Walter was born in Chorlton-Upon-Medlock (Manchester area), England the first of six children to Alfred Grantham and Mary Prendergast Grantham. His father was away as a laborer most of the time and his mother and siblings lived with his maternal grandparents.
He got in trouble for fighting in school at about age 11 or 12 and was placed in a workhouse for about 6 weeks before being placed on the youth training ship "Formidable" (anchored 400 yards off Bristol Harbor Pier in Portshead) serving as a monitor in the school. At age 16 he received 5 Pounds upon leaving the training ship then worked as an indentured apprentice on a ship (was indentured for 4 years but only stayed 1 month). He worked for a relative for a short time but there was not enough work to keep him employed. In Nov. 1886 he (age 16) and 3 other boys walked from Manchester to London to look for work. They were told about Bernardo's Home who took in boys and found them work or shipped them to Canada as indentured apprentices. He admitted himself and in March 1887 was shipped to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he worked on a farm for 2 brothers until he was 19 and whom Walter described as "two of the best gentlemen in the Country" and who described him as "behaving exceedingly well the 2 years he has been with us". He then (1889) moved to the northwest territory (reported his age as 18 though he was 19) and worked again on a farm for 2 years until early 1891 (when he still reported his age as 18) then became a day laborer In Ontario, Canada. He is not found again for over 10 years. He reappears in 1902 (age 31 but stating he was 26) when he immigrated by train to the United States and shows up again in 1905 when he married Lucy Reid in Cripple Creek, CO.
Walter and Lucy joined the Salvation Army in 1907 and spent heir entire careers in the men's social service department in the Central Territory (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri), retiring in 1939 as Brigadier.
Walter and Lucy had four children, David "Ward", Lucy, Violet and Dora.
Walter is my grandfather.
He got in trouble for fighting in school at about age 11 or 12 and was placed in a workhouse for about 6 weeks before being placed on the youth training ship "Formidable" (anchored 400 yards off Bristol Harbor Pier in Portshead) serving as a monitor in the school. At age 16 he received 5 Pounds upon leaving the training ship then worked as an indentured apprentice on a ship (was indentured for 4 years but only stayed 1 month). He worked for a relative for a short time but there was not enough work to keep him employed. In Nov. 1886 he (age 16) and 3 other boys walked from Manchester to London to look for work. They were told about Bernardo's Home who took in boys and found them work or shipped them to Canada as indentured apprentices. He admitted himself and in March 1887 was shipped to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he worked on a farm for 2 brothers until he was 19 and whom Walter described as "two of the best gentlemen in the Country" and who described him as "behaving exceedingly well the 2 years he has been with us". He then (1889) moved to the northwest territory (reported his age as 18 though he was 19) and worked again on a farm for 2 years until early 1891 (when he still reported his age as 18) then became a day laborer In Ontario, Canada. He is not found again for over 10 years. He reappears in 1902 (age 31 but stating he was 26) when he immigrated by train to the United States and shows up again in 1905 when he married Lucy Reid in Cripple Creek, CO.
Walter and Lucy joined the Salvation Army in 1907 and spent heir entire careers in the men's social service department in the Central Territory (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri), retiring in 1939 as Brigadier.
Walter and Lucy had four children, David "Ward", Lucy, Violet and Dora.
Walter is my grandfather.
Walter was born in Chorlton-Upon-Medlock (Manchester area), England the first of six children to Alfred Grantham and Mary Prendergast Grantham. His father was away as a laborer most of the time and his mother and siblings lived with his maternal grandparents.
He got in trouble for fighting in school at about age 11 or 12 and was placed in a workhouse for about 6 weeks before being placed on the youth training ship "Formidable" (anchored 400 yards off Bristol Harbor Pier in Portshead) serving as a monitor in the school. At age 16 he received 5 Pounds upon leaving the training ship then worked as an indentured apprentice on a ship (was indentured for 4 years but only stayed 1 month). He worked for a relative for a short time but there was not enough work to keep him employed. In Nov. 1886 he (age 16) and 3 other boys walked from Manchester to London to look for work. They were told about Bernardo's Home who took in boys and found them work or shipped them to Canada as indentured apprentices. He admitted himself and in March 1887 was shipped to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he worked on a farm for 2 brothers until he was 19 and whom Walter described as "two of the best gentlemen in the Country" and who described him as "behaving exceedingly well the 2 years he has been with us". He then (1889) moved to the northwest territory (reported his age as 18 though he was 19) and worked again on a farm for 2 years until early 1891 (when he still reported his age as 18) then became a day laborer In Ontario, Canada. He is not found again for over 10 years. He reappears in 1902 (age 31 but stating he was 26) when he immigrated by train to the United States and shows up again in 1905 when he married Lucy Reid in Cripple Creek, CO.
Walter and Lucy joined the Salvation Army in 1907 and spent heir entire careers in the men's social service department in the Central Territory (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri), retiring in 1939 as Brigadier.
Walter and Lucy had four children, David "Ward", Lucy, Violet and Dora.
Walter is my grandfather.
He got in trouble for fighting in school at about age 11 or 12 and was placed in a workhouse for about 6 weeks before being placed on the youth training ship "Formidable" (anchored 400 yards off Bristol Harbor Pier in Portshead) serving as a monitor in the school. At age 16 he received 5 Pounds upon leaving the training ship then worked as an indentured apprentice on a ship (was indentured for 4 years but only stayed 1 month). He worked for a relative for a short time but there was not enough work to keep him employed. In Nov. 1886 he (age 16) and 3 other boys walked from Manchester to London to look for work. They were told about Bernardo's Home who took in boys and found them work or shipped them to Canada as indentured apprentices. He admitted himself and in March 1887 was shipped to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he worked on a farm for 2 brothers until he was 19 and whom Walter described as "two of the best gentlemen in the Country" and who described him as "behaving exceedingly well the 2 years he has been with us". He then (1889) moved to the northwest territory (reported his age as 18 though he was 19) and worked again on a farm for 2 years until early 1891 (when he still reported his age as 18) then became a day laborer In Ontario, Canada. He is not found again for over 10 years. He reappears in 1902 (age 31 but stating he was 26) when he immigrated by train to the United States and shows up again in 1905 when he married Lucy Reid in Cripple Creek, CO.
Walter and Lucy joined the Salvation Army in 1907 and spent heir entire careers in the men's social service department in the Central Territory (Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri), retiring in 1939 as Brigadier.
Walter and Lucy had four children, David "Ward", Lucy, Violet and Dora.
Walter is my grandfather.
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