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Canadian National Flag Harlene Annett Canadian National Flag

The following is a transcript of an email received from Harlene Annett (nee Allchin).
It contains information relating to her branch of the Allchin family back to Martin Allchin who emigrated to Canada in the early 1900's. There is little, if any, history of this Allchin line prior to that date so, if you have any information regarding this we would be delighted to hear from you.

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There aren't very many Allchins in our branch of the family and my nephew is the only one left to carry on the Allchin name.

We don't know too much about our side of the family but here goes.

Martin Allchin

Martin Allchin

My paternal grandfather was Martin Frederick George Allchin who was born Jan. 4, 1877 at 3 Dunelaw Terrace, Plumstead, East London Surrey (sic) (Address as written). His father was Henry William Allchin, a machinist and his mother was Emma Eliza Allchin (nee Johnson). He had an uncle Sir William Henry Allchin who was a physician to king Edward VII.

Martin Allchin emigrated to Canada in 1902. The attraction was free farmland in the wide open spaces of the new province of Saskatchewan. He was married to Mary Brand. We think he married her in England.As far as we can figure, his wife died in childbirth.

Martin with the horses

He wrote to England to his late wife's best friend, Ellen Wall, and asked her if she would like to come to Canada and marry him. So, she did. I don't think she had a clue what she was in for.

Martin married Ellen Louise Wall on Dec. 13, 1907 and the marriage certificate says he was a widower. The wedding took place in Saskatchewan at the bridegroom's home in a place that I can't decipher from the certificate. The handwriting looks like Sleifunir - an odd word. I checked a recent Saskatchewan map and there is nothing even close to that name. I do know they lived near Wynyard, Sask and that could have been an old name of Wynyard.

The witness at the wedding was Lucy Brand. It says she was the sister of the groom. I think she was really sister-in-law. She was either Mary Brand's sister or the wife of Tom Brand who was a brother of Mary Brand. Obviously, Martin Allchin kept close to the Brand family after his wife died. Then there is a comment on the marriage certificate - "neighbours were scarce" - I guess to explain the lack of more witnesses or wedding guests.

They were married by the Methodist minister but it says they were both English church. They had a farm 6 miles from the nearest town in very flat and bleak area of Saskatchewan. She had 6 babies on her own with no doctors. The children were Frederick (1908 -1991), Edward (1910 - 1912), Marjorie (1912-1998), Audrey (1914 -1965), Philip James (1917-1952), and Denis Walter(1921- 1998). My father was Philip James.

Martin on the farm

In the early 1930s farming was not good in the west - dust bowl and depression - so the whole family moved to Windsor, Ontario in hopes of finding work in the automotive factories there. Martin eventually abandoned the family and "rode the rails" back to Saskatchewan and left Ellen to fend for herself with the 5 children - now in their teens. The girls had to leave school and get jobs housekeeping to help support the family. Eventually they had to go on the "dole".


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My father was able to finish high school and was selected to go the Ford Trade School at the Ford Motor Company. He eventually worked himself up to being assistant foreman of the brake department until his untimely death in a drowning accident. My uncle Fred also worked at Fords for over 30 years.

My aunt Marjorie was a stock clerk at a dept. store but decided to go to England to live around 1947. She ended up staying there the rest of her life in the London area. She worked as a secretary and was married to a man named Harry Farthing. Unfortunately, he died after about 4 years of marriage.
Aunt Marjorie C 1990

My uncle Denis joined the RCAF in WWII and was a pilot trainer in England during the war. My aunt Audrey married Arthur Flatray , an American, and they had 3 boys Arthur, Denis, and Leonard. I still keep in touch with Arthur and his dad. My cousin Arthur lives in San Jose, Calif. and his dad lives in the Seattle, Wash. area. He is about 84 now. My uncle Denis married and had 3 sons - Denis, Richard, and Robert.
Denis and Patricia wedding
This is the wedding picture of my aunt and uncle Denis and Patricia Allchin. My dad, Phil Allchin on the left, was the best man. The groom was 24, the bride was 23, and the best man was 27. I didn't know the brides maid.

Denis Sr. started a brake and steering business in Windsor which has been very successful and is now being run by
Denis Jr. They have a website - check it out at
www3.sympatico.ca/denis.allchin/allchin.html
There is an old picture of my uncle on the web site but it's hard to see as it's a small picture.

The Old Days
Click picture for larger image

None of my uncle's sons have children so the name isn't going to be passed down that way.

Ok, in our family there is my brother and I. I'm Harlene (born 1943). Our mother remarried after our dad died and we have a step brother and 2 step sisters. We all grew up together and consider ourselves brothers and sisters. They kept their surname and we kept ours. Our step dad died in February 1999.

I live in Peterborough, Ontario and I have 2 children - Christine, b.1970 and Mark, b.1973. Chris lives here in Peterborough and Mark in Minnesota. My husband was Bob Annett, who was a professor at Trent University here in Peterborough for 30 years until he died in 1998.

The Annett family has a long history which has been traced back to Italy in the 1200s and then to France, England, and Canada and everywhere else. That's another story. My husband was a 6th generation Canadian.

So, that's our side of the family.  I wish I knew some of the family tree prior to Martin Allchin.

I don't even know if he had brothers and sisters.  I do know he lived to about age 60 and died in 1940, before my parents were married.   From what I heard, he was a gruf man, liked his booze, and as my uncle said, he treated his horses better than his kids.  My grandmother Ellen was a smart lady who was always knitting.  She died around 1966 at about age 86.  Of course, we knew better than to question her about her past so we didn't hear much, other than what my uncle told me.


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