Helpful entry, but can't read it!

[scuda]

Following up on an entry in a passenger list on fmp, I've found a more informative entry for Walter Cheshire on his arrival in Canada (about half way down the page): http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=4765&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=42670&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=nkleboj0uj73kclapigvbo2b23 The problem is I can't read either the handwritten or the printed occupation, or his destination, or whether he is married or single. Can anyone do better than me, please?

scuda

[kiterunner]

Cheshire Walter W, 31, able to write, tick in "Married or Single" column, which isn't much use! Stamped occupation looks like PEDLAR or perhaps ROAD LAB? but I can't work out what the written version is either, birthplace England, I think the destination says New which could be short for New Brunswick? Is there any way to enlarge the image, other than copying it into paint which doesn't really help as the resolution stays the same?

[Just Gillian]

Looking at the page before, the printed version looks like R. RD LAB.

Might the handwritten occupation say Railway?

I can't make out the destination.

[scuda]

Kite, I don't know of any way of getting a decent enlargement, unfortunately. I thought it was just me not understanding the married/single column, all I can think of is that they used ticks as dittos. I'm not convinced that the destination is "New", although I see what you mean. Doesn't the first letter look more like a T?

I think the stamped occupation is R - D LAB, so R RD Lab could be right, Gillian. Yes, I've looked again and there's a very clear version on the next page. I don't think the written occupation begins with R, though, I think it's a B, although the word has the right shape to be Railway.

Thank you both for looking.

scuda

[crawfie]

I agree with Gillian about the Railway bit - looks like it was written Railway and then overstamped. I think the purser did ticks for ditto marks, there fore I would guess that he was single. In the final column, I think there was some sort of checking the Purser did which accounts for the first and 3rd entries(ticks) and the middle entry was for destination. In Walters case it looks like he might have been going to Toronto as the middle tick goes down from the previous entry. (Hope this makes sense!)

Crawfie

[Mary from Italy]

Yes, I assumed the destination was Toronto, too. The first word might be "Dist." (district)?

[Mary from Italy]

If you copy the image into Paint, you can then save it as a jpg and open it with an image program like Irfanview or Microsoft Imaging, then enlarge it.

The enlargement clearly shows the handwritten word "railway". Still not sure about the destination: it almost looks like "Died", but I'm not sure about the first letter. Anyway, the passenger lists I've seen (to Australia) normally put "died on voyage" if that was the case.

[Merry]

Looking at the page before, the printed version looks like R. RD LAB.

Might the handwritten occupation say Railway?

R. RD will be railroad, won't it?

[Mary from Italy]

Can't see him in Ontario in the 1911 census:

http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/

[Mary from Italy]

I see from the Ancestry passenger lists that a Walter Cheshire, carpenter, 29, travelled from Montreal to Liverpool only 4 months later, arriving on 16/11/1907. I wonder if it's the same person, or just a coincidence?

[scuda]

If you copy the image into Paint, you can then save it as a jpg and open it with an image program like Irfanview or Microsoft Imaging, then enlarge it.
Thanks Mary.

Thanks everyone for all the new input, it certainly helps. I see what Crawfie means about the destination being Toronto, in which case perhaps Mary is correct with her idea of the word in that column being “Died”. It would explain why I can't find any record of him in Canada. No, I don't think he can have died: I've just checked on the “Immigrants at Grosse-Île” section of Collections Canada and there's no sign of him, and I imagine that's where a death would be recorded. I don't know where else to check.

I saw Walter Cheshire returning from Canada, too, Mary, but the occupation makes me think it's a different Walter.

Anyway, I think I can conclude that he went as a labourer on the railway/railroad, and intended to live in Toronto, which is more than I knew this morning, even if I don't learn anything else.

scuda