WILLIAM MONTAGUE BERRINGTON
by Mrs. Stuart Cochrane (Margaret Berrington) - 1967
William Montague Berrington with his Irish wife, Mary Josephine,
sold their bakery in Abergavenny Monmouthshire, Wales, and with their little children Harriet,
two years, and Victoria, nine months, sailed for Canada in 1898; their
destination Russell, Manitoba. They travelled by C.P.R. to Binscarth. There was no train
through to Russell that night and they were taken by team and wagon to Russell where they
stopped for tea at the Anglican minister's home then six miles farther north to the farm
of Alfred Bryant. Here they received their first experience of farm life in Canada.
From 1899 to 1901 they worked on a farm for Fred Gordon. They had their
own living quarters a small house near the Gordons. It was here that their third child
Montague was born in 1900. In 1901 they filed papers for a homestead in the
Shellmouth Municipality, SE1/4 of 34-22-28 WPM, three miles southeast of the Village of
Asessippi and twelve miles north of Russell.
Their first home was built of logs with a sod roof covered with boards
to shed the rain. To their sorrow, they found it took more than this to stop the rain from
coming through. Mary shed tears over her little keepsakes and pictures from home. William
mourned the loss of some prized books. After this, the prized possessions that could be
ruined by water were stored in a red tin steamer trunk that also served as an extra chair.
That first winter they spent in the Assiniboine Valley where they
wintered cattle for Tom McLennan. Returning in the spring of 1902, they found the soil
good but water scarce. In dry spells the stock was often taken to Bear Creek, one mile
north, for water.
The two youngest children were born on the homestead, Margaret in
1903, Leonard in 1906.
The children attended Asessippi School, built on the hill a half mile
from the village. They grew up happily in home, school and church; sleigh riding on the
hill, skating on the river in winter, and swimming and picnicing in the beautiful valley
in the summer. There was little money but as the world seemed very small to children at
that time, their needs were few. Times were better after 1910. Telephones were coming into
the district and a few years later farmers were buying cars.
When the first World War began in 1914, William, who had trained in the
army in England, enlisted and went overseas, returning in the spring of 1918. That same
summer they purchased the Wm. Clement farm and moved one mile east to 36-22-28.
In 1919 word was received that the C.P.R. was coming twelve miles
farther north. Williams land was surveyed and 80 acres of the NW 1/4 of 36-22-28 were sold
for the town site which was later named Inglis. To date this is the end of the C.P.R. line
north of Russell.
Mary Berrington was a life member of the Women's Missionary Society and
interested in the work of the Red Cross. She was a good neighbour and went cheerfully when
called day or night to help a neighbour in trouble. She died at the early age of
fifty-seven in 1924.
William lived on in the old home. He was a great reader; his books were
his prized possessions. He died in his seventy-fifth year in 1942. They are buried in the
family plot in Inglis cemetery, also one son Montague who died at the age of twenty-five
in 1926. The remaining four children, Harriet Victoria, Margaret and Leonard live nearby.
Harriet Berrington married Clarence Robin
February 7th, 1918, on his return from the first World War. They farmed in Rochdale and
Tummel districts. They had one son and four daughters, Mary, Muriel, Doris,
Michael and Betty.
Victoria Berrington R.N., a graduate of St. Boniface
Hospital, married James Herbert Gillies August 6th, 1925. They farmed in
the Boulton municipality moving to Inglis in 1944 where Herb was Post Master for eight
years. They had two sons and one daughter, Herbert, Margaret and Donald.
All three children attended Boulton Elementary School and took their high school grades in
Inglis and Russell.
Herbert entered the employ of the C.P.R., later joining the
Canadian Navy. On his discharge, he resumed his work with the C.P.R. He continued as
C.P.R. Agent at various points until May, 1965, when he was appointed Chief Clerk at the
Freight and Traffic Office in Winnipeg. He married Joyce Hardy of Inglis in 1948.
They have one son and twin girls.
Margaret Berrington married Robert Stuart Cochrane of Silverton. They had the Genereal Store and Post Office there for twenty five years moving to Russell as Imperial Oil Agent in 1955. They have one son and two daughters, Lois, Bob and Cyril.
Leonard Berrington married Bertha Wagner. They live in Inglis on Berrington Road in a new home built where the old Berrington home stood. They have five children, Cyril, Beverley, Iris, Rodney and Josephine.
THIS SECTION SUBMITTED BY John Howell
My name is John Howell and I was born in Abergavenny in 1948.My mothers name was Dorothy Rose Berrington, she was one of 8 brothers and sisters ,who are now all deceased except for my Aunt Barbara Berrington who is in her 70's and still lives in Abergavenny. Whilst browsing the web 2 weeks ago I came upon a web page of a relative in America although I wasn't sure at the time .I phoned my brother Mike who said he had come across a Berrington on this web page and it looks like we might be distant relatives of the Berringtons in your area. My Aunt Barbara sent me a copy of a page from 1881 census only yesterday and it shows the following information:-
Dwelling 19 Castle Street Abergavenny
Thomas Berrington -Head-age 48
Mary Berrington-wife-age 42
John Berrington-son-age 15
William Berrington-son-age 13
David Berrington-son-age 8
James Berrington-Son-age5
George L Berrington-son-age 5 months
Thomas Berrington died 2nd April 1896 aged 64 and his wife Mary died 18 March 1923 aged
85.Their gravestone is still there to be seen in Abergavenny cemetery.
They had an older son not on above list -Thomas Berrington who was an Apprentice Baker
with Ezekiel Watkins a Baker of 14 St John's Sq Abergavenny. He had a wife Ellen and his
grave is also in Abergavenny Cemetery. Thomas died 7 April 1939 aged 70 and Ellen died27
May 1917 aged 53. They
had a son Wilfred Thomas Berrington who was my Grandfather. He died 13 Dec 1948 aged 61 and
his wife Helen Berrington died 13 Dec 1961 aged 74.
The web page I found of a Relative in America was for Robert George Berrington
from Reno
Nevada. His Grandfather was Leonard George Berrington who left in1899 on the SS Parisian
and arrived in Fairfax Nova Scotia in March 1900. I hope this is of some interest to you
,and if anybody wants to communicate with me you have my home and E mail address. john.howell@ntlworld.com
Bye for now, John.
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