Life History

Other facts

Notes

• 43 22 463N  081 00 172W
  
  43 22 463 N
  081 00 172 W
  He started work in Stratford with the Canadian National Railways. I believe Reg, his brother got him the job. Tip started on October 1 1926 and was laid off in the depression for a time.
  Their first home was across from the Stratford Courthouse on Ontario Street. They moved to Kent Lane near the "shops" for a while then to 196 Nile Street, were they lived for many years. Their last move was to 134 Railway Avenue were they purchased their first "Little home".
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  Information below is from tape that was made on November 26 1972 with Tip and Ivy and son Charles.
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  Tip's father died when he was 12 years old.
  Tip was born on 61 Kinrade Avenue at the Wilsons, but lived on Emerald Street in Hamilton.
  His mother then bought a house on Kinrade Ave, then bought both sides of the double house after a short while.
  Bought a house on Sherman were Charlie was born.
  He had known Aunt Nellie and U Bob also U George and A Annie.
  They had known A Ada and U Jack who lived near St Kitts.
  Tip travelled from time to time with his Dad when he was called out to work on the weekends and Tip would be able to ride the HGB railway line to his dad's work. Tip mentions that once while with the workers on the car he swallowed a dime. He never forgot that incident.
  His Dad repaired the Trolly wires over the track and he remembered going into sidings between Grimsby and Beamsville to let the passenger train go by, they travelled every hour.
  Tip remembers they had a phone line directly to their house so his dad could be called into work immediately. It was one of the first phones in the area.
  Tip evidently set a couple of fires when he was working part time around the age of 13,14 & 15. H.A. Thompson drug store at Sherman and Barton. The first fire was around Christmas, Tip had gone down stairs to burn some material and while there thought he heard someone come into the store and went upstairs to the door with a match and the head flew off into some cotton batting and started the fire. He ran down stairs and filled a pail of water and picked up some selsar bottles, ran upstairs and put the fire out before the fire trucks arrived.
  The second fire was bigger, he went to the cellar to clean up and put some boxes in the furnace, when he was called upstairs to pickup some liquour from the liquore store as it was proabition at that time. On his way back in the jittney a person told him there was a fire at the store and when he got there the fire trucks were on location. No one was hurt, there was smoke and water damage and the floor was starting to sink as the fire was in the basement. He was not too badly critisized for the accident. Had to close the store to put a new floor in.
  A short time later he got a job at Dominion Belt. Tip was 14 years old when he quit school. He then worked for National Steel Car for 2 years heating rivits. He started work there around 1915. After working at NSC hewas laid off and that is when his mom bought the Greenhouse on the Beach around 1918 or just after. Location was Grants Crossing on Beach road. Tip said that sometimes he would fall asleep and the greenhouse would cool off and he would be set back another 6 weeks. He would go up to see his future wife and would let the furnace go, this would be around 1920. Ivy said that his mom bought the place for Tip and he had to work 2 shifts and that took a lot out of him. Tip would take the produce that he had grown to the market in Hamilton. He worked in the green house for 5 years, then it got too much for him.