Can you help solve the mystery of the war-time letters?

Question

Hello fellow WikiTree-ers,

I just discovered this article about a contractor in Barrie, Ontario, Canada who is trying to find the family members related to a box of Second World War love-letters.

https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/contractor-hopes-to-find-family-members-after-discovering-box-of-second-world-war-love-letters-2864496

I was wondering if perhaps anyone here, particularly those of you from Canada, might have any insights to share with the site and people involved?

Comments

Looks like a baby died at birth in 1934

Robert Whitley

 in the Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948

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Name:	Robert Whitley
Gender:	Male
Spouse:	Amy Florence Gorman
Child:	Whitley
Page Number:	470

Answer 1

WikiTree - we helped solve this!

I had sent a message via Ancestry to this gentleman after this article was posted here and everybody did their digging.  

He sent me this article update.

https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/mystery-solved-second-world-war-letters-reunited-with-gorman-family-4-photosvideo-3161311

Answer 2

i think the wife is daughter of https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gorman-2951

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115920159/amy-florence-whitley

Comments

On her FindAGrave memorial, there is a transcript of the Toronto Star death notice which gives no mention of Robert, so they may have been estranged.  War is hard on everyone.  The memorials of her parents and several other siblings (some of whom were stillborn or died very young) are on her page.

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He died 29 years before her, as they did not have children, maybe the nieces and nephews forgot about him after 29 years.

Answer 3

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Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1936

Name

Arthur Robert Whitley

Gender

Male

Age

28

Birth Year

1905

Birth Place

Toronto Ontario

Residence

375 Concord Ave

Marriage Date

18 10 1933 (18 Oct 1933)

Marriage Place

Canada Toronto York Ontario

Father

Alfred Dudley Whitley

Mother

Sarah Whitley

Spouse

Amy Florence Gorman

Answer 4

maybe https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63892342/robert-whitley

Answer 5

https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/22030652?h=220ac9&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url

Answer 6

I've sent a message to the profile manager for Amy. I'm excited to see how this plays out. What an amazing find!

Comments

I have found her in the 1962 Voters Lists at the same address, as Mrs. Amy Whitley, but Robert is not with her. She is living with Mr. and Mrs. William G. and Stella Gorman. She is still with William in 1968 but Stella is not listed (I presume she passed away in this time). In 1972 she is living at 58 Winthorpe Road, again, not with Robert but listed as Mrs. Amy Whitley.

Going back farther, in 1949 she is at 46 Malvern with many of the Gorman family - this time she is listed as a widow.

Now that I am looking at her marriage record, I see that her address at the time of her marriage was 46 Malvern, so clearly her parents’ residence.

Does anyone have access to the Toronto newspapers that could maybe search for an obituary for Robert in some way? Even to rule in or out the Robert who died in 1971.

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he just created the profile today, after I had sent him a message that he had just created the parents profiles in the last month.  I have sent a message to a Gorman descendent in Ancestry but they have not logged in for some time.

Answer 7

I sent a letter to the author of the article. It would be great to see this treasure trove go back to the family.

Answer 8

I hope you find the family. I had a box of similar letters, but no possibilities on Wiki-Tree. I posted the info here several times and one day had an email from a cousin of the son of the man who wrote the letters.

Eventually the son and I met and had a great conversation about his father and everything that happened from WWII until 2019. It was definitely worth the wait and very coincidental that we lived only 40 miles apart. The son never knew about the letters and said he had likely overlooked them when he cleaned out Dadʻs house.

If you do not succeed in the search today, wait a while and post again. It will be worth it.

Answer 9

i have connected one of her great aunts (via marriage) to an active branch and have sent them a private message.

Comments

Oh cool! Thanks.