History of the Searle Family

Emerentia Searle & the Morans, Keatings, and Smiths

Emerentia Searle maried Edward Joseph Moran on October 3rd, 1899, in Elora. Emma and Edward had 6 children together: Edward (1900 - 1900), Carleton Edward, Mary Marguerite Keating (1903 - 1980), Ernest Joseph, Basil Patrick, and Mildred Emmerentia Smith (1912 - 1988). Sadly, Emerentia died after giving birth to Mildred on October 2nd, 1912. She was buried in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery in Guelph. Mary Marguerite married Thomas Keating on November 10th, 1919. Thomas was the son of Mary McGinn, the aunt of Isabella McGinn. They had 7 children together: Harold, Stanley, Lloyd, Dorothy, William, Barbara, and Arthur. Mildred married William Smith between 1940 and 1945 and had 3 daughters: Gwen Free, Joan Tasillo, and Ruth Finnamore. Mildred died on March 18th, 1988 at the K-W Hospital. She was predeceased by all of her siblings.

Carl Moran was a veteran of World Ward I. He enlisted at the age of 18 on April 24th, 1917, and sailed from Halifax on the S.S. Olympic on June 2nd, 1917: he arrived in England on June 9th. He served in France and was admitted to the General Hospital in Boulogne, France, on September 3rd, 1918. One record shows that he was admitted with a gunshot wound to the leg that caused a compound fracture to his right fibula. However, another record states he was admitted due to a bomb injuring both feet and knees, including a compound fracture to the right leg, with both legs needing to be in splints. A report in February 1919 states he had “Fracture lower end of fibula with ankylosis at ankle. A good few small pieces of metal present”. It’s possible he was injured by a bomb and gunshot wound. The injuries were severe enough that he remained in hospital in France and England until May 1919 and didn’t return to Canada until June 1919. He was officially discharged from a hospital in London, Ontario, on August 26th, 1919, with the status: “Wounds all healed. Has been fitted with a properly fitting surgical boot. Can walk for about a mile.”

Harry Searle - First of the Searle's to Migrate West

Harry Searle decided to head out west and become a farmer himself in the 1900s. In 1911, he was working on a farm and living as a lodger in the household of William McGinn and Jane McDevitt in Glenavon, Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, Canada. By 1916, he was a farmer and living on his own. He married Mary Healey (1894 - 1956) in July 1917 in the Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, area. Mary and her family were from the Guelph area as well and moved to Moose Jaw by 1911. By 1921, Harry and Mary were farming on their own farm in Mortlach, which is about 35 km west of Moose Jaw. They had 3 children together: Harold George (1918 - 2021), Marie Loretta Campbell (1923 - 2018), and Allan William (1935 - 1999).

Harold helped on the farm growing up but eventually lost patience with his father who he believed should have progressed faster in the transition from horses to tractors. At the age of 22, with the urging of his Uncle Joseph Healey, a Mountie in Moose Jaw, he joined the RCMP in Regina on February 2nd, 1941. He graduated from Depot in October 1941. He was posted to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December 1941 and a month later transferred to Windsor, Nova Scotia. He spent the rest of his life in Nova Scotia, between Windsor, Chester, Antigonish, and later Halifax again. As an RCMP officer, he guarded Winston Churchill on his way to the Citadel Quebec City Conference on August 8th, 1843, President Eisenhower in an Ottawa Train Station in 1958, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in New Glasgow on a visit in 1959, and shook hands with Prince Phillip in 2007 at Vimy at the 90th Anniversary celebration of the memorial re-build in France.

Allan William Searle took over the family farm in Mortlach, Saskatchewan, in 1956, and farmed it until his death in 1999. Allan served on the Village Council in Mortlach for 30 years and was an active member of the Knights of Columbus. Allan's two sons, Kim and Joe, took over the farm after his death and were still farming as of 2021. Marie Loretta Searle married Bill Campbell and lived in Etobicoke, Ontario, from 1954 until her death in 2018.

John William Leo Searle

John William Leo Searle, known as Bill, lived in Guelph almost all of his life. In 1911, he was living in Guelph with his brother Arthur in the household of their Aunt, Elizabeth Gibson, sister of their mother Margaret Cahill. Bill was a moulder working at a foundry shop and had earned $300 in 1910. Later that year Bill moved to Toronto where he met his wife, Pearl Edith Wilson. Edith was born on July 18th, 1892, in Goderich, Ontario, to David Wilson and Elizabeth Elliot. Bill and Edith married on November 24th, 1911, in Toronto. They eventually moved back to Guelph and lived at 14 Melville St and had 5 children: Frederick William (1912 - 1957), Charles Joseph (1913 - 1945), Margaret Rose (1915 - Before 1956), Roy Vincent (1917 - ?), and Cecil Raymond (1920 - 1994).

Fred Searle worked as a puncher with his brother Charles at an iron foundry in the early 1930s, and he helped his Uncle Joe on the Searle family farm in the mid 1930s. On June 30th, 1938, Fred married Mary Margaret McCrae, daughter of John Henry McCrae and Annie Beattie, in Guelph. Fred and Mary had at least one daughter, Janet, and lived in at 10 Mill St in Guelph until Fred's death in 1957. Margaret Rose married Anderson Hignell on June 5th, 1935 in Kitchener; she died sometime before 1956. Roy Vincent married Mary Helen Birch, daughter of John Birch and Mary Mulhall, on February 12th, 1938, in Guelph. They lived at 224 Delhi Street in Guelph before moving to Toronto. They lived in apartment 201 at 404 Spadina Road in 1949, before moving to 350 Byng Avenue in Scarborough in the 1950s; they lived their until at least 1963. Cecil Searle lived with his grandfather, his Uncle Joe, and his Aunt Maud on their farm from a young age (early 1920s) into the 1930s and early 1940s. He married his wife, Julia (or Judy) around 1944 or 1945. They first lived at 63 Alice St in Guelph, and they eventually moved to 127 Mary St. and lived there into the 1970s. Cecil eventually became a carpenter and his wife Julia became a spot welder. Julia died between 1968 and 1972. Cecil went on to marry Reta Braida and died in 1994; he is buried in Section 4, Row 20, Lot 29, in the Marymount Catholic Cemetery.

Private Charles Joseph Searle and WWII

Charles Joseph Searle, known as Charlie, was born on March 19th, 1913, in Guelph. By 1937, he was a machine hand living with his parents at 14 Melville St. On January 29th, 1937, he married Helen Gladys McCluskey. Helen was from Owen Sound and was the daughter of Cashimer McClusky and Alberta Young. Charlie and Helen had 3 children together: William, Marlene, and Don.

On February 16th, 1944, Charlie enlisted in the Army, unit No. 1 D.D (AF). At that time he was working as a foreman at Canada Ingot & Iron Co. in Guelph. He was 6 foot 1.5 inches tall, 231 lbs, had grey eyes, brown hair, and was described during his enlistment interview as "a big, friendly, raw-boned man who is used to hard work in stell construction and has some ability to handle men. He is a steady and reliable individual...". He was recommended as a good candidate for training as a sapper (i.e. combat engineer) in the R.C.E. He completed basic training and further training to be a driver operator. He went overseas and arrived on July 19th, 1944 and reported for duty on July 20th, 1944. Charlie served with the Essex Scottish Regiment and was killed in action on February 19th, 1945, in Germany. He was originally buried in Bedburg, Germany P1.1 R.13 Gr. 12, but was moved later to Nijmegen Canadian Military Cemetery, Nijmegen, Holland, Grave 16, row H, plot 9.