start to revise.

Our goal is to create the best experience we can for the reader. We do not want to lose them along the way.

Sources:
Advanced Study in Writing for Business and the Professions by Anne Hungerford (course material)
"Writing from the Top Down: Pros and Cons of the Inverted Pyramid", Poytner. by Chip Scanlan

Related Posts:
Revising, revising, revising
Truth and Accuracy
Editing for Audience and Purpose

Agent Carter - a taste of sexism in the 1940s

I watched Marvel's Agent Carter last night and while not strictly speaking a historical show it felt a bit like a sequel to Bomb Girls. The comic book based TV show is set in the post WWII era in 1946 but has the added twist of super villians from the Marvel Comic world. The show has lots of nice little bits that give you a feel of what life was like for women in that era.

Despite her work during the war Agent Peggy Carter is relegated to secretarial duties in the Strategic Scientific Reserve (the top secret Allied war agency). The male agents ask her to make coffee and do filing. Carter’s roommate Colleen complains that she has to train men to do her job at the factory and that the women are being laid off and replaced by men. Rosie the Riveter was being replaced with images of women in domestic roles and women were strongly encouraged to stay at home and not continue doing “men’s work.”

Carter’s interview for a room at a women’s residence really highlighted society’s expectations for how women were supposed to behave. They were only expected to work until they got married and lead a modest life.

So while not a history show the research and attention to detail gives the story a realistic feel.

Besides, Agent Peggy Carter is a woman to be admired, tough, resourceful, and smart.