A British home child - On March 5, 1907, William would reach Canada's shore through the immigration scheme of Dr. Barnardo's Homes. Willie was placed within Southwestern Ontario and would settle in the Morpeth/Ridgetown Ontario area. William was drafted into the 33rd Battalion in the Great War. He lived out his life in the same area. He never married nor had any children. He died in 1968 and rested in Greenwood Cemetery in Ridgetown, Ontario with no marker. With persistence, the new caretaker located the location of his plot by using old documents found in a box and with some measuring, Willie finally got a marker that was provided by the Last Post Fund. When Willie's nephew, who at the time, a 94 year old WWII Veteran heard his plot was located and then seen his marker installed - he cried. He (Leonard James Brown) was the son of Willie's sister, Miriam, who was also a British home child sent here.
Mother - Mary Gertrude Morris
Father - Mr. Underhill is listed on birth but was not William's father, and it was believed a Mr. Barrett, a sailor, had drowned at sea, was his father.
Mother - Mary Gertrude Morris
Father - Mr. Underhill is listed on birth but was not William's father, and it was believed a Mr. Barrett, a sailor, had drowned at sea, was his father.
A British home child - On March 5, 1907, William would reach Canada's shore through the immigration scheme of Dr. Barnardo's Homes. Willie was placed within Southwestern Ontario and would settle in the Morpeth/Ridgetown Ontario area. William was drafted into the 33rd Battalion in the Great War. He lived out his life in the same area. He never married nor had any children. He died in 1968 and rested in Greenwood Cemetery in Ridgetown, Ontario with no marker. With persistence, the new caretaker located the location of his plot by using old documents found in a box and with some measuring, Willie finally got a marker that was provided by the Last Post Fund. When Willie's nephew, who at the time, a 94 year old WWII Veteran heard his plot was located and then seen his marker installed - he cried. He (Leonard James Brown) was the son of Willie's sister, Miriam, who was also a British home child sent here.
Mother - Mary Gertrude Morris
Father - Mr. Underhill is listed on birth but was not William's father, and it was believed a Mr. Barrett, a sailor, had drowned at sea, was his father.
Mother - Mary Gertrude Morris
Father - Mr. Underhill is listed on birth but was not William's father, and it was believed a Mr. Barrett, a sailor, had drowned at sea, was his father.
Inscription
William E. J. Morris
Private
Western ON Regt
1898 - 1968
Lest We Forget
A British Home Child
Gravesite Details
Marker was installed in the summer of 2016 by the Last Post Fund.
Sponsored by Ancestry
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