Samuel Randall – 1859-1931
Mary Elizabeth Wray – 1859-1928

Birth

Samuel Randall, son of William Randall and Sarah Gooding, was born January 31, 1859 in Elmira where the family had moved in about 1855.

Mary Elizabeth Wray was born in Maryborough Township on July 15, 1859, the daughter of George Wray and Susanna Gray. Her date of birth and that of her husband are found in the 1901 Census.

Marriage

Samuel and Mary were wed in Rothsay on April 6, 1887. Some information about the event is found in the Ontario Marriage Archive of 1887, #012-811:

His Name: Samuel Randolls Age: 28 years Residence: Rothsay, Ont Birth: Waterloo County, Ont Bachelor Profession: Shoemaker Parents: William Randolls, Sarah Gooding Religion: Presbyterian Her Name: Mary Wray Age: 24 years Residence: Rothsay, Ont Birth: Township of Maryborough Spinster Parents: George Wray, Susanna Gray Religion: Presbyterian Witnesses: Robert Wray, Walkerton, Ont Etta Edmison, Rothsay, Ont Date/Place: April 6th, 1887 Rothsay, Ont By: Rev Henry Edmison License

• The names of 'his' parents were close, but wrong on both counts.
• From the 1901 census, Mary was less than 6 months younger than Samuel.

The family lived in Palmerston where Samuel worked as a shoemaker. From the 1901 census and Samuel's obituary we know that they had children.

Death

Samuel Randall died in February of 1931. The Elmira Signet ran an obituary on page 1 on Thursday February 19, 1931:

OBITUARY Samuel Randall     Following an illness of one year, the death occurred in Toronto at the home of his daughter, Mrs. George Smith, of a highly respected citizen of Palmerston in the person of Samuel Randall in his 73rd year. Mr. Randall was born in Elmira in 1859, later moving to Rothsay and then to Palmerston, where he lived for the past 34 years. The deceased was a member of Knox Presbyterian Church, also a member of the Canadian Order of Foresters. His wife predeceased him in 1929. He leaves one sister, Mrs. George Cathrea, of Elmira, and one son, Talmage, of Palmerston; one daughter, Mrs. G. Smith, of Toronto; also two grandchildren. Interment was in Derryadd Cemetery, Rothsay, and the pallbearers were: R. A. Treleaven, George Daum, Dan Collins, C. Chapman, H. Fair and W. Bride.

Samuel's wife, Mary, died on December 31, 1928. Both Mary and Samuel died in Toronto at the home of their daughter Susanna. The Elmira Signet for most of January in 1929 has not survived, so we have no obituary to find. Her death is recorded in the Vital Statistics for 1929, #201-323:

     Name:       Randall, Mary Elizabeth
     Died:       272 Pacific Avenue, Toronto
     Sex:        Female
     Ethnic Origin:  English
                 Married
     Age:        70 yrs 5 mos
     Born:       Rothsay, Ont
     Birth:      July 15/[1858]
     Occupation: Housewife
     Residence:  1 week at place of death
     Father:     Robert Wray,
                 b. England
     Mother:     Susanna Gray,
                 b. England
     Informant:  Susanna Smith,
                 272 Pacific Avenue,
                 daughter
     Burial:     Rothsay, Ont,
                 Jan 2/[19]29
     Undertaker: H. Field,
                 1073 College St, [Toronto]
     Date of Death: Dec 31/[19]28

          Medical Certificate of Death
     Name:       Randall, Mary Elizabeth
     Date:       Dec 31/[19]28
     Cause:      From Dec 26/28 to Dec 30/28
                 Pneumonia (Broncho) 1 day
     Contrib:    Apoplexy 5 days
                 No operation, No autopsy
     Physician:  Dr Ferrier,
                 562 Dovercourt Rd, [Toronto]
     Registered: Jan 2/[19]29

• The marriage record named George Wray as her father and not Robert as given in the death record. George is correct.

Samuel and Elizabeth were buried at Derryadd Cemetery which is located just northeast of Rothsay. There is no headstone. The headstone of her father, George Wray, is also in Derryadd Cemetery. Perhaps they are buried in plots nearby where there are no headstones. In/ memory/ of/ Geo. Wray/ died/ Oct. 5, 1883/ aged/ 55 yrs. 1 mo./ & 9 dys/ A native of/ Wane, Yorkshire/ England

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Most recent revision August 2002