Person

Young Alexander “Alex” McClemmont (or McClymont) Beaumont was born just before Christmas 1888. He was the third son of Irish-born baker Alexander McClymont Beaumont and his Sunderland-born wife, Sarah Beaumont nee Guthrie, who had married in Newcastle in 1878. Alexander was the middle child, ten years younger than his oldest brother James and seven years older than his youngest siblings, twins Mary and Sarah. By 1901 the family were living in North Bishopwearmouth and the two older boys were working. Ten years later, Alex was working with his father in the bakery and still living with his parents, younger siblings and a lodger.

His mother Sarah Beaumont died in April 1912. Three months later, Alex sailed for Canada on board the SS Teutonic making for Winnipeg, Manitoba. Coincidently, his future wife Mary Jane “Poppy” Scarth, also from Sunderland, arrived in Winnipeg later the same year. She travelled with her mother and siblings to join their father who had emigrated in 1911. Did Alex and Poppy already know each other, was that why he went to Canada?

Alex found work with the federal government, working as a grain inspector’s helper but gave that up when he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) in Winnipeg on 3 July 1915. He became private 147450 and was posted to the 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers) based at Minto Barracks. After the initial draft of men left for England in September 1915, Alex must have known that he would soon be leaving Canada so on New Year’s Day 1916 he and Poppy married in Winnipeg. The 1916 census lists them living next to her family in Juno Street.

The remainder of the battalion consisting of 37 officers and 1097 other ranks embarked at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 22 May 1916 aboard Empress of Britain. They arrived in Liverpool, Lancashire a week later and then moved on to camp at Shorncliffe, Kent. On 12 August 1916, the battalion arrived in France, becoming part of the 4th Canadian Division, 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade, and saw fighting at Arras, Vimy and Ypres.

But it was at Passchendaele that private 147450 was injured. On 31 October 1917 Alex was caught in a shell explosion and received wounds his left hip, buttock and right hand. He was treated initially at field ambulance stations and casualty clearing stations. Then he was invalided to England on a hospital ship on 10 December 1917 and sent to Norfolk War Hospital where he had an operation to reduce the dislocation of his hip. Alex remained in hospital, undergoing several operations and having treatment when his wounds broke down, until he was returned to Canada exactly one year later on 10 December 1918. He had lost one and a half fingers on his right hand and his left leg was now three inches shorter than the right.

Back in Canada, Alex was admitted to Manitoba Military Hospital in Winnipeg. He was fitted with a raised boot to make walking more comfortable but preferred to walk with just the aid of a stick. He underwent another operation on his hip and had a ten pound weight extension applied to his leg. However, his wounds kept discharging and he remained in the hospital until the end of November 1919 when his healing was complete. Apart from being allowed two weeks leave at Winnipeg Beach in June 1919 Alex had been in hospital for 25 months. He was finally discharged from the CEF as medically unfit on 9 January 1920.

Alex returned to Poppy and to work as a grain inspector with the federal government. Their son Ernest was born in Winnipeg in June 1928. When he retired in the late 1940s, he and Poppy moved to Burnaby, British Columbia. By 1963 they were living in Vancouver and, according to his death certificate, Alex tried to commit suicide in January 1968 by dropping a lighted match onto his bed. He suffered third degree burns to his right arm and chest and died in Shaughnessy Hospital two weeks later from bronchopneumonia. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Poppy survived him until 1982.

Civil Parish: Sunderland

Birth date: 22-Dec-1888

Death date: 01-Feb-1968

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 74 Potts Street, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland (1891 census)
13 Well Street, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland (1901 census)
68 Potts Road, Sunderland (1911 census)
Juno Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta)
53 Francis Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (1920 discharge papers)
426 Park View Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (service record)
3639 Jersey Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia (voters list 1949)
6166 Victoria Drive, Vancouver , British Columbia (voters list 1963)

Religion: Church of England

Employment: Bread baker (1911 census)
Grain inspector for federal government (1968 death certificate)

Family: Parents: Alexander McClymont Beaumont, Sarah Beaumont nee Guthrie
Siblings: James Guthrie Beaumont, William Blair Beaumont, Jane Ann Beaumont, Stanley Beaumont, Sarah Beaumont, Mary Beaumont
Spouse: Mary Jane “Poppy” Beaumont nee Scarth
Children: Ernest Beaumont

Military service:

100th Winnipeg Grenadiers (pre-war militia)
147450
Private
78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers), Canadian Expeditionary Force

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jayell, Durham