Editorially speaking...
For years, Mike Bieling, the man behind the White Cross program in the Cowichan Valley, has been trying to learn more about a man who's buried in All Saints' Cemetery, Westholme; he's a possible candidate for a White Cross.
I wrote of Mike's quest in the Citizen on Remembrance Day and ended by asking readers if they could help him with his research. Well, Carolyn Prellwitz, a director of the Cowichan Valley Museum, took up the challenge.
And she solved the mystery!
Here’s how Mike described the happy conclusion to a long hunt:
Greetings all,
After all of our months of discussion about the Coppocks of Westholme and who was who and where they're buried and which was a veteran, I think you'll be interested in this message from Carolyn Prellwitz from the Cowichan Archives, who wrote in response to Tom's item about our questions about this family in the Remembrance Day edition of the Citizen.
I was unable to find any record of Henry having served in the Boer War, or of either Henry or Harry serving in WW 1. In fact, I found a news story indicating that Henry was at home in Westholme in 1918, and Harry may have already had disabilities that would have precluded service. Certainly he did later in life; Sharron [Sweeney] knew him and says no one ever mentioned that his condition was due to service injuries.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I came upon some information at the Canadian Great War Project website about an older Coppock son, Hugh Searle Coppock, who served in the 3rd Bn. of the South Lancashire Reg't of the British Army. He was killed in action in Flanders, 18 Apr. 1918, and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium, and on both the St. Peter's, Quamichan, War Memorial and the Duncan Cenotaph. I suggested to Sharron that we might be confusing Henry or Harry's presumed service with Hugh's, and she thought that this might be likely, too.
Carolyn's findings from the Archives' sources tend to confirm our thoughts in this regard, so I think I'll remove the Coppock’s names from the veterans' burial list for now, unless some other evidence of Henry or Harry's military service emerges in future. This brings us back to 51 veterans' burials at All Saints'.
With much appreciation to Carolyn and to Sharron for all of your help with this one!
Mike.
Here’s what Carolyn found:
Mike,
I read the bit in the Cowichan Valley Citizen of November 11, 2021 where you were looking for information re Henry Cannock Coppock and his family.
I do not believe that either Henry Cannock Coppock or his son Henry (aka Harry) Rood Coppock served in either British or Canadian forces during WWI. Nor do I believe that Henry C. served in the Boer War.
Henry emigrated to Canada in 1883 and settled into ranching near Calgary. He married about 1890 in Calgary. His first son Hugh was born in Calgary in 1896 and his second son, Henry (aka Harry) in 1898 in Millarville, Alberta.
In 1901 Henry was ranching and living with his wife and son's in Millarville. The dates of the Boer War are 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902 - a period when Henry was working as a rancher and living with his young family in Alberta.
Henry's father also had a homestead just outside of Calgary as of 1885. Henry's sister married in Calgary in 1899. His father died in Calgary in 1902 and his mother in 1909 in Vancouver, BC.
Henry and his family are shown on a ship passenger list returning to Canada in 1910 with Victoria as their final destination. They are all listed on the 1911 census as living in Chemainus.
WWI started in August 1914. The older son, Hugh, left for England in December 1915 and ended up a 2nd Lieutenant with the South Lancashire Regiment. He died in action in Flanders in 1918; Hugh is listed on the War Memorial at St Peter's Quamichan and on the cenotaph in Charles Hoey, VC, Park in Duncan.
The younger son, Henry (aka Harry) never enlisted here or in England. He remained with his parents and never married. His father died in 1938, a year before WWII started so Harry would have been looking after his mother. She died in 1940. By that time he would have been 42 years of age. Harry's death registration lists him as an invalid and living at Sunset Lodge nursing home in Duncan at the time of death in 1973. Harry probably ran the farm himself after the death of both his parents so it is not surprising that he was an invalid at the age of 74 years when he died! The death registration also notes his death was by natural causes (arteriosclerosis).
Those are my thoughts, Mike. If I find any more information about the family that would be helpful to you when I am in the Archives for my regular shift on Wednesday I will let you know.
Carolyn.
Another local mystery solved, thanks to Mike Bieling and Carolyn Prellwitz.
* * * * *