Lawrence Riley and Clara McDonald
Lawrence Riley
Lawrence Riley was born in Hipperholme in 1882 after his parents, brother and sister returned from Battle in Sussex. 10 years later he was listed as a scholar staying with his parents in Southport. He was probably about 13 when his father moved away from the family home. 13 was on the cusp of an age where, if he wasn’t academic, he would have likely been apprenticed to a trade. It doesn’t appear that he went to live with either his Riley or McLaren relatives.
Lawrence left Liverpool aboard the SS Tunisian on 19th July 1900. The SS Tunisian was a brand-new ship making its second voyage. The Allan Line commissioned the SS Tunisian to service the emigration routes. There were 1000 passengers in steerage class including ‘300 trained boys and girls of the National Waifs Association The trip took 9 days and, on the 28th July 1900, Lawrence arrived in Montreal.
Around 1900 there was a lot of English immigration to Canada and Lawrence was one of around 41,000 that arrived that year. Part of this was driven by the Canadian Pacific Railway encouraging colonisation of lands they gained in response to building the line across to Vancouver.
By 31 March 1901, Lawrence had secured a job at the Royal Victoria Hospital. In the 1901 Census he was described as a 20-year-old kitchen boy born on 28th February 1881 (This was different from his actual birthday which was 28th February 1882). He was described as of the English race, from England and a member of the Church of England. His salary for the year was $120 CAD, this was one of the lowest salaries amongst others listed there. Looking at the census shows one other fact, for the woman he was to marry was listed 5 entries below. Clara Frances McDonald, a ‘Scotch’ Roman Catholic woman born in Nova Scotia.
Clara Frances McDonald
Clara McDonald was the daughter of Archibald McDonald and Mary Lamont and was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 15 October 1877. She was baptised as a Roman Catholic, 6 days later, at St Peter's Church in Dartmouth. Her godparents were Peter O'Brien and Catherine Doyle. The family lived in Nova Scotia for the first few years of her life, but by 1888 the family had relocated to Montreal.
Rather strangely, Clara appears twice on the 1901 Census at the Hospital and also at home with her family. In 1901 she was 23 years old. On the census, she was described as a laundrywoman earning $168 per year, $48 more than Lawrence.
Lawrence and Clara wed
On 1 September 1902, the couple were married at St Patrick’s Church (later Basilica) in Montreal
John B Ouellette priest
The First of September One thousand nine hundred and two, after the publication of their banns in St Gabriel’s Church without opposition I the undersigned parish priest, duly authorised, having received the mutual consent of Lawrence Riley of St Gabriel’s Clerk, son of the deceased Joseph Riley and Elizabeth Helen McLaren of the same family, and Clara Frances McDonald of St Gabriel’s, Daughter of Archibald McDonald and Mary Lamont
St Patricks Marriage Register, Drouin CollectionLawrence was described as a Clerk on the marriage certificate, a change of circumstance from the 1901 census. In the Montreal Directory for 1903, Lawrence was described as a Bookkeeper and the family had moved to 81 Rue du Rozel in the Point-Saint-Charles district. Their first child Norman Lawrence Riley was born in 1904 and baptised in St Gabriel’s Church. By 1906 the family was living at 126 Rue Knox in the same area. Thomas Clifford Riley was born shortly afterwards
In 1907 Lawrence and Clara had moved to the United States. At first, they were residents in Everett, Boston Massachusetts where they had the birth of their son Edward Clarence in 1908. In 1909 the family had moved across the Mystic River to Somerville and had a daughter, Mary Adele Riley. This was a boom time for Boston and there would have been opportunities for Lawrence’s career in the city. They seemed to live a stable existence and were residents at the same house at 73 Dane Street from at least 1909 to the birth of another child, Charles Archibald Riley in 1912.
The family had moved back to Montreal by 1914. This may have been prompted by the death of Clara’s father Archibald in 1912. They were living at 73 Gertrude Street in 1913. Lawrence and Clara had their last child, James William Riley in 1914. James Riley was baptised at the Church of St Wilibrord on 21st March 1914. Rather unfortunately in the baptism record, James was described as the legitimate daughter of Lawrence and Clara Riley.
War breaks out
A few months after the birth of James Riley, Great Britain declared war against Germany and World War I began. Lawrence was still working as a Clerk in Montreal when in 1916 he joined the Canadian Army. There were large debates in Montreal in 1914 and 1915 about signing up to fight for the British Empire and fight for ‘Queen and country. To boost recruitment amongst working-class men in Montreal, the Government created the 199th Battalion Duchess of Connaught's Own Irish Rangers, later known as the Irish Canadian Rangers. This was the regiment that Lawrence Riley joined on 21st March 1916.
It is curious to know the timing of Lawrence Riley’s enlistment into the army and the choice of the unit that he made. The Irish Canadian Rangers was a unit that was supposed to be solely formed of Irish Canadians to show the immigrants could make a difference. As we know, Lawrence was not Irish, nor appear to have any Irish connections at all. He may have been influenced by his friends either at work or through his church to ‘adopt the green’. As for the timing of his enlistment, there may be a connection with what his brothers were doing. His brother Norman had been in the Army since a boy soldier. His brother Percy joined the Army in 1914. William McLaren Riley joined the Army in Australia on 28th January 2016. We don’t know if there was any communication between the brothers at the time, but it may have been a factor.
When Lawrence Riley joined the Army, his birthday was advanced a further 2 years to 1880 from his actual birth year of 1882, so he would have been viewed as a 36-year-old. Upon enlistment, he was considered fit for overseas deployment but he never made it outside of Canada. His service record shows that he was allocated to the 1st Reinforcing Platoon, Duchess of Connaught’s Irish Canadian Rangers but was in quarantine when the battalion departed for overseas.
He was transferred to the 4th Special Services Company when it became clear he wasn’t going to be linking up with the men from his unit overseas. The Special Service Companies were effectively holding units for men that had no defined occupation. They were used for garrison reasons and day to day paperwork – tasks that Lawrence would have been able to assist with his background as a clerk.
Later on during the war, he was promoted to Sergeant and transferred onto the staff of the Assistant Director for Medical Services (ADSM) where he was until discharged in June 1919. It appears that Lawrence wasn’t able to live at home during his time in the Army as there are receipts of Clara receiving separation allowance – a payment for families - while Lawrence was mobilised.
The family had moved to 193 Knox Street at some point during the war and still lived there at the time of the 1921 Census. Interestingly with the 1921 census, the racial origins of the family are listed as ‘Irish’ - possibly on account of the family surname.
Clara and Lawrence lived in Montreal for the rest of their lives. Lawrence died in 1961 and Clara died a few years later in 1965
