George Wiliam Jenkins

George Jenkins immigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada when he was c. 25 years old in 1892. Census records from Halifax indicate he was born in England. DNA testing has since confirmed this, linking him to an extended Jenkins family originating in England.

George, it seems, was likely born in Warwickshire, a major player in the Industrial Revolution. The Jenkins family appears to have moved to this area from around Gloucestershire to find work as labourers. Being a labourer was also listed as George's occupation in Halifax.

There is no documentation on who George Jenkins' parents are. However, genetic genealogy places him as a descendant of James Jenkins b. 1810. Through process of elimination his son, Henry, is most likely to be George's father. All of the other families of the children of James Jenkins are documented and George is not amongst them.

The Jenkins family in England appears to have been struggling. George's father, Henry, is found to have served time in workhouses and debtors’ prison. Many of George's aunts and uncles emigrated to Australia.

Given the poverty, it is likely George would have worked as a child labourer. The average age a boy would begin work at this time was ten years old. Little protection from abuse existed, although after 1833, it was at least illegal to have children between 9-13 work for more than eight hours. Regardless, these hardships may well be what prompted George to move to Canada.

George appears to have worked in Halifax for roughly seven years. Around this point, 1899-1902, oral history relates that George Jenkins went to fight in the Second Boer War, also known as the South African War.

The soldiers who went from Canada to South Africa were all volunteers. British patriotism was strong at this time, and George himself was of English origin. Moreover, many of the young men, (George was in his early thirties), were likely hoping for adventure. The Second Boer War was the first official example of Canadians sending soldiers to war overseas.

Whatever the volunteers were anticipating, what they encountered was horrific. By the end of the Second Boer War, George Jenkins would likely have been familiar with brutal concentration camps, many executions, and the burning of villages and crops as a "scorched Earth" policy was adopted. His grandson-in-law, Charles Robar, recalls that George never spoke about his experiences in the Second Boer War, except to say that it had been Hell. George Jenkins returned to Halifax at some point after the war ended in 1902.

On Valentines' Day, 1905, George Jenkins married an immigrant from Newfoundland, Emma Pike. Emma was fifteen years his junior. She was about 22 years old and George was about 37. Together the couple would have two children: George Jr. and Alfred.

Census records from 1921 indicate the young Jenkins family rented a four bedroom, wooden apartment in Halifax. George worked as a labourer doing odd jobs, but had struggled to find work in the past. The census also suggests the apartment George Jenkins rented may have been shared with the White family, or been a duplex with the White family as their immediate neighbours.

Voting registration records indicate that as of 1945, George and Emma were living on Moran St. Their children had grown and moved out. However, George and Emma shared the residence with Mr. and Mrs. Joseph LaPierre, Mr and Mrs. Thomas Bassett, and Mr. and Mrs. Scott Lawlor. Mr. Lapierre worked as a chauffeur, and Mr. Lawlor as an iron worker. Despite being in his late seventies, George was apparently still working as a labourer.

Four years later, in 1949, George and Emma remained on Moran St., but the Lawlors had moved out and Mr. and Mrs. Cook had moved in. Arthur Cook worked as a clerk, and Mr. LaPierre was now a city worker. George, in his eighties, had retired.

It is possible that some of the couples residing with George and Emma in the years from 1945-9 had children who were simply not listed as they were ineligible to vote. Moran St. was also within a fifteen to thirty minute walk away from the various residences where George and Emma's sons lived and raised their own children.

George's wife, Emma, passed away at some point when George was in his eighties. Afterwards, he moved in with their elder son, George Jr. on Acadia St. George Jr. lived with his wife, Ethel, and her younger sister, Marion Noseworthy. At this time, George Sr.’s grandson, Rich, would likely also have been living there. However, George’s granddaughter, Ruth, would have recently moved out as a newlywed.

Records suggest that George Jenkins Sr. passed away within the next five years. He would have been around 95 years old! It is quite likely that he lived long enough to see the birth of his great-grandson: William Robar.