Archie was the eldest of 6 children from his mother's first marriage. He was the son of Annie Rita Marion Prince and William Cheesman, English immigrants who settled in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. His parents would have five children while living in Rosetown. Archie was just two months shy of his seventh birthday when the family left for England in 1919. His father would only stay with the family just over four months before returning to their farm in Canada. The family would not see him again for a year and a half. Archie would have been eight when his father returned, nine when his father left for good and nine when his mother gave birth to their sixth child, alone, in 1922.
Shortly after this birth the family was admitted to the Kington Union Workhouse (the poor house) in England where they would live until Archie was eleven and a half. He would have his tenth and eleventh birthday in that workhouse.
We can only imagine the horrors these children experienced there and just how magnified that would have been to a child who was not even allowed any measure of comfort or support. The children were kept separated from their mother, only being allowed to see her for perhaps an hour per week.
Archie being the eldest of the children and for some time the "man" of the house, we can only wonder what responsibility for what had happened to them he heaped upon himself as impressionable young children do. With nobody there to console him or to tell him that none of what happened was his responsibility, one can only imagine the scars it placed upon his soul. Archie was brought to Ontario, Canada with his mother and siblings in June of 1924 at eleven years of age under the British Home Child program. The Kington Union Guardians and the Salvation army agreed to send these children to Canada with their mother, but because she was in no position to care for these children they forced her to place the children up for adoption. It had been considered in July of 1923, by the Guardians, that Archie and his brother Ralph should be sent to Canada alone. Once placed in a Workhouse, you forfeited your rights to your children. His mother had no say in this arrangement and would likely not have been told if the boys had been sent away.
Once in Canada, Archie was shuffled from place to place before being placed in an orphanage in Ontario. To a child, for what it was worth, his mother had left him too. He would turn twelve in the orphanage. Archie, at one point, had spent a short period of time with the Elder family who had adopted the youngest child. In early 1925, Archie now twelve years old, was taken back by his mother along with his brother Sidney. They were taken back out to the West Coast of Canada. Before the fall of that year he had been moved to at least three different homes as their mother worked her way across the country. She moved them into the McCord area in late 1925 when she began to work for Jesse James Rule. His mother and Jesse were married in early 1926. For the first time in years this seemed to provide Archie with somewhat of a stable home.
Archie was educated at the Varsity School traveling there by horse and buggy. He started work at a young age and would take a live in position at a neighboring farm. Archie would marry Florence Jean Burrell, with whom he had three children, Billy, Daniel and Ralph. Tragically all three of these children would die at young ages. Archie and Jean would divorce. Archie would go on to a new relationship which would produce a daughter.
All his life the tragic events of Archie's childhood seemed to haunt him. We can only hope now that his story is known he has found some peace.
Archie siblings were: Ralph Edward Cheesman Cooper(adopted), Helena Mary Cooper(adopted),Gwendolin Grace Smith (adopted) Sidney Basil Cheesman, Olive June (adopted and still living), Raymond Thomas Rule and Rupert Jesse Rule.
NOTE: The birth date on the stone is incorrect. Archie was born in 1913.
Shortly after this birth the family was admitted to the Kington Union Workhouse (the poor house) in England where they would live until Archie was eleven and a half. He would have his tenth and eleventh birthday in that workhouse.
We can only imagine the horrors these children experienced there and just how magnified that would have been to a child who was not even allowed any measure of comfort or support. The children were kept separated from their mother, only being allowed to see her for perhaps an hour per week.
Archie being the eldest of the children and for some time the "man" of the house, we can only wonder what responsibility for what had happened to them he heaped upon himself as impressionable young children do. With nobody there to console him or to tell him that none of what happened was his responsibility, one can only imagine the scars it placed upon his soul. Archie was brought to Ontario, Canada with his mother and siblings in June of 1924 at eleven years of age under the British Home Child program. The Kington Union Guardians and the Salvation army agreed to send these children to Canada with their mother, but because she was in no position to care for these children they forced her to place the children up for adoption. It had been considered in July of 1923, by the Guardians, that Archie and his brother Ralph should be sent to Canada alone. Once placed in a Workhouse, you forfeited your rights to your children. His mother had no say in this arrangement and would likely not have been told if the boys had been sent away.
Once in Canada, Archie was shuffled from place to place before being placed in an orphanage in Ontario. To a child, for what it was worth, his mother had left him too. He would turn twelve in the orphanage. Archie, at one point, had spent a short period of time with the Elder family who had adopted the youngest child. In early 1925, Archie now twelve years old, was taken back by his mother along with his brother Sidney. They were taken back out to the West Coast of Canada. Before the fall of that year he had been moved to at least three different homes as their mother worked her way across the country. She moved them into the McCord area in late 1925 when she began to work for Jesse James Rule. His mother and Jesse were married in early 1926. For the first time in years this seemed to provide Archie with somewhat of a stable home.
Archie was educated at the Varsity School traveling there by horse and buggy. He started work at a young age and would take a live in position at a neighboring farm. Archie would marry Florence Jean Burrell, with whom he had three children, Billy, Daniel and Ralph. Tragically all three of these children would die at young ages. Archie and Jean would divorce. Archie would go on to a new relationship which would produce a daughter.
All his life the tragic events of Archie's childhood seemed to haunt him. We can only hope now that his story is known he has found some peace.
Archie siblings were: Ralph Edward Cheesman Cooper(adopted), Helena Mary Cooper(adopted),Gwendolin Grace Smith (adopted) Sidney Basil Cheesman, Olive June (adopted and still living), Raymond Thomas Rule and Rupert Jesse Rule.
NOTE: The birth date on the stone is incorrect. Archie was born in 1913.
Archie was the eldest of 6 children from his mother's first marriage. He was the son of Annie Rita Marion Prince and William Cheesman, English immigrants who settled in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. His parents would have five children while living in Rosetown. Archie was just two months shy of his seventh birthday when the family left for England in 1919. His father would only stay with the family just over four months before returning to their farm in Canada. The family would not see him again for a year and a half. Archie would have been eight when his father returned, nine when his father left for good and nine when his mother gave birth to their sixth child, alone, in 1922.
Shortly after this birth the family was admitted to the Kington Union Workhouse (the poor house) in England where they would live until Archie was eleven and a half. He would have his tenth and eleventh birthday in that workhouse.
We can only imagine the horrors these children experienced there and just how magnified that would have been to a child who was not even allowed any measure of comfort or support. The children were kept separated from their mother, only being allowed to see her for perhaps an hour per week.
Archie being the eldest of the children and for some time the "man" of the house, we can only wonder what responsibility for what had happened to them he heaped upon himself as impressionable young children do. With nobody there to console him or to tell him that none of what happened was his responsibility, one can only imagine the scars it placed upon his soul. Archie was brought to Ontario, Canada with his mother and siblings in June of 1924 at eleven years of age under the British Home Child program. The Kington Union Guardians and the Salvation army agreed to send these children to Canada with their mother, but because she was in no position to care for these children they forced her to place the children up for adoption. It had been considered in July of 1923, by the Guardians, that Archie and his brother Ralph should be sent to Canada alone. Once placed in a Workhouse, you forfeited your rights to your children. His mother had no say in this arrangement and would likely not have been told if the boys had been sent away.
Once in Canada, Archie was shuffled from place to place before being placed in an orphanage in Ontario. To a child, for what it was worth, his mother had left him too. He would turn twelve in the orphanage. Archie, at one point, had spent a short period of time with the Elder family who had adopted the youngest child. In early 1925, Archie now twelve years old, was taken back by his mother along with his brother Sidney. They were taken back out to the West Coast of Canada. Before the fall of that year he had been moved to at least three different homes as their mother worked her way across the country. She moved them into the McCord area in late 1925 when she began to work for Jesse James Rule. His mother and Jesse were married in early 1926. For the first time in years this seemed to provide Archie with somewhat of a stable home.
Archie was educated at the Varsity School traveling there by horse and buggy. He started work at a young age and would take a live in position at a neighboring farm. Archie would marry Florence Jean Burrell, with whom he had three children, Billy, Daniel and Ralph. Tragically all three of these children would die at young ages. Archie and Jean would divorce. Archie would go on to a new relationship which would produce a daughter.
All his life the tragic events of Archie's childhood seemed to haunt him. We can only hope now that his story is known he has found some peace.
Archie siblings were: Ralph Edward Cheesman Cooper(adopted), Helena Mary Cooper(adopted),Gwendolin Grace Smith (adopted) Sidney Basil Cheesman, Olive June (adopted and still living), Raymond Thomas Rule and Rupert Jesse Rule.
NOTE: The birth date on the stone is incorrect. Archie was born in 1913.
Shortly after this birth the family was admitted to the Kington Union Workhouse (the poor house) in England where they would live until Archie was eleven and a half. He would have his tenth and eleventh birthday in that workhouse.
We can only imagine the horrors these children experienced there and just how magnified that would have been to a child who was not even allowed any measure of comfort or support. The children were kept separated from their mother, only being allowed to see her for perhaps an hour per week.
Archie being the eldest of the children and for some time the "man" of the house, we can only wonder what responsibility for what had happened to them he heaped upon himself as impressionable young children do. With nobody there to console him or to tell him that none of what happened was his responsibility, one can only imagine the scars it placed upon his soul. Archie was brought to Ontario, Canada with his mother and siblings in June of 1924 at eleven years of age under the British Home Child program. The Kington Union Guardians and the Salvation army agreed to send these children to Canada with their mother, but because she was in no position to care for these children they forced her to place the children up for adoption. It had been considered in July of 1923, by the Guardians, that Archie and his brother Ralph should be sent to Canada alone. Once placed in a Workhouse, you forfeited your rights to your children. His mother had no say in this arrangement and would likely not have been told if the boys had been sent away.
Once in Canada, Archie was shuffled from place to place before being placed in an orphanage in Ontario. To a child, for what it was worth, his mother had left him too. He would turn twelve in the orphanage. Archie, at one point, had spent a short period of time with the Elder family who had adopted the youngest child. In early 1925, Archie now twelve years old, was taken back by his mother along with his brother Sidney. They were taken back out to the West Coast of Canada. Before the fall of that year he had been moved to at least three different homes as their mother worked her way across the country. She moved them into the McCord area in late 1925 when she began to work for Jesse James Rule. His mother and Jesse were married in early 1926. For the first time in years this seemed to provide Archie with somewhat of a stable home.
Archie was educated at the Varsity School traveling there by horse and buggy. He started work at a young age and would take a live in position at a neighboring farm. Archie would marry Florence Jean Burrell, with whom he had three children, Billy, Daniel and Ralph. Tragically all three of these children would die at young ages. Archie and Jean would divorce. Archie would go on to a new relationship which would produce a daughter.
All his life the tragic events of Archie's childhood seemed to haunt him. We can only hope now that his story is known he has found some peace.
Archie siblings were: Ralph Edward Cheesman Cooper(adopted), Helena Mary Cooper(adopted),Gwendolin Grace Smith (adopted) Sidney Basil Cheesman, Olive June (adopted and still living), Raymond Thomas Rule and Rupert Jesse Rule.
NOTE: The birth date on the stone is incorrect. Archie was born in 1913.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
