Frederick Gargett Kirkup (1896-1932)
From Dr Barnados to the Canadian Army for Sunderland man
Frederick and his older sisters, Dora and Evelyn, were Home Children, sent to Canada by Dr Barnados for a better life after their parents died. Born in Sunderland, their parents were grocer Arthur Kirkup and Teesdale girl Isabella Kirkup nee Gargett, who had married in Bishopwearmouth in 1884. Arthur died in 1901 and Isabella in 1903. Their older daughter, Emily, died at about the same time as her mother, but in Lancashire, where she had been working; the oldest girl Maud was working in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. Dora left England in 1904, aged 12; Frederick in August 1905, aged 8; and Evelyn in 1908, aged 13. The girls would have gone to a home in Peterborough, Ontario and Frederick was sent to Toronto, Ontario. In 1914, their eldest sister Maud emigrated to Canada, presumably to be with her siblings.
When Frederick enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on 10 January 1916 in St Thomas, Ontario, he gave his sisters Maud and Evelyn, living in Waterford, Ontario, as his next of kin and his own address in Merlin; 120 miles to the south. Private 189840 was posted to the 91st Battalion and almost immediately transferred to the 186th, which sailed for England on 28 March 1917 on board the SS Lapland. Arriving at Bramshott Camp, Hampshire, the 186th was absorbed into the 4th Reserve Battalion on 7 April 1917 and this battalion supplied reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. On 21 August 1917, Frederick found himself in France posted to the 18th Battalion, which he joined on 8 September in billets at Bouvigny village, a week before his first taste of life in the front line trenches.
It was on 16 November 1917, after the battalion had been relived from trenches which were waist deep in mud and water, that Frederick was admitted to No 11 Stationary Hospital at Rouen with trench foot. Within a week, he had been evacuated to Chichester War Hospital in England and didn’t report for duty again until late January 1918. Posted to traffic control with the Assistant Provost Marshal, Canadian Corps, Private 189840 didn’t rejoin the 18th Battalion until after the Armistice. Back in England at Witley Camp at the start of 1919, the battalion sailed for Canada in May. Frederick was discharged from the army on 24 May 1919.
Frederick returned to Ontario and, at the time of the 1921 census, was boarding with the Montrose family in Walkerville. He was working as a stockman earning $1800. Two years later, on 3 September 1923, he married Ada Montrose and they set up house in Windsor, Ontario. They had one child, Robert Gargett, but he died aged just one year old in 1931 from appendicitis. Later they had another child. Frederick died from pulmonary tuberculosis in Queen Alexandra Sanatorium on 24 March 1932 and was buried two days later in Windsor Grove Cemetery. His death was attributed to his service in the CEF.
Civil Parish: Sunderland
Birth date: 31-Oct-1896
Death date: 24-Mar-1932
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 28 Henry Street, Sunderland (1901 census)
Merlin, Ontario, Canada (1916 enlistment papers)
133 Monmouth Road, Walkerville, Ontario, Canada (1921 Canadian census)
261 Monmouth Road, Walkerville, Ontario, Canada (1923 marriage certificate)
Religion: Methodist
Employment: Farmer (1916 enlistment papers)
Stockman (1921 Canadian census)
Carpenter (1932 death certificate)
Family: Parents: Arthur Kirkup, Isabella Kirkup nee Gargett
Siblings: Maud Kirkup, Emily Kirkup, Dora Kirkup, Evelyn Kirkup, Arthur Redvers Kirkup (died in infancy)
Spouse: Ada Belle Kirkup nee Montrose
Children: Robert Gargett Kirkup (died in infancy), plus one
Military service:
189840
Private
91st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
186th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
4th Reserve Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
18th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Corps, Assistant Provost Marshall Traffic Control
Medal(s): Victory Medal
British War Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham