Person

William Vipond was the second of the five sons of local publican John Vipond and his wife, Jane. He was probably born in one of his father’s dozen pubs in Sunderland, the Villiers Hotel. Jane, his mother died in 1905, his father remarried and then died in 1908, and the five boys went to live with their widowed paternal aunt and her son in Zion Street. In 1911 the five brothers, with their aunt and cousin, left England for a new life in Canada. William, Thomas and Horatio arrived at the end of April on board the SS Corsican, with their Aunt Elizabeth, her son, also called Thomas. Edwin and Redvers followed a month later on the same ship’s next voyage to Canada.

The extended family settled in Guelph, Ontario. On 24 June 1915 William followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Thomas, and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) and became Private 90913 in the 29th Battery, 11th Howitzer Brigade Canadian Field Artillery (CFA). Arriving in Plymouth, England on board the SS Missanabie in March 1916 he found himself at camp at Bramshott, Hampshire, and then, after three months, in France, where, after nine months and following reorganization, he was transferred to the 9th Brigade CFA. Shortly after this, Driver Vipond was sentenced to 14 days punishment for disobeying an order and allowing horses under his control to trot.

Apart from taking his yearly leave, which included being on leave over the Armistice, William remained in France until the brigade was recalled to England in February 1919. He then returned to Canada for demobilization on 17 May 1919 in London, Ontario.
On Christmas Eve 1919 William left his family and crossed the border into the USA . He settled in Detroit where he found work as a drill/pressman and on 26 May 1923 married American Viola Crackell. They went on to have three daughters. The family moved to Wayne, Michigan in the 1940s and William died whilst on holiday in Palm Beach, Florida on 10 March 1979.

Civil Parish: Sunderland

Birth date: 19-Nov-1893

Death date: 10-Mar-1979

Armed force/civilian: Army

Residence: 4 Villiers Street, Sunderland (1901 census)
7 Zion Street, Sunderland (1911 census)
46 Surry Street East, Guelph, Ontario (1911 Canadian census)
Catalan Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, USA (1920 US census)
1594 Applewood Street, Wayne, Michigan, USA (1930 US census)
48146 Lincoln Park, Wayne, Michigan, USA (death certificate)

Employment: freight checker/ clerk (enlistment papers)
Drill pressman (1920 US census)
Pipe fitter (1930 US census)
Steelworker, Great Lakes Steel (City directory, 1947)

Family: Parents: John Vipond, Jane Jopling Vipond nee Brown
Siblings: Thomas Vipond, Edwin Vipond, Horatio Nelson Vipond, Redvers Buller Vipond
Wife: Viola L.Vipond nee Crackell
Children: Audrey Vipond, Darlene Vipond, Grace Ellen Vipond

Military service:

Private 90913
the 29th Battery, 11th Howitzer Brigade Canadian Field Artillery
9th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery

Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal

Gender: Male

Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham