John Robert Uttley was born in Elmira, Ontario on May 18, 1860. He was the second of seven children and the second son of Nathan and Lucinda (nee Randall).

The date comes from several sources. The Births page of the Family Bible reads "John Robert Uttley may the 18 1860", the 1901 Census gives the same date, as does his obituary.

John Robert Uttley (in 1946)

John was baptized at St John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Berlin as recorded in the church records:

   Baptism:   John Robert
   Born:      May 14, 1860
   Baptized:  Sept 14, 1862
   Parents:   Lucy Uttley
              Nathan Uttley, farmer Elmira
   Sponsors:  Wm Linder
              N[athan] Uttley
              Charlotte Linder
   Priest:    E.R. Stinson

• The date of birth given in the baptism is close to the actual date of May 18.
• For a boy, the custom of the day was two male sponsors and one female. Charlotte (Randall) Linder and William Linder, his aunt and uncle had been married just a month earlier.

Census Records

The Census of 1861 lists John R. Otley, age 1 in Woolwich Township of Canada West. In the 1871 Census John Otley is still there although now it is called Ontario and in the 1881 Census J. Robert Uttley has the occupation of Fireman at age 21.

Marriage Record

John Robert marries in 1882. The Ontario Marriage Archive for 1882, reference #011-656, shows:

   His name:     John Uttley
   Age:          22
   Residence:    Elmira, Ont
   Born:         Elmira
                 Bachelor
   Parents:      Nathan Uttley, mother dead
   Religion:     Presbyterian

   Her name:     Catherine Birmingham
   Age:          21
   Residence:    Elmira
   Born:         Wellesley Twp
                 Spinster
   Parents:      Wm. Birmingham, Caroline Sauburn [no typo - Sauburn]
   Religion:     Roman Catholic

   Witness:      Robert & Sarah Cook of Elmira Ont
   Date:         20 April 1882, Elmira Ont
   By:           Rev. A. R. Schalz

John Robert Uttley

• Sarah Cook, the witness, was John's younger sister Sarah Ann Uttley
• It is a fact that John R.'s natural mother was dead. It just seems odd to me that Lucinda Randall wasn't listed anyway. Doing it this way seems a blow at Mary Ann, his stepmother??
• The marriage took place at St. James Evangelical Lutheran church in Elmira. It is unlikely that the bride, a Roman Catholic from Wellesley, would have had connections with this church. The Uttleys were not members of this church, so why was this wedding held there?
• John's stepmother, Mary Ann, was listed as Mary A. Birmingham, daughter of William and Caroline Birmingham in the 1851 census and both Mary A. and Catherine are listed in the 1871 census. That makes Mary Ann the sister and the stepmother-in-law of Catherine.

The Woolwich Assessment in April 1883 lists John R Uttley, age 22, with an occupation of Firement. He is a tenant of Mary Schroder on King Street in Elmira, a Presbyterian and there are 3 persons in the house. Both John [Jr.] and Wellington were born by now so why aren't 4 persons listed? The assessment in May 1887 list John R Uttley, age 26, with an occupation of Fireman. He is a tenant of Peter Reisel on Centre Street in Elmira and a Presbyterian. There are 7 people in the home (2 between ages 5 and 21, John [Jr.] and Wellington) and 1 cow and two hogs.

From the census records, the family is still living in Elmira in 1891. By the next census ten years later, his wife Catherine Elizabeth has died in 1899 at age 39 and the family has relocated to Waterloo. The move from Elmira occurred prior to 1899 since his wife died in Waterloo and was then well-established in her job at the Waterloo Woollen Mills.

The Vernon Directory For Berlin and Waterloo

Uttley Family House on old Weber St, Waterloo

The 1901-1903 Vernon Directory for Berlin and Waterloo lists John Uttley as a householder on Weber [Street] in Waterloo working at the Woolen Mills [in Waterloo]. His son Wellington also works at the Woolen Mills and lives on Weber. The house was once owned by John's father until he moved to John St E in about 1893.

The 1907-1908 directory has John R. Uttley as a fireman who lives on King [Street] in Waterloo.

John Robert left Waterloo County for Port Hope where he worked setting up the steam engines and equipment at Port Hope Sanitary Works, later Crane Company. They manufactured bathtubs and sinks in Port Hope until the 1950s. There was a foundry, a machine shop and porcelaining shop at Crane. The 1911 census shows John R working in Port Hope as an engineer and making good money for the day ($1000).

John R later moved to Copper Cliff, near Sudbury in Northern Ontario. His third son William James was working in Copper Cliff as an engineer by 1906 for the Canadian Copper Company. Perhaps John followed his son to Northern Ontario, but whatever the reason, it stuck and after 1920 John R spent the rest of his working life as a stationary engineer in Copper Cliff/Sudbury.

John continued working as an engineer long past the usual age of retirement. The Sudbury Star noted the occasion of his 86th birthday with a writeup and some pictures:

FIRES BOILERS JUST THE SAME ON BIRTHDAY     The steamy boiler room of the Sudbury Brewing & Malting Company has been the second home of John Robert Uttley for the past 26 years. Since 1920, Mr. Uttley of 26 Railway St., Copper Cliff has been employed with the company as a stationary engineer. On Saturday he celebrated his 86th birthday by keeping a watchful eye on the complex array of pipes and gauges just as he did on Friday or Thursday. The only difference was that Saturday afternoon his fellow employees presented him with many useful gifts and a purse of money. A.J. Samson made the presentation.     Born at Elmira, near Kitchener, Ont, in 1860, Mr. Uttley was educated in that community and lived there for 27 years. He was employed on several jobs tending steam engines. He spent every spare minute reading books on stationary engineering and his ambition was rewarded when he qualified for a second class stationary engineer's certificate.     In 1887 he went to Waterloo, Ont., as chief engineer at the Waterloo Woollen Mills. For 17 years he was on that job but when the mill closed in 1904, Mr. Uttley went to Port Hope where he supervised the installation of new machinery at a Port Hope plant. He was there for five years. It was at the beginning of the First Great War in 1914, that Mr. Uttley first came to the North Country. He arrived at Copper Cliff and secured employment in the boiler shop at the Inco smelter. A year later he went to the munitions plant at Nobel but the work at that plant was unsatisfactory so he returned to Copper Cliff within four months. Returns to North     He was employed as a policeman at first and then secured a position in the roundhouse. He was at Copper Cliff until 1918 and then returned to Port Hope. But the call of the North Country was strong and within two years he was back in the Nickel District. This time he came to Sudbury and secured a job at the Sudbury Brewing and Malting Company in 1920.     There have been many changes at the plant since the days in 1920, Mr. Uttley recalled. There was only one boiler then. Now we have two, he stated. Production has been doubled, at least, and three additions have been built to the plant.     The dangers of boiler explosions, faulty gauges and unexpected incidents have remained only threats so far and Mr. Uttley has had no accidents during his 26 years of service. I've been lucky, he said modestly. However, constant care and a thorough knowledge of the pressure in the maze of pipes and the boilers is a must to get such a safety record.     I've got these fellows pretty well trained now, said the white-haired Mr. Uttley, and indicated his group of helpers with a wave of his hand. I'm tough on them he added, but a wide grin belied the words. No Retirement Planned     Mr. Uttley, who doesn't even think of retiring yet at the age of 86, travels daily to work by street car from his residence at Uttley's Corner, a group of three houses a quarter of a mile east of Copper Cliff. He estimated that he has paid approximately $1,000 in street car fares since he started working at his present job in August 1920.     The blazing interior of the furnace at the plant gobbles up four tons of coal a day to keep up the pressure, said Mr. Uttley. Each boiler has a pressure of 115 pounds per square inch and produces 85 horsepower, he stated. However, 100 horsepower can be coaxed out of a boiler if it is needed.     Mr. Uttley was married at Elmira in 1880 to the former Catherine Birmingham of that town. She died in 1899. They had five sons, Wellington, in New York State; William at Copper Cliff; Gordon and Russell, at Kitchener, and John deceased. Of their two daughters, one is living. She is Mrs. M. Passet [sic] of Coniston.

On the occasion of John's 90th birthday we learn more of his life. In the Sudbury Star on Friday May 19, 1950 is found:

Engineer on the Job at 90     It was back to work as usual this morning for John Robert Uttley, 26 Railway St., Copper Cliff, who celebrated his 90th birthday on Thursday.     Oldest holder of a steady job in the city -- and possibly in Canada -- Uttley has no thoughts of retiring and at 8 o'clock this morning was back at his job as stationary engineer with the Sudbury Brewing and Malting Company. He has held the job since 1920.     Thursday afternoon, office, plant and brewery employees at the plant gathered for a party at the brewery to mark Uttley's birthday.     A native of Elmira, Ont., Uttley was educated in that community and lived there for 27 years. He has worked with steam plants and steam engines most of his life.     As a young man, he spent every spare minute reading books on stationary engineering. His ambition was rewarded when he qualified for a second class stationary engineer's certificate.     He first came to the North Country in 1914, after working at Waterloo and Port Hope. He was employed in the boiler shop at Copper Cliff, but went to a munitions plant at Nobel. However, he returned to Copper Cliff within four months.     Uttley was employed at Copper Cliff, as a policeman and later in the roundhouse, until returning to Port Hope in 1918. But the call of the North was strong and within two years he was back in the Nickel District.     This time he came to Sudbury and got a job at the brewing and malting company.     He was married at Elmira in 1880. His wife died 19 years later. They had five sons and two daughters.

Death Records

John Robert Uttley died Nov 7, 1950. The death notice in the K-W Record on Wednesday November 8, 1950, page 5, read:

UTTLEY, John R., Copper Cliff,     Ont., at Fesserton, Ont., Nov. 7,     90 years.

and this is the obituary from the same page:

John R. Uttley     John R. Uttley, 90, Copper Cliff, Ont., died at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. R. N. Tucker at Fesserton, Ont., yesterday following a three-month illness.     He was born in Waterloo Township May 18, 1860, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Uttley. He married Catherine Birmingham, who predeceased him 51 years ago.     He is survived by four sons, Wellington, Flint, Mich.; William, Copper Cliff; Gordon and Russell, Kitchener; two daughters, Mrs. Henry (Mary) Bassett, Coniston, Ont.; Mrs. Cecil (Hilda) Bone, Port Hope; two brothers, A. S. and Jonathan, Kitchener, and two sisters, Miss Dianne Uttley, Kitchener, and Mrs. Isabella Hohner, Stratford.     The funeral will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home. Rev. Derwyn Jones will conduct the services.     Interment will take place at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Waterloo. The body is resting at the funeral home.

Notes

• Fesserton is a village on Matchedash Bay which is on the east shore of Georgian Bay, about ten miles east of Midland.
• John was not born in Waterloo Township, but in Elmira by his marriage record which is in Woolwich Township, Waterloo County.
• The four siblings mentioned concur with our known facts. It is interesting that there was no distinction among the first family, a stepchild in the second family and the second family.

The Sudbury Star also ran an obituary with much of the same information:

John Uttley Taken by Death     One of Sudbury's grand old men, John Robert Uttley, died Tuesday at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. R. H. Tucker, of Fesserton, Ont., in his 91st year.     Mr. Uttley worked at his regular employment as stationary engineer at the Sudbury Brewing & Malting Company until shortly before his death.     Born in Elmira, Ont., Mr. Uttley was educated and qualified as a steam engineer there. He moved to Waterloo in 1887, and came to Copper Cliff in 1914. He had been employed with the grewing company continuously for the past 30 years.     Husband of the late Catherine Birmingham, he was also the father of two daughters, Mrs. Henry Bassett, of Coniston, and Mrs. Cecile Bone, of Port Hope, and three sons, William, of Copper Cliff, and Gordon and Russell, of Kitchener.     Funeral services will be held in the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral home, Kitchener, on Friday at 2 p.m. Interment will be in Waterloo Cemetery.

Cuff Links inscribed "JRU"

Cemetery Records

From information at the Waterloo section of Mt. Hope Cemetery, Mr. John R. Uttley, P.O. Box 180, Copper Cliff, Ontario is still the owner of record for lot number 497 in the "Old Section". His wife Catherine Birmingham is buried in the first plot, Nathan R. Uttley in the second, an 'Unknown' next and John Uttley is buried in the fourth with an interment date of Nov 10, 1950. So John Robert is buried near his wife without a separate marker.

Who might be buried in the third plot? Perhaps the 'Unknown' person here has a connection with Nathan R. or perhaps to John R.? The date of interment would be between 1910 and 1950, which doesn't help very much.

CATHERINE BIRMINGHAM WIFE OF JOHN R. UTTLEY 1860-1899   -------- Mount Hope Cemetery, Waterloo, Ont

Death

Catherine is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Waterloo.

The Ontario Death Vital Statistics, reference #026-149 for 1899:

     Name:       Catherine E. Uttley
     Date:       Nov 15, 1899
     Age:        39
     Residence:  Waterloo
     Occupation: housewife
     Born:       Peel County
     Cause:      Typhoid fever - 4 weeks
     Religion:   Episcopal

• Perhaps the Peel reference should be to Peel Township in Wellington County. This would be much closer to home. But even this I believe is wrong as you'll see later.

On November 17, 1899 the Berlin News Record included this item on page 1 under the banner "News From Waterloo":

The Woollen Mills closed down this afternoon to allow the staff to attend the funeral of Mrs J R Uttley, one of the firms employees.

• Clearly Catherine had a career outside the home. She was a housewife and more!

On November 16, 1899, the Berlin Daily Telegraph and the Chronicle-Telegraph in Waterloo led the DEATHS column with:

UTTLEY -- At Waterloo, Nov. 15th,     Catharine Elizabeth, wife of John R     Uttley, aged 39 years, 3 months and     8 days.       The funeral will take place on Fri- day afternoon at 2 o'clock p.m. from the residence, East Menno Street, to Mount Hope cemetery for interment.

• This gives a birth date of September 7, 1860.
• This is the only occurrence of the spelling "CathArine", so it must be a mistake.
• This is the only reference we have for her middle name "Elizabeth". The birth record of her daughter Harriet gives a middle name of "Eliza" and a middle name beginning with "E" is supported by the death record. Do not confuse Catherine Elizabeth with her older sister Elizabeth Catherine who died in childbirth in 1881.

Moving back in time the 1901 Census lists John R. and Martha J. Gooding as a housekeeper with seven children: Wellington 20 Mar 1882 William J. 22 Jun 1883 Robert G. 26 Apr 1885 Russell 22 Dec 1887 Harriet 22 Nov 1891 Mary E. 11 Mar 1894 Hilda 29 Dec 1896

Youngest daughter Hilda May with the housekeeper Martha Gooding

Five of these children can be found in the Ontario Birth Archives:

• the birth of Wellington was not registered until Nov 8, 1927 when John Robert Uttley of Copper Cliff declared a delayed birth and gave the date as March 26, 1882 in Waterloo. Catherine Birmingham was the mother and the father was John Robert Uttley, an engineer in Waterloo.
• Russell was born December 20, 1887 in Elmira; father - John R. Uttley, fireman, Elmira; mother - Catherine Birmingham
• Harriett was born in Waterloo on November 22, 1891; father - John R. Uttley, Waterloo; mother - Catherine Eliza Birmingham
• Mary Edna was born March 11, 1894 in Waterloo; father - John Uttley, engineer, Waterloo; mother - Catherine Birmingham
• Hilda May was born December 30, 1896 in Waterloo; father John R. Uttley, engineer; mother - Catherine Birmingham

Some of the dates vary a bit from the 1901 census, but all are very close in agreement. Catherine's middle name of Eliza agrees with Elizabeth in the obituary of the Daily Telegraph.

Four younger children of John R. Uttley and Catherine Birmingham Rear: Gordon (Robert G.), Front: Harriet, Hilda May and Mary

Three young men -- dressed for success Rear: Bill (William J.), Front: Russell and   Gordon (Robert G.)

Marriage

More interesting to me was the Ontario Marriage Archive record of Catherine's marriage [1882, #011-656]:

   His name:     John Uttley
   Age:          22
   Residence:    Elmira, Ont
   Born:         Elmira
                 Bachelor
   Parents:      Nathan Uttley, mother dead
   Her name:     Catherine Birmingham
   Age:          21
   Residence:    Elmira
   Born:         Wellesley Twp
                 Spinster
   Parents:      Wm. Birmingham, Caroline Sauburn [no typo - Sauburn]
   Witness:      Robert & Sarah Cook of Elmira Ont
   Date:         20 April 1882, Elmira Ont
   Groom:        Presbyterian
   Bride:        Roman Catholic
   By:           Rev. A. R. Schalz

Notes the 1901 census and the 1927 delayed birth registration by John R. said that the eldest child Wellington was born in March of 1882. These are two independent sources, but the information would have come from John R. in both cases. The next born, William J. follows in June 1883 which leaves no room for juggling a date. Wellington's birth was not registered until 1927 because his parents not married until after he was born. Catherine was born in Wellesley Township, Waterloo County. This works better than Peel County, or Peel Township in Wellington County. Catherine's father was William Birmingham that is the son of Patrick in Wellesley Township and the brother of another Patrick Birmingham. This is the family that Mary Ann (2nd wife of Nathan) was a member of.

A Picture within a Picture: This image was taken from a 1942 picture of Gordon R's family in their dining room. The picture of John R and Catherine was hanging on the wall.

Birth

There is no record of the birth of Catherine Birmingham in 1860, daughter of William and Caroline. The earliest reference we have to her is in the Census of 1861 where Catherine is listed as the youngest of 5 children that will be 2 years of age at her next birthday. The family lives on a farm near Crosshill in Wellesley Twp.

The 1871 Census reports Catherine as a daughter of age 11, still living in Wellesley Twp. In 1881 Catharina, now age 20, is living on the same farm near Crosshill. Nathan Uttley and family have left Elmira and the Census finds them living beside (or with?) his Birmingham in-laws. The Birminghams were the family of John R's step-mother but now John R (age 21) and Catherine (age 20) would get to see a lot more of one another and they wed within a year.

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Most recent revision September 2006