Margaret Ellen Whittaker

Margaret Ellen Whittaker was my grandmother’s next elder sister. She was born September 10, 1892, at 12 Smithy Green in Ince, Lancashire. She was named for her next elder sister who had died six months prior to her birth. I don’t remember Margaret Ellen ever talking about a sister who had the same name and had died so it is quite possible she never knew about the first child with her name. 


Although she referred to herself as Margaret Ellen , she was actually christened Maggie Ellen . My grandmother called her Maggie Ellen or Our Ellen . Her first husband called her Meg and her second husband called her Margaret. Mom always called her aunt simply Auntie as she was her only aunt on this side of the ocean! My sister and I called her Nanna as she never had any children of her own. She became our honorary grandmother and my sister’s godmother.

Margaret Ellen married William Sharples on March 4, 1916, at St. George's Parish Church in Tyldesley. They emigrated from England to Meaford, Ontario in August of 1925, right after my mother was born. My grandmother, Hannah, was the youngest of her family. Her mother, upset at the idea of Hannah raising a child in such a wild country as Canada, dispatched Margaret Ellen and her husband, Bill, to Canada right after the birth of my mother, Margaret. 

Uncle Bill and Nanna lived at 14 Henry Street in Meaford. Uncle Bill kept chickens, which he called ‘biddies’ in the back yard. According to my mother, Uncle Bill was one of the sweetest, kindest men she has ever known. She idolized him. Mom's favourite memories of her Uncle Bill were that he would take her to local baseball games on Saturdays and let her sit on his shoulders so she could see all the action. That turned my mom into an avid baseball fan, a love that continued throughout her lifetime. Mom never missed a televised Toronto Blue Jays game from April to September. Since Mom has passed, I have continued to watch the games without her. It brings me a feeling of shared joy - unless we are playing the Yankees, then I know Mom is right there with me booing and jeering.

Bill and Margaret Ellen lived at 14 Henry Street in Meaford. Bill kept chickens, which he called ‘biddies’ in the back yard. According to my mother, Bill was one of the sweetest, kindest men she has ever known. She idolized him. Mom's favourite memories of her Uncle Bill were that he would take her to local baseball games on Saturdays and let her sit on his shoulders so she could see all the action. That turned my mom into an avid baseball fan, a love that continued throughout her lifetime. Mom never missed a televised Toronto Blue Jays game from April to September.

Uncle Bill worked as a labourer for the King Paving Company in Meaford. During the depression, people did whatever they could to get by. 


In the summer of 1935, Meaford was extending the town wharf into the harbour on Georgian Bay. The job was almost finished, but the crew was asked to come in on a Saturday to make sure the job was completed on time. 


Unlce Bill was wheeling a barrow full of concrete down the dock when the barrow slipped on one of the boards and went over the side. Instead of letting go, Uncle Bill tried to right the barrow and he went over the edge with the barrow. It is thought he hit his head on the concrete on his way down and likely hit the water unconscious as he never made an attempt to surface. He couldn’t swim but likely it made no difference to the outcome. 


Bill Sharples was buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Meaford. His will was probated in England and he left Margaret Ellen 182 pounds, 18 shillings and 7 pence. 

Bill and Margaret Ellen with my mother, Margaret, about 1928 

Nanna had to find a way to keep herself after the death of her husband and she worked for various people as a housekeeper for many years. Sometime in the 1940's, she went to visit friends, the Nortons, in Barrie, Ontario. They were great friends with a William Alexander Pratt, an engineer on the CN railroad who had recently lost his second wife to cancer and who was looking for a housekeeper. The Nortons introduced Nanna and Bill and the end result was that she went to work for Bill. I guess they got on well enough as they were married in 1945.


Uncle Bill Pratt was the only husband of Nanna's that my sister and I ever knew. Uncle Bill drove a pale green car, perhaps a Chevy or Buick, and if we were walking home from school and spotted that car in the driveway from a distance, we would run all the rest of the way home to see Nanna and Uncle Bill. Nanna and Uncle Bill were my sister's godparents.

Margaret Ellen had to find a way to keep herself after the death of her husband and she worked for various people as a housekeeper for many years. Sometime in the 1940's, she went to visit friends, the Nortons, in Barrie, Ontario. They were great friends with a William Alexander Pratt, an engineer on the CN railroad who had recently lost his second wife to cancer and who was looking for a housekeeper. The Nortons introduced Margaret Ellen and Bill and the end result was that she went to work for Bill. I guess they got on well enough as they were married in 1945.


Uncle Bill Pratt was the only husband of Nanna's that my sister and I ever knew. Uncle Bill drove a pale green car, perhaps a Chevy or Buick, and if we were walking home from school and spotted that car in the driveway from a distance, we would run all the rest of the way home to see Nanna and Uncle Bill. Nanna and Uncle Bill were my sister's godparents.

I loved when the Pratts came to visit us in Parry Sound. My sister and I spent a few vacations at their home in Barrie, at 160 Mary Street. It was a tiny bungalow surrounded by huge hedges that made the back yard very private. Nanna kept the place spotless and Uncle Bill was relegated to either the back porch or the basement when he wished to smoke. It was usually a pretty lonely visit as they didn't cater much to kids in those days. They had a skipping rope in the garage which I got to play with. A girl named Rosemary lived next door and we played together on occasion. 



Uncle Bill was an engineer on the CN railway, his run being from Allandale to North Bay and back. He often said marrying my Nanna was the best move he ever made as he was the envy of all the other railway workers. She packed the best lunches/dinners in the world! Every day when he opened his steel lunch box, crowds of admirers ooohed and awed over its contents. Nanna really was an amazing cook, able to work miracles with very little, having lived through rationing during WWI in England and a depression in Canada. I still have this little CN teddy bear that Uncle Bill gifted Nanna early in their relationship.

Bill was an engineer on the CN railway, his run being from Allandale to North Bay and back. He often said marrying my Margaret Ellen was the best move he ever made as he was the envy of all the other railway workers. She packed the best lunches/dinners in the world! Every day when he opened his steel lunch box, crowds of admirers ooohed and awed over its contents. Margaret Ellen really was an amazing cook, able to work miracles with very little, having lived through rationing during WWI in England and a depression in Canada. I still have this little CN teddy bear that Bill gifted Margaret Ellen early on in their relationship.

Uncle Bill died in 1968, just a month before his 84th birthday. He was buried in Barrie Union Cemetery in Barrie, Ontario. I have noted on his headstone, a masonic emblem which indicates he was a member of the Freemasons. I had no idea he was, but this would explain a booklet I found in Margaret Ellen’s effects – an address book for members of the Bayview Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, an appendant organization to the Freemasons. Mrs. Margaret Pratt is listed on page 6. 

Photo courtesy of Find a Grave member B.C.B. {::=)

When Nanna was no longer able to live on her own, at 89 years of age, she moved to Mississauga in the summer of 1981 and she and Mom rented a house in Meadowvale (Mississauga). She was there for only a short time before my grandparents moved in as well, just before Easter of 1982. Nanna moved herself to a nursing home to make way for my grandparents. She died there in 1985 and was buried in Meaford beside her first love, William Sharples.


Nanna was a very opinionated individual. I remember that she was proud she voted for Pierre Trudeau and thought he looked ever so dapper with the rose in his lapel! My grandparents were mortified as they were staunch Conservatives and could not believe she would actually vote Liberal. I wish I had thought to ask her why she liked Trudeau. I think I would have found out she was much less stodgy than I had presumed! She was indeed a good cook and the cleanest person I ever knew. She adored my mother and thus my sister and me by proxy. My one true regret is that I never knew her better when I was younger. I always thought of her as a strict old woman, not seeing what a strong and admirable individual she truly was.