07 October 2018

Leopold James Smallwood: CWGC Beechwood

Leopold James Smallwood is interred at Sec. 29. Lot 108NE and 109NW at Beechwood cemetery. According to the 1901 census of Canada he was born on 20 October 1882 in Hampshire, England arriving in Canada with his parents in 1884.

From Victoria Daily Times Colonist, 9 October 1918

Sergeant Major Leopold James Smallwood died on Monday night (7 October) at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, the immediate cause of death being pneumonia following a sharp attack of la grippe.
Sergeant Major Smallwood was 35 years of age and had been a member of the Canadian Ordnance Corps for the past nine years, having been in charge of the small arms section of the Esquimau depot for some time. He was an Englishman, and learned his trade of gunsmith in the Old Country prior to coming to Canada. In 1904 he joined the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, serving five years with that famous corps.
He then went to Ottawa and entered the Ordnance Department, being later transferred to Winnipeg and other western centres prior to arriving in Victoria a short time before the out-break of war.
His services wore considered indispensable by the authorities, and as a consequence he was not allowed to go overseas, being in charge of the practical work of repairing and keeping in condition the whole of the small arms and machine guns in the military district.
At the time of his death Sergeant Major Smallwood was residing at ???2 Joffre Street, where his wife and two children are now living. He was very popular with his companions in the Ordnance Department, and the officers feel that he will be hard to replace. The remains are at present at the chapel of the B. C. Funeral Company. Arrangements as to the funeral will be announced later, it being expected that the body will be forwarded to Ottawa for interment.

I found no attestation paper. His parents, Samuel Lewis and Jane Smallwood, outlived him and are also buried at Beechwood cemetery.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

His address was 522 Joffre Street, Esquimalt, B.C.
Source his death registration from Royal BC Museum, Archives, Genealogy
http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/449181b4-851f-4ee0-9b44-2395d7b38af7