louisa mallandaine + william edwin henry corson
Louisa was born in Victoria in the colony of Vancouver Island on the 21 December 1869 and she spent her early years in the family home on Simcoe Street in the James Bay area of the city. On 21 December 1888, at the age of 19, Louisa married William Edwin Henry Corson at the church of St John in Victoria. The ceremony was officiated by Austin Scriven, the Archdeacon of Vancouver and the rector of St James Anglican Church in Vancouver, and the Daily Colonist reported that:
The young and charming bride of nineteen summers was attired in cream nun veiling with tulle veil and handsome silver ornaments. The bouquet was of beautiful white flowers interspersed with maiden hair fern. A younger sister acted as bridesmaid in a similar dress, but pale blue.
On the marriage certificate, William Corson was listed as a widower, aged 31 years and employed as a Writer in HM Dockyard. He was in fact a member of the Royal Navy stationed at Esquimalt on Vancouver Island but no record of William’s first marriage has yet been found.
His naval records note that he was 5’9” tall with fair hair and light blue eyes. William was born in Chatham, Kent on 10 April 1858, the son of William Corson and Mary Wells, but five years later, his family left Kent and moved to his father’s home county of Gloucestershire.
In 1873, at the age of fifteen, William joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class and was initially assigned to the Impregnable. Over the next three years, he rose through the ranks from Boy First Class to Ordinary Seaman and Writer Third Class. He served on a dozen different ships before returning to the Impregnable in February 1880; he was still on the ship, docked in Devonport, when the 1881 Census was taken. On 1 October 1888, William was transferred from the Caroline to the HMS Espiegle. There is no record of where these ships were at the time but only two months later, William married Louisa in Victoria.
After their marriage, William and Louisa moved to their new home on Esquimalt Road and William continued to work in the HMS Dockyard as a Chief Writer. One year later, their first child, Mary Louisa, was born in Esquimalt on 10 October 1889 but only three months after Mary’s birth, William’s naval unit was recalled to Portsmouth and the family made the long journey from Victoria to the south coast of England. In 1891, the family was living at 51 Sutherland Road in Portsea and William’s occupation was listed as Chief Writer in the Royal Navy; his naval records show that he was serving on the Victory at the time.
They were still in Portsea when their son William Edward Thomas, known as Willie, was born on 11 June 1892. Sadly, on 17 April 1893, William died of double pneumonia at the family home at 50 Cressy Road, Landport only one week after his 35th birthday.
Following William’s death, Louisa and her children moved back to Sutherland Road in Southsea but she was already planning to return to Canada and after receiving funds from the Royal Navy for their passage, Louisa auctioned the family furnishings and set off by train for Liverpool. From there, she made the long trip back to Vancouver Island with her two young children — ships passenger lists record Louisa and her children sailing on 1 June 1893 from Liverpool to Quebec on board the Labrador. After arriving in Montreal, they boarded the CPR train for the seven day rail journey across Canada and when she arrived on the west coast, she returned to the Mallandaine family home on Simcoe Street to live with her parents. Three years later, she moved to Vancouver but left her two children in the care of their grandparents.
walter william burrough
On 18 August 1899, Louisa married Walter William Burrough at St James Anglican Church in Vancouver. Walter was born in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire on 2 October 1877, the son of William Burrough and Mary Ann Barton, and emigrated to Canada in November 1895, sailing from Liverpool on board the Numidian.
Soon after the wedding, Mary and Willie joined their mother and step-father on Cordova Street in the Strathcona area of Vancouver. Walter was employed as a teamster with the McDonald Brothers but by 1901, he had been promoted to Manager. Louisa and Walter had three children and their first daughter Florence Harriet, known as Flo, was born on 1 March 1906 in Vancouver. Four years later, their second daughter Elsie Jean was born on 17 March 1910. The family moved to a larger house on Lorne Avenue in Mount Pleasant and they were still living there when their son William Patrick, known as Pat, was born on 17 March 1912, two years to the day after his sister Elsie was born.
Walter continued to work in the haulage business, first as a foreman with the BC Transfer Company and later with the BC Electric Company. He then operated his own cartage company until his retirement in 1948. The family moved to Marpole in south Vancouver and lived in a large house on Selkirk Street for many years. On 17 August 1949, Louisa and Walter celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary along with their 15 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
50th Wedding Anniversary
Louisa died of a stroke on 1 December 1951 at the family home in Vancouver and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Burnaby. Walter died on 31 May 1968 and was buried next to Louisa in the family plot at Forest Lawn.
Their daughter Flo never married and worked in a Vancouver distillery for many years. She died of a heart attack in 1980 and at the time of her death, she was living with her brother in law at 557 West 61st Ave. Flo was buried next to her parents at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Burnaby. Elsie, along with her sister, lived with her parents until she married later in life, to David Hutchinson, but they had no children. The story told by family was that Walter never thought any man was good enough for his daughters and probably discouraged many suitors. Elsie died on 8 November 1978 and her husband died ten years later; they too were buried in the family plot at Forest Lawn.
Pat worked for his father’s cartage company for many years before moving on to a career in the banking industry. He was one of the founding members of the Surrey Credit Union and served on its Board of Directors until it merged with the BC Teachers Credit Union. He married Nan and they had one daughter. Pat retired to the coastal community of Tsawwassen and enjoyed many a game of golf at the Beach Grove Golf Club until his death on 15 October 2007.