John Birmingham was born Jan 15, 1881 in Wellesley. He and his twin brother William were sons of Elizabeth Birmingham who was an older sister of Catherine Uttley (nee Birmingham).
The date of birth comes to us with John's entry in the 1901 Census and is backed up by the Ontario Birth Record in 1881, #032978 and #032980:
Place: Wellesley Wellesley Date: 15th January 1881 15th January 1881 Name: William Birmingham twin John Birmingham twin Sex: Male Male Father: Illegitimate Illegitimate Mother: Elizabeth Birmingham Elizabeth Birmingham Informant: William Birmingham Wm Birmingham Crosshill P.O. Crosshill P.O. Reg'd: 22nd Jan 1881 22nd January 1881 Doctor: Dr. Morton Dr. Morton, WellesleyThe mother, Elizabeth Birmingham, died the same day in childbirth (1881 ODA, #018947).
Census Records
The Census of 1881 tells us that Nathan's family is living with the in-laws, the Birminghams, on the Birmingham farm near Crosshill. J. Robert Uttley (age 21, fireman) is listed with Nathan's family and Catharina Birmingham (age 20) is listed with her parents William and Carlin. The infants William and John, just three months old, are also listed at the home of William and Carlin, their grandparents.
There were three generations of William living in the house in 1881. The death of William Birmingham is recorded on July 19, 1889 (ODA #019248) in Peel Twp which is certainly the grandson, now age 8. In any case, there is no further record of John's twin brother.
The Census of 1891 lists son John Uttley as 10 years of age, living with the growing family of John R and Catherine in Waterloo. In 1901 the Census tells us that John Uttley is age 20 and boarding at the home of Henry and Mary Allison just a couple of houses away from John R's family. John is employed as a "finisher" at the wool mill and earning $300 a year (or 2/3 the wages of his father who is a stationary engineer).
Clearly something happened to break up the household of grandfather William Birmingham and his wife Caroline. He died in 1885 and she in 1887. Young John was taken in to the home of John R and Catherine and took the Uttley name. John had an uncle George Birmingham in the 1881 Census who was about four years older. He appears as George Uttley in the 1891 Census living with Nathan and Mary Ann Uttley. The Uttleys were giving support to the Birmingham family through some rough times.
Marriage and Death Records
There are no further records for John Birmingham or John Uttley. We do not know if he ever married but the search will continue for John with both surnames.
[Copyright Information]
Most recent revision May 2020