Person:John Bellamy (1)

John S. Bellamy was the one grandparent that I never really got to know because I was very young when he died. I had been told that he was probably born in England but he had claimed to be born at sea because his father was a mariner, on the birth certificates of his children his place of birth was given as U.S.A.; one thing is for sure, Grandpa Bellamy did not want to be known as an Englishman!

I have since proved that John Samuel Bellamy was born in Kirton (near Boston), Lincolnshire and both his parents were school teachers. I spent many hours looking for the name Stanhope connected with the name Bellamy before I discovered that his name was not John Stanhope Bellamy! My mother just casually mentioned one day that he did not like the name John Samuel Bellamy because John and Samuel were both biblical names so he decided to change it to John Stanhope Bellamy and he preferred to be called "Jack". I have not been able to find why he chose the name "Stanhope" or any record of a legal change of name. His name was "John Samuel Bellamy" on his birth certificate, his baptism and on the Certificate of Title for the cemetery plot for his young son, James Roy Bellamy in 1926. His marriage certificate has his name as just "John Bellamy". In 1940 all men in Canada were required to fill out a National Registration Card, on that card he entered his name as: Bellamy, John Stanhope (Samuel). My grandmother listed his name as John Stanhope Bellamy on his death registration.

Another surprise was that my grandfather had a brother; we knew that he had an older sister, Edith, and a younger sister, Gladys, but my mother had no idea she had an uncle until I showed her the 1891 census. We presumed that his brother, George Henry Parker Bellamy died young, but he actually lived until 1929 and was over 47 when he died in Ontario. Grandpa made no secret of the fact that he was estranged from his parents who had moved to Canada about 1898 or 1899. He told my mother that he was expelled from Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario for cutting down the flagpole which was just one of the antics which alienated him from his father. I have written the school and they have no record of my grandfather; so that is probably just a family fable.

Grandpa was still living in Toronto with his parents and siblings in 1901 where he was listed as being 15 years old working as a clerk for $200.00 per year. Some time between 1901 and 1909 John Samuel (Stanhope) Bellamy came west and he is listed in the 1909 Henderson's Edmonton Directory as a clerk working for Ross Bros. Ltd. and residing at 727-6th St., Edmonton, Alberta. In 1912 he was listed as a traveller for Ross Bros. Ltd. and he resided at 25 Alberta Block in Edmonton.

On June 29, 1912 in Edmonton John Bellamy married Vinetta Tremaine Butchart. Jack and Vinetta moved to Calgary and according to the Henderson's Calgary Directory he was employed as a clerk for Wood, Vallance & Adams, Limited, a wholesale iron and hardware merchant and they lived at 1922 - 33rd Ave. W, Calgary. Sometime after May 22, 1914, when Vivian was born, the family returned to Edmonton where Margaret was born on July 25, 1916. According to the 1919 Henderson's Edmonton Directory, John was a buyer for Revillon Wholesale and resided at 11214 - 100th Ave. Grandpa continued to work for Revillons but the family lived at 10537 - 127th St. in 1921 and their residence was at the corner of 104th St. and 102nd Ave in 1924.

The following is a quote from my Uncle Bill, Jack's oldest son: "In 1928 or 1929 the French owners of Revillons Multi Dept. Warehouse decided to cease business. My Uncle Willis lost his job in Revillons Drug Dept. My Father lost his job as assistant buyer in Revillons Hardward Dept. The Hardward dept. was sold to Ashdowns. There was no room in the Edmonton Ashdowns so my Father had to go to Ashdowns Winnipeg. He did not like it in Winnipeg and he finally got a job at Northern Hardward Wholesale in Edmonton." This was a disruptive time for Grandpa, especially so soon after the death of their youngest son in 1926.

The nineteen thirties must have been especially hard for the Bellamy family in Edmonton. Both Jack and Vinetta had come from families that were fairly well off but the depression took its toll in both their parents' homes and Jack's career was not meeting expectations. By 1940 Jack had retired early because he had suffered some sort of breakdown. War in Europe had broken out and Canada was coming out of the depression. Jack and Vinetta's youngest daughter Ruth had married Bert Davies and they and their baby, Larry, were living at the Bellamy residence until March 1941 when Ruth and Bert moved to Victoria, British Columbia.

Jack and Vinetta followed Bert and Ruth to Victoria in 1943. They bought a small home in the Gorge area of Saanich, 751 Middleton Ave. Early in 1944 Jack became ill and underwent cancer surgery in May of that year.

After a three-year fight with bowel cancer, John Samuel (Stanhope) Bellamy died in St. Joseph's Hospital on May 15, 1947. He was buried at Royal Oak Burial Park in Saanich May 17, 1947. The funeral directors were McCall Brothers.

Joan

1.   1891 Census
   4, 5 Apr 1891.

   Registration district: Boston Sub-registration district: Kirton in Holland

2.   Statistics Canada. Dominion of Canada National Registration
   20 Aug 1940.