Hattie Pearson with unknown child

Harriett Uttley was born November 22, 1891 in Waterloo. She was the fifth of seven children and the first daughter of John Robert Uttley and Catherine (nee Birmingham).

Birth

The birth is found in the Ontario Birth Indexes of 1891, reference #039-267. The births of her older brothers are not recorded, but the birth of Harriett and the remaining two daughters were. Perhaps it was more difficult to avoid birth registrations now the family lived in Waterloo.

   Date:    22 November 1891
   Place:   Waterloo, Ontario
   Name:    Harriett
            Female
   Father:  John R. Uttley
            Waterloo
   Mother:  Catherine Eliza Birmingham
   Informant:   John R. Uttley
   Accoucheur:  Dr. Noecker

A daughter, Hariet, age 9, is listed with the family of John R in the Census of 1901. This entry confirms Harriett's date of birth as November 22, 1891.

The 1911 census shows that Hattie Uttley, born in October 1890, is an inmate at the Shetton Road House of Refuge [for women]. There is no explanation of the circumstances surrounding her being there.

Marriage Record

Unknown Couple in 1918 thought to be Harriett and Alf Pearson

Several family stories about Harriett and Alfred have been passed down. The family of Gordon Robert Uttley tells us that John R and Catherine Uttley had seven children and one of them named Hattie married a man named Alf Pearson ? -- that's Pearson with a question mark. From the family of William James Uttley and his daughter Hazel comes confirmation that the name was Pearson and that the man was a soldier in WW I, they lived in the Sudbury area and had a son named Bob. Also passed down from Hazel Uttley Bodson are memories that Aunt Hattie lived in Toronto. Florence and Myrtle, daughters of Gordon R, can recall visiting her house in Toronto when they were very young.

The Index of Marriages in Alberta documents the marriage of Alfred John Pearson and Harriett H. Uttley in 1914 in Calgary. Why they were in Calgary and how long they stayed there remains a mystery.

The photo of "The Unknown Couple" comes from the album of Hazel Uttley Bodson. The picture is dated 1918 and was taken at The Ideal Studios, 514/516 Oxford Street W. with no city mentioned. The back of the photo also has a number written in pencil. It is either C64926 or CCY926, although the former is more likely. Is it a serial number from the Canadian Expeditionary Forces? The age of the couple in the picture, the military uniform and the fact that it came from Hazel Uttley Bodson's photo album all support the probability that this is Hattie and Alf. But the couple in the photo may just be stand-ins too.

Death

Harriett died young, at age 44, of an intestinal obstruction in the small bowel. A brief obituary appeared in The Toronto Daily Star the same day, Thursday, December 13, 1934, page 43:

PEARSON -- At St. Joseph's Hospital, Toronto, early Thursday morning, December 13, 1934. Harriett Hazel Uttley, beloved wife of Alfred John Pearson of 4 Glenlake avenue, age 44 years.     Funeral takes place from William Speers' Chapel, 2926 Dundas street west, near Keele, Saturday 2 p.m. Interment Prospect Cemetery.

We knew very little about Alfred John Pearson. He signed up to serve in World War One on July 25, 1916 and it is here that we learn he was born in Virden, Manitoba on November 11, 1886. His next-of-kin was his wife, Harriett Hazel Uttley Pearson and the couple were living in West Toronto. A note added later at the bottom of the attestation papers say that he was discharged on September 15, 1917 because he was physically unfit.

(Signature of Recruit)

Building on this lead, additional information about Alfred and his family has been found:

• The Manitoba Vital Statistics lists the birth of 'Alford John Pearson' on the right date and gives his mother's name as Ida Hambleton. The birth place is Woodworth, Manitoba.
• Looking for the birth of other Pearsons in Woodworth finds two brothers for John: Hilton Wellington Pearson in 1888 and Percival Charles Derick Pearson in 1891. The mother's name is Ida Hamilton in both cases.
• Switching to marriages prior to Alfred's birth in 1886 in the Manitoba Vital Statistics we see that Ida Hamilton married Simon Pearson on Jan 27, 1886 in Wallace, Manitoba.
• A search for Simon Pearson shows that he and his wife were killed in 1896 when a span of the Point Ellice bridge in Victoria BC gave way and a crowded car of holiday makers crashed to their deaths. Mr and Mrs Simon Pearson left 3 children behind. The tragedy of the event made front page news at the time. The death records at the BC Archive site confirms that it was Simon and Ida Pearson who died on the Ellice bridge.
• The next sighting is the death of brother Hilton in Blenheim, Ontario in 1898. Just who Hilton might have been living with at the time or where his two brothers might have been is not known.
• The 1901 Canadian census says that brother Percival Pearson/Person was a nephew living with Hiram and Emily Watts. Emily Watts was born Emily E Pearson and the parents of Emily and Simon were John H. Pearson and Lydia Wickwire was recorded in Emily's 1873 marriage record. Lydia is still around for the 1901 census but John H. Pearson appears to have died.
• Alfred's middle name probably comes from his paternal grandfather. He is missing in the 1901 and 1911 censuses and no record of a marriage to Harriett Uttley has been found.

Alf was a photographer and not just as a hobby. His military signup sheet records that being a photographer was his profession. Myrtle Howald has a photograph of a balloon over the Commerce Building in Toronto taken by Alf Pearson when the Commerce Building was the tallest building in the British Empire.

Death

A burial of "Alfred John Pearson" is recorded in the indexes of Prospect Cemetery in the later half of 1955 (Index number 91321). We do not have the burial entry but the name and the cemetery means this has to be his death.

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Most recent revision June 2023