Archief 0524 - Childs family fonds

Alfred (born 1888) and Harriet (born 1891) Childs were married 1913 in Brockley, London, England. They had seven children, born in England and Grande Prairie: Anne (born 1916), Alfred W. G. “Alfie” (born 1918 or 1919), Hilda (born 1922), Herbert James “Jim” (born 1926), Velma, Lawrence (born 1928), and Elizabeth “Nell” (born 1931).

The family immigrated to Canada in 1920, settling in Grande Prairie. By the mid-1930s, they were living in the Bear Creek flats. Alfred worked as a truant officer for the Grande Prairie School Board (resigned in 1926) and as a custodian for Montrose School. Alfred Sr. died in 1972 and Harriet in 1975.

Anne married Dan Willsey in 1939 and they had four children, Margaret, Jim, Jerry, and Marilyn. Anne died in 1994. Alfred was killed in 1943, while serving with the British 8th Army in Sicily during World War II. Hilda married Gilbert Popkey in 1940 and they had two children, Carol and Gib Jr. Hilda died in 1986. Velma married Adam Sask in 1949. They have a daughter, Noreen. Jim married Reta Anne Jones in 1949. He later married Barbara Norton (nee Starkey) in 1957 and they had four children, Vickie, Freda, Gerry, and Mayva. Jim died in 1986. Lawrence married Zona McArthur of Beaverlodge. Zona was one of the five children of Thomas Alexander McArthur and Myrtle Jane Davison, who had come to Beaverlodge from Ontario. Lawrence and Zona had three children, Alfred, Lawrence, and Marjorie, before divorcing. Around 1960 Zona married John Albert “Bert” Hockey. Lawrence died in 1976. Nell married George Clayton. She later married Ed Wilburn. Nell and Ed had two children, George and Jennie.