Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJuly 23, 1891
Place of BirthVancouver, British Columbia
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMr Edward Trimble, father, 848 19th Avenue East, Vancouver, British Columbia
Trade / CallingMachinist
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
Regimental Number2383951
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentPort Arthur, Ontario
Address at EnlistmentKenora PO, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentMay 8, 1918
Age at Enlistment26
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJune 7, 1964
Age at Death73
Buried AtMountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia
PlotIOOF-*-*-079-0013

Trimble, Thomas Burgess

Thomas Burgess Trimble was born on 23 July 1891 in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father Edward Trimble was from Crosthwaite, Cumberland in England while his mother Mary Jane Jackson was from nearby Arcledon, Cumberland, both communities in the Registration District of Cockermouth. The couple married during the last quarter of 1869 in the RD of Cockermouth. Early spelling of the surname was Tremble. At the time of the 1871 census Edward and Mary were living in Great Broughton, Cumberland where Edward was working as a farm bailiff. They eventually were able to have their own farm in Tallertire, Cumberland, employing three servants at the time of the 1881 census. Children born in the Registration District of Cockermouth in Cumberland were Edward (1874, Rottington, Whitehaven), Robinson (1876, Tallentire), Frank (1878, Tallentire), George Jackson (1881, Carlisle), and Mary Jane (1884). The family immigrated to Canada in 1888, arriving in Quebec aboard the Circassian on 5 May.

The Trimble family settled in the Vancouver area in British Columbia where Edward was working as a teamster at the time of the 1891 census. Thomas was their only child born in Canada. The 1901 census listed Edward as a cattle buyer but back as early as 1898 he owned and operated the E Trimble & Sons Central Meat Market. By the time of the 1911 census Edward had retired and Thomas, living at home with his parents, was working as a machinist.

By the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, Thomas was living in Kenora, Ontario and working as  machinist for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He had his medical examination in Kenora in late November 1917 and was called up for service at Port Arthur on 8 May 1918. Assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment, rank of Private, Thomas was discharged from service on 26 November 1918 in Port Arthur by reason of being a railroad employee. His character and conduct while in service was described as good.

Thomas’ brother George enlisted in Vancouver with the 158th Battalion in September of 1915 and served for six months in France/Belgium with the 47th Battalion. He was discharged from service as medically unfit (varicose veins) in January of 1919. Thomas’ brother Edward enlisted with the 239th Battalion in October 1916 in Revelstoke, serving overseas with the Canadian Railway Troops. Injured in an accident in September of 1917, breaking his humerus and dislocating his shoulder, he was discharged from service as medically unfit in July of 1918.

Upon discharge Thomas returned to Kenora where he married Kathleen May Seaman on 20 September 1920. Born in 1899 along with her twin sister Margaret Elizabeth (Maggie) in nearby Norman, May was the daughter of Joshua Seaman and Isabelle Parker. Although her parents were both from Quebec, they had married in 1891 in Carleton Place, Ontario. By the time of the 1906 census her family had moved to Whitemouth, Manitoba to farm.

Thomas and May were to make Kenora their home where Thomas eventually became foreman at the Kenora CPR shops. Living on Park Street, the couple gave birth to three children, Thomas, Shirley, and Sharon. Thomas was a member of the Pequonga Lodge, AM & FM, and the CPR Pioneers Association. After retiring in 1954 Thomas and May moved to Vancouver.

Thomas died on 7 June 1964 in Vancouver. He was predeceased by his mother Mary Jane (1916), father Edward (1922), and his siblings Robinson (1950), George (1953), Mary Jane (Frank) Watkins (1953) Frank (1958), and Edward (1959), all in the Vancouver area. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife May, son Thomas in Edmonton, daughters Shirley (Joseph) Northey and Sharon (Donald) Gladman, both of Calgary, and seven grandchildren. May later died in 1988 and is interred with Thomas and some of his birth family in the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.

By Judy Stockham

Photograph of Thomas from the Ancestry.ca public Aaron Becker family tree, great grandson of Thomas
Photograph of the E Trimble & Sons Central Meat Market from the City of Vancouver Archives
Thomas’ grave marker photograph by Greg Matthews, findagrave.com
May’s grave marker photograph by SusanR, findagrave.com.

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