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Note: ALEXANDER FRANCES WATTS, was the third son of Thomas Albert WATTS and Elizabeth Jeffries (McALLISTER) WATTS. Alex was born at 9:45 p.m., May 4, 1894 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; he died January 29, 1964 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
It is believed the ancestors of the McALLISTER side of the family were members of the Allister MacAllister Clan in Scotland.
Alex WATTS had an aunt Maria DUMERQUE (McALLISTER) MOLSON who was a sister of his mother, Elizabeth (McALLISTER) WATTS. It is believed the English version "DUMERQUE", which is the middle name of Maria and her cousin George DUMERQUE MacALLISTER, descends from the "DUMARESQ" family of Jersey, Channel Islands -- and is probably related to the Canadian family of "DUMARESQUE" which descends from a James DUMARESQ who emigrated to Canada in 1840 from the Channel Islands.
Alex WATTS' ggg-grandfather, Rev. Alexander HARDY (or HARDIE) was married to a woman from the DuMERQUE or DuMARESQ family; they had a son Alexander HARDY (Jr.) who married Gracie HOGG; they had a daughter Mary Ann HARDY who married George McALLISTER, in Northern Ireland. Alex WATTS was told by his parents that Vice-Admiral Thomas Masterman HARDY was "an uncle"
Rev. Alexander HARDY who is believed to have been a Presbyterian minister who supported the idea that his church should join with the Episcopalian (Anglican) church to form the Church of Scotland. When this did not happen, Presbyterian ministers with this opinion were disciplined, and this may be why he was forced out of Scotland to Northern Ireland "for his beliefs". Whether he continued as a Presbyterian minister, or became an Episcopalian is not known -- but the majority of HARDY/McALLISTER family members were/are Episcopalian. Episcopalians and Roman Catholics were not welcome in Scotland at that time as both churches were trying to persuade the Presbyterians to join their particular church.
Alexander HARDY McALLISTER, who married Catherine HANCOCK, was the son of Mary Ann HARDY and George McALLISTER; he and two young brothers left Northern Ireland after their mother died, and settled in Eastham, Cheshire, England. In the late 1870's after completing renovations to St Mary's Church in Eastham, Alexander emigrated to Canada with his wife and children; they settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Alex WATTS had a sister Catherine Annie WATTS (who was a librarian in Winnipeg) plus three brothers: Reginald WATTS, Thomas Albert (Bert) Crakanthorpe WATTS, and Henry (Harry) James WATTS.
When Alex was a young boy, he attended Norquay School in Winnipeg; he was in the boys' army cadets at the school, and on the rugby team. As it happens, Norquay School was named after the first Premier of Manitoba, John NORQUAY (a highly-respected Manitoba Metis) who was the father-in-law of Alex's uncle, John (Jack) Edgar McALLISTER who married Caroline Ellen NORQUAY.
Later, Alex WATTS attended St. John's College in Winnipeg before enlisting in the Canadian Army during World War I. After taking officers' training, he became a Captain and was sent overseas to England, then to France where he fought in the trenches. Alex was with the 90th Regiment, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, 8th Battalion "Little Black Devils" from Winnipeg. His father, Thomas, and his brother Bert were also with the Little Black Devils. Later the 144th Battalion "Little Black Devils" was formed, and Alex Watts' brother-in-law, Howard Needham WALTERS was a Lieutenant, then later became a Captain.
For a time, during World War I, Alex was with the Royal Air Force, and carried a tiny Teddy bear (about 3 inches in height) as a good luck charm -- but, unfortunately, he crashed a small plane into a barn and we believe this was caused by Alex's depth perception problem -- and the Teddy bear was damaged!
It was said in the Winnipeg Free Press, dated Saturday, March 4, 1916, that the "Little Black Devils" was probably the most historic organization in Canada. The motto on its crest is "Hosti acie Norminati", which is Latin for what may be freely translated as "Named by the enemy on the field of battle." This name was bestowed on the original unit in 1885 by the followers of Louis Riel at the Battle of Batoche.
Alex's uncle, George McALLISTER, was with the Little Black Devils in 1885, as was a Jim WATTS who may may have been of Alex's uncles, William James WATTS. More research needs to be done to determine if Alex's father, Thomas Albert WATTS was also with the Little Black Devils in the 1885 war against Louis Riel -- since he was with the Little Black Devils during World War I and, while in France, was taken as a prisioner of war by German soldiers. Two of Alex's brothers were also prisioners of war, Bert who was also in the Little Black Devils, and Harry who was in the Air Corps. Alex's brother Reg was given special dispension to stay out of the services after a written request was submitted by his mother, Elizabeth -- since she had a husband and two sons who had been taken prisioner by German soldiers in France, and a third son fighting in the trenches in France, she asked that she be permitted to have one son at home. Her request was granted.
During 1918/19 Alex was assigned to The Canadian Syren, Northern Russia Expeditionary Force to assist the British forces in the training of the Tsar's army during the Russian Revolution. Alex wrote a letter to his fiance, Janet WALTERS, telling of his travels on the Russian railway and of the Canadians having to wait as the train tracks and bridges were constantly being blown up by the Bolsheviks -- then repaired. The American Troops were working on the railway and bridge repairs.
For his service in Russia, he was awarded the St. Stanislaus medal in addition to Canadian service medals.
Alex had arrived in Murmansk about three months after Tsar Nicholar II, his family and servants were assassintated in a forest not too far from Lake Onega mentioned in Alex's letter to Janet. One cannot help but wonder, during the long winter months, if there was any conversation between the officers of the four countries, as to the whereabouts of Anastasia, the daughter of the Tsar who managed to escape the firing squad.
Just nine days before the Armistice was signed to the end World War I, mother Elizabeth (McALLISTER) WATTS died; several months later father Thomas WATTS died as well -- after he and sons Bert and Harry arrived home safely from the prison camps. It is believed Elizabeth and Thomas both suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) and died as a result of the influenza pandemic that swept the planet at that time. Alex returned to Winnipeg from Russia in May, 1919.
Alex WATTS and Janet WALTERS were married in 1921 and chose a railway trip to Prince Rupert for their honeymoon. This was a popular destintion at the time because of the history of gold strikes in the north of British Columbia. This area was expected to flourish partly because the United States had bought neighbouring Alaska from Russia in the 1800's. Because of his memories of serving in Russia in 1918-1919, perhaps Alex wanted to visit near to what used to be a part of Russia -- to see if there was a Russian community in the area.
Alex and Janet had three children: Hollis (Holly) Diana WATTS, Bryon Alexander WATTS who died before he was one year old (of spinal meningitis) and Moyra Patricia WATTS (name Teresa was later legally added).
Alex became a bookkeeper at the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, and later held a seat on the exchange along with his brother, Reg, where they made a very good living -- until the Great Depression which began in 1929.
In those difficult depression days, there was not a lot of money for entertainment -- so singing around the piano became an important part of the life of Janet and Alex's family and friends. Many of the relatives could play piano -- from hymns, and English music hall tunes -- to popular music such as "Shine On Harvest Moon", "There's An Old Spinning Wheel In The Parlour", "Indian Love Call", "Red River Valley", "Throw Another Log on the Fire", "Jada, Jada, Jing, Jing, Jing!" to name just a few. The radio was also a great source of entertainment -- with programs like "Amos and Andy", "Burns and Allen", and "Hockey Night In Canada". Until the end of their lives, Janet and Alex always listened to the Christmas morning radio broadcast of the King/Queen.
Lack of money never put a damper on their New Years Eve celebrations each year. Holly and Moyra WATTS were happy to be permitted to stay up until midnight -- but were at a loss to understand why, at midnight, a person with dark hair (usually their brunette dad, Alex) came in the front door dressed in a white pillowcase pinned on like a diaper, representing the new year; while a person with light hair (probably grandfather Eugene) went out the back door dressed in a white bed sheet, representing the old year! Then everyone went outside and banged pots and pans together! It wasn't until they were adults that Holly and Moyra learned this was an old Scottish tradition, probably passed down through the McALLISTER, McFADYEN, etc. sides of the family. Apparently it was important that the dark haired "new year" person brought in a piece of coal, which was a symbol of warmth for the home and a good life in the new year.
Like so many other men after the stock market crash in 1929, Alex was unable to find employment in Winnipeg; for about a year he and his family moved to St. Catherine's, Ontario, where he had a temporary job. About 1931 they returned to Winnipeg then moved in with Janet's parents to help with the care of Janet's father who was very ill; Rev. Eugene WALTERS, M.D., died in 1934.
In 1935 Alex, Janet, Holly and Moyra moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. Alex's brother Harry WATTS and his family moved to Vancouver earlier; Bert WATTS and family lived in New Westminster and then Kamloops, BC, while Reg WATTS and his family remained in Winnipeg.
In Vancouver, Alex had three temporary jobs (selling electrical appliances, selling life insurance, and directing traffic) until 1940, when he once again enlisted as a Captain in the army during World War II.
This time, Alex was older and was not sent overseas but, as Captain, he served in Canada from 1940 to 1946-47. At first he was with the South Alberta Regiment stationed in Ontario; after the war he was Quartermaster for the Pacific Coast Melitia Rangers with the duty of disbanding the Rangers. When his service with the Canadian Army was completed, he was employed by the Canadian Immigration Department in the Chinese Division in Vancouver, and was stationed in Hong Kong for six months. During this time he and his wife, Janet, made many long-time friends in the Chinese community.
Alex died of a heart attack in 1964 ; Janet died in 1972. They are buried in Capilano View Cemetary, in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Below is a copy of the letter young army Captain Alex WATTS wrote to his fiance Janet WALTERS, May 14, 1919 -- nearly a year after Tsar Nicholas II and his family were assassinated. The Canadian, British and American soldiers were referred to by the Bolsheviks as the "Foreign Interventionists".
The motion picture "Dr. Zhivago" tells an interesting story about Russian in those days.
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THE CANADIAN SYREN NORTHERN RUSSIA EXPEDITIONARY FORCE ARMY POST OFFICE, LONDON 14-5-19 My Dearest Janet,
No I haven't forgotten about my little girlie, how could I, but the reason I haven't written is that we have been on the move
rather fast lately and have been sleeping under the stars most of
the time, so I had no time to write any one. For the last three
weeks now we have been pushing on and have taken three small
villages and the train has only just caught up to us. They had to
repair the track as they came on, which was blown up in almost
every hundred yards and all the bridges either blown up or burned.
That made them rather slow but still it was done in remarkably
short time. The American Railway Troops are working at it and
we have taken over all the railway ahead of Soroka. At present
we are only two miles or so from Lake Onega, so you see we are
getting on a bit. However I think our time is getting short out
here as there are any amount of English troops and we are about
the only ones left, who are not regulars. I rather think we will be
leaving inside of a month at the most, but I can't say as I have
only heard rumours. I hope it is true any way.
I had a letter from home today which told about Bert's arrival in Winnipeg. It was rather rough on him having to go
straight to hospital, but I hope he is all well again.
I received four of your letters last night with the first train through this far, and believe me I was surely glad to get them.
They were dated March 18th, 24th, 21st and April 5th.
Incidentaly we have lots of paper now so I will write whenever I
have a roof over my head or a box to write on. I am writing an
answer to as many letters as possible today as I rather think we
will be off south again tomorrow or the following day and I won't
have a chance for a while again. I really believe this will be our
last show in Russia. I hope so any way as I am rather tired of
the way we have been treated.
By the way I did say in one of my letters that I got your photo OK and thought it simply lovely. I have it with me now
but can not carry it with me so must have it brought along on the
train after us.
How are all the folks around home. I very seldom hear from any of them now, not even Jennie writes to me any more. Outside
of yourself and the folks I get scarcely any mail at all. I did get
Fred's yesterday and was indeed surprised to receive it as I
thought he had long since forgotten me, or that I was still alive. I
will answer his as soon as ever I can.
Well my darling I must run along now and hope to be able to cable you when I am leaving soon.
All the love in the world for you and remember me to all at home.
Ever Yours
Alex
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(M. T. Burnett, updated October 18, 1999)
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