The
Billings (Billing) Family
My
paternal grandfather was William
Albert Billings. He was born
in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
in 1893. I never met his sisters,
and his parents died well
before I was born.
My
grandfather told me very little
about his family. His mother
died when he was a boy, and
I believe it may have been
in a flu epidemic. He had
two sisters, Gladys and Caroline.
[I have since found records
that show he also had 2 other
sisters and 2 other brothers
that died young.]
William
was married young and had
a child, Ila Maxine. Until
recently, I only knew that
his wife had died when his
daughter was 6 or 7 years
old. No one in my family knew
her name or anything about
her, and my grandfather rarely
discussed it. On a recent
visit to the St. Thomas Library,
I unearthed a news clipping
about the death of his wife,
Laura Mary. Delores Laura Mary Jones was born in 1894 and died in
1919, when the flu was rampant
in Canada and the U.S.
From the Friday Jan 10, 1919 St. Thomas Times-Journal. . .
Died.
Billings - On jan. 9, 1919, Laura Mary Billings, beloved wife of William Billings, aged 24 years. Funeral on Saturday at 3 p.m. from the family residence, 30 Barwick street, to the St. Thomas cemetery. [Scan of obit]
I am
still searching for information
on Laura. She is buried alone
in a large plot in the St.
Thomas West Avenue Cemetery.
A
new aunt
I
knew nothing about Ila Maxine,
his daughter by that marriage,
until my grandfather's death,
when her son and grandchildren
were mentioned in his obituary.
I knew there was a woman named
Maxine who had visited and
was in many family pictures,
but as a young girl, I never
got the connection.
I
posted a message in Rootsweb
and got a response from my
cousin once removed, Nancy
Daoust. Her father was Tommy
Beer, Ila's son by her first
husband. We have remained
in touch, and both of us would
love to find any information
about my grandfather's first
wife.
John
Albert Billings
The only Billings ancestor
I was aware of was my grandfather's
father, John Albert. During
my research at the St. Thomas
Cemetery in December 2001,
I found him, his wife (Emma
Bromell), and her sister all
buried in the same plot. I
also found more potential
relatives, with the last name
Billing, no "s."
Edward, Giles, and Shedrick
[aka Shadrach] Billing are all buried in
the Old English cemetery.
At that point, I could see
no connection.
Edward Billing from St. Breward, Cornwall
Using the dates found in their
cemetery records, I was able
to go online to the LDS records
and find that Edward and Giles
Billing were brothers. Looking at
the tree that resulted from
this info, I first thought that Shedrick was the son of Giles's, which made him John Albert's cousin. It appeared Shedrick
emigrated from Cornwall to
Canda as a young boy and lived
with Giles.
I then found Edward and Giles on the Visitations of Cornwall, and that gave me the
Billings ancestry all the
way back to the 1600s in England.
Amazing what a little information
can lead to!
I
later found Giles and Edward
as brothers living together
in 1851, and Edward with his
son John Albert in 1871.Happily,
my hunches seem to be fast
becoming facts, and I suddenly
had a whole tree, where I
only had a handful of names
the previous year. I love
genealogy.
[2005 update - Shedrick is
Edward's son by his first
wife in Cornwall! Edward and
Shedrick were both living
in Giles's house in 1851,
which led me to believe that
he was Giles's son. Edward
was listed as single, so I
had no inkling that he had
been married earlier before
emigrating.
Facts just didn't
add up, so I delved deeper.
I now have Shedrick's birth
certificate which states that
he is the son of Eliza Cowling
and Edward Billing. I have
not found any record of Eliza
after 1851. Edward remarried
Eleanor Foote, my great grandfather's
John Albert's mother.]
Photos
Caroline
Billings Batzold
Caroline's
daughter, Charice
Batzold
Gladys
Billings Beggs (later
married Unknown Gungel)
Gladys
Billings Beggs and an unknown
child.
John
Albert Billings and his
family in around 1921.
William's
parents' tombstone.
A
page of photos of
Ila Maxine Billings, daughter
of William Albert and his
first wife (name unknownshe
died in the flu epidemic of
1918).
Big
Bad Bill Billings. My
grandfather was quite famous
as a pitcher for the St. Thomas
Saint's baseball team in the
1920's.
Here's
another shot of the St.
Thomas Saints in 1923.
My
grandfather William
Albert in the 1940's.
An
old Army photo of George
William Billings, my father.
In
a more recent photo, the Billings
family visiting northern
Michigan:
Todd holding Devan Westfall,
William Thomas Billings, Brandon
William Billings, and Ariel
Billings Goodridge.
Marriages
My grandfather
William
Albert Billings married Ariel
Lavern Watson, 1920
Obituaries
and Memorials
Ariel
Billings Goodridge (1921-2001)
Jack
Ramon Billings (1925-1944)
Unknown Billings
John
Albert and possibly Shedrick
Genealogy
Reports and Family Group Sheets
The Billings
report--last updated July
20, 2002.
My grandfather, William
Albert Billings, and his
family with Ariel Watson.
My
grandfather with his first
wife, Laura, and their
child, Ila Maxine.
My great-grandfather, John
Albert Billings, and his
family.
My great-great grandfather,
Edward
Billing from Cornwall
England with wife Eliza and family.
Edward
Billing from Cornwall
England with wife second wife Elenor and family in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Giles
Billing, Edward's brother.
Shedric
Billing, their cousin,
also from Cornwall. [I have
since found that this was
the son of Edward and Eliza
Cowling, Edward's first wife
in England.]
John
Billing, my great-great-great
grandfather, father of Edward
and Giles.
Census
Pages
My grandfather
with his family in the 1901
St. Thomas census.
Archives
Rick
and I went to St. Thomas,
Ontario, where I finally got
to the cemetery. Story and
photos in December
2001 archives.
Ariel
Goodridge passes away
November 2, 2001.
Links
The
Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid
Billings
family members are buried
in St. Thomas and can be found
in this great index.
Visitations of Cornwall
Billing of Trevorder, on pages 32 and 33, contains my ancestry. If you have ancestors from Cornwall, this resource may be of value to your research.