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Arthur Rafton-Canning, 3rd son of Rafton Canning and Mary Ann O'Conner Canning,
born in Paris, 1865. Arthur was the youngest of the three sons of Rafton and Mary Ann. Arthur had red hair, unlike his older brothers. After leaving Paris for London with his mother sometime in the late 1860's, he was, at least for a time, raised by his uncle, Mary Ann's brother, John O'Connor, in a very wealthy section of London. We know this because he is listed as residing at John O'Connor's house in London in the 1881 census of England, at age 15.
We are now seeking knowledge of the step-son of Arthur Rafton Canning and wife Annie Rafton Canning...
We have just received (1/27/03) Arthur's death certificate (copy) from the British Columbia, Canada, archives. The informant who filled out the information was listed as Arthur's "Step Son". Sadly, the signature (see below) is illegibile in the copy we've received. Hopefully the films of the same signature will be more revealing.
Step son's signature:
Three Canning Brothers, Born in Paris
Arthur Rafton Canning,...Achilles Botriune Canning,..and George Canning
Achilles........................Arthur.......................and George
Biographical Sketch
Arthur Rafton Canning was born May 7, 1865, in Paris, to Rafton Canning, Clerk (somewhat of a mystery) and Mary Ann O'Connor Canning, attached to the Court of Napoleon III according to her obituary and her sons' reminiscenses. Arthur's birth certificate was registered at the British Consulate by Louisa Butler, Dressmaker, residing at 117 Faubourg St. Honore, Paris (certainly a close member of the family, possibly related to Annie Angel Butler of Guernsey, Arthur's sister-in-law, who also could sew any type of clothing very skillfully).
His brother Achille's memoirs later in life tell how the family went to England after Rafton's death, but there is no certain date or mention of whether all three sons went to England, nor when they might have gone there. Mary Ann remarried, to Lieutenant Eugene Hilary Davidson, grandson of Alexander Davidson, a significant merchant of Calcutta, India. From England, in the early 1870's, the family moved to Toronto, Canada.
Arthur Canning, age 15, appears in the 1881 census, as we said above, staying with his uncle John O'Connor (his mother's brother, who attended Rafton Canning at the time of his death) at 11 Denmark Street, Islington. John's profession is therein given as "Theatrical Equestrian Agent."
In 1888, brother Achilles made a trip to London, and visited John O'Connor, who by then had married Lucy Powell Franklein, actress and opera singer. John was directing her in operas in Covent Garden, so she must've been quite good. We do not know if Arthur was still there in 1888, but he certainly must have had a taste of London theatrical life, perhaps including the new vocation of photography.
Arthur's career in photography in Canada is delineated in the website Camera Workers: The British Columbia, Alaska & Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950 at
http://members.shaw.ca/bchistorian/cw1858-1950.html. Search for RAFTON CANNING, which is the surname Arthur went by, hyphenating his middle and last name for some reason.
He worked at the following locations:
Helena, Montana, 1888-1892
634 Cordova St., Vancouver, BC, 1897
Nanaimo, BC, 1898
Lethbridge, Alberta, 1899
Kamloops, BC, 1900.
Arthur seems to have returned to England professionally for a time, as he appears in the 1901 census as Manager of a Photo Publishing Company in Rugby, in the vicinity of Birmingham, Warwickshire. His wife Annie E. Canning is with him. He is Head of household, and Employer, and resides at 30 Murray Road. Boarding with him are two photographer/workers, both single: Charles Frederick Broad, age 23, born in Birmingham, and H. P. Boyce, 34, born in Cradley, Worcestershire. Rugby may have had a family connection, through his brother George's wife's family, who owned many hotels in the area.
I also have some family photos that were copied/printed either by Arthur or by someone else where he apparently had his studio, "Care of E. D. Keller, 38 1/2 Main Street, Helena, Montana Over Cruses Bank". I would hope by someone else, as they were finished rather badly, and have colored quite a lot (perhaps there was a water shortage?). The reverse of the photos states:
"Arthur Canning, Landscape Photographer. Views made of Ranches, Residences and Groups. Instantaneous Views of Stock a Specialty."
Arthur was red-headed, different from his two older brothers who had dark hair. They were all born in the sphere of the Court of Napoleon III, where their mother, Mary Ann O'Connor Canning, was a teacher, possibly a teacher/governess, though her sister-in-law Louise Canning Pierrot, appears to have raised the boys. Arthur may have been raised and/or schooled by his maternal uncle, John O'Connor, as he is found staying with John and wife in Islington in the 1881 English census. Besides being a "Theatrical Equestrian Agent", and director of several operas at Covent Garden, he was also director of the fantabulous yearly Arcadia show in Islington at the Royal Agricultural Hall. Arcadia sported one of the first, if not THE first, merry-go-rounds and roller-coasters, and many other amazing things, described in the long and illustrated newspaper article I have from those days. Arthur, in Canada, became an officer in the Mounted Police, certainly having learned to ride from Uncle John.
Arthur's father, Rafton Canning, was a "Beer and Spirit Merchant" in London, and owned "An ale and stout depot". For some reason, no one of his descendants ever heard mention of the name "Rafton Canning" in family lore. All three sons of Rafton's state other names on their death certificates: George's death cert has "George" as George's father's name; Achille's has "unknown"; and Arthur's states that his father's last name was Rafton Canning, but his first names were "unknown".
Rafton appears in history as the person who answered an advertisement in an English newspaper in 1865, in which the officers of the CSS Shenandoah (a Confederate ship of great quality, which fired the last shots of the Civil War, destroying the entire U.S. whaling fleet in the Bering Sea) were seeking the family of the just-deceased George P. Canning, a "stow-away" joining the ship off Australia, who nevertheless was immediately made an officer and given a uniform and put in charge of the super-advanced Whitworth guns on board. (This certainly was George Baltriune Canning, born Rotherhithe 1837, son of Alfred D. Canning born c. 1803, Civil Engineer.) But that's another story. Just including it to show what an adventurous life Arthur was raised into. Travelling the vastness of the earth was in his blood; Canada must have been exhilarating to him.
Inscriptions from the Reverse Sides of Arthur's Photographs That We Have (size about 4 by 7 inches)
[My notes in brackets] Will put photos up online as time allows
Hotel taken from Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park.[Four- or five-storey building; a few outbuildings]
View at Banff, Canadian National Park [scenic]
General view of Banff [scenic]
Canyon Ferry on the Missoula River near Helena, Mont. [large log buildings]
Cattle Round-up near Kamloops, BC. [several hundred dark and light cows on rolling plain]
Grand Falls of the Yellowstone (370 ft.)
Cutting down big tree off spring board West Coast of BC. [five men in front of tree with large cut]
Plymouth Sound German warships [one square-rigged ship, one steamer with two masts, seems to be several ships behind it]
Group of Half breeds Old man Montano's [-a's?] outfit. 1887 [18 adults - 3 on horseback - and six children in rows, with tent and low log building; good facial detail on all]
Piegan Indian burial ground [wood boxes, coffin-shaped, draped with cloth, skulls on top, spaced out on open plain]
Group of Assinaboine [?] Indians visiting Piegans, 1887 [five dark-skinned men in interesting clothes, before a light barn [?] wall]
American Bison Canadian National Park Banff, BC.
View from brink of falls Yellowstone Park
Foot of the Flathead Lake during the boom [two steamboats, many carriages, horses, people]
Ships loading lumber for the United Kingdom Vancouver B.C. [head-on view of 3 square-rigged ships in dock, with lumber in foreground, going through square holes in sides of ships; several men]
Pow-wow group 1887 Blackfoot Agcy. Major Catlin - Indian Agt. Conference bet. cattle-men & big chiefs - Piegans [24 men in 3 rows, in front of building wall]
The ford - North fork of the Sun River Montana [unidentified photo on different, glossy paper, two horses and 2-wheeled carts going fast]
Pack camp for the Great Northern Ry. 1889 on town site of Columbia Falls, Mont. [many horses in clearing in forest]
Hunters' Camp near Horse Springs [two men, three animals hanging]
H.M.S. Imperieuse Flagship Northern Pacific Squadron, Vancouver, B.C. 1896 [amazing-looking one-masted steamship with two stacks]
Flashlight interior of Joss House, Kamloops, B.C. [two orientally-dressed men in an ornately-outfitted room, perhaps an attic]
Placer Mining Using hydraulic Last Chance Gulch, Helena, Montana [large spray of water across open area]
Camp of at the foot of Flathead Lake showing Bitterroot Range 1890.
Yellow Bird sisters [seven women sitting in front of teepee on open plain, other teepee in distance; two or three dogs moving, one black body and head with solid white neck]
Slaughter house - Piegan Indians [rectangular log building, with a dozen or so men intently peering through the cracks and window; eight or more dogs]
Philips Arm [?] West coast of B.C. [steamer on lake/inlet]
View on the N.P. Ry between Eddy & Horse Plains Montana
View near Horse Plains, Mont. on the Northern Pacific Ry.
The German fleet visitng Plymouth, Eng. 1904 Uninvited [at least 14 large steamships in distance; fancy Victorian pier building and large sign "English Opera Singers" in foreground; intriguing very large flag flying; names on signs: A.G. Huddy; Bearus & Co. Jewellers; Chaplin & Co.]
Get your CAR or TRUCK ...
UNSTUCK !!
with
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Existing Records
Achilles Botriune Canning (1862 Paris-1937 Cleveland): (Raftan's 1st son)
(1) Consular birth registration.
Document Number: 102
When & where born: 09 August 1862 at Paris
Name: Achilles Botriune
Sex: Boy
Name of father: Raftan CANNING
Maiden name of mother: Mary Ann O'Connor
Father's profession: Commercial Agent
Informant & his residence: Raftan Canning, father [of] 4 Rue de Villejust, Paris
When registered: 26 December 1862
Consular Officer performing registration: T Pickford HBM Consul, Paris;
Consular district of birth: Paris
(2) Certificate of Death from the State of Ohio, Div. of Vital Statistics, obtained from the Cleveland Historical Society. In this, his name is spelled Achille Botrium Canning, but this is explained by the fact that the convalescent hospital filled out that part of the certificate, and "botrium" is a microbial term, thus the confusion. The family always spelled it Botrine, and Achille himself was a Notary, so we take Botrine to be the correct spelling as he intended it. Date of birth: blank. Age, "About 75 years." Birthplace: "Paris, France". Father: "Unknown". Mother: "Unknown". Wife: Anna. Trade or Profession: Collector. Date of death, July 30, 1937. Place of death, Cleveland, Ohio. Address at time of death: 925 Roanoke Rd., Cleveland Hgts. Informant: Henry Canning, Son (same address). Cemetery: Calvary Cemetery. Funeral Director: R. S. Mcllurch (McColloch?), The Millard (Milland?) Co. lic. # 1237. Body was embalmed.
Alfred (D.?) Canning (c. 1797 where? -1851 Rotherhithe, London) Proposed father of the Mystery Generation (Rafton, Marinus, Baltriune, Louise, Arthur who "went to Spain"), husband of Anne Powell Canning;
(1) death registration Rotherhithe 1851, "Found dead in bed" written right on it, and coroner's inquest held, age "about 54," Occupation "Engineer," died of "Natural Decay", living at 5 Surrey Place, Lower Queen Street, Rotherhithe, London;
(2) marriage of his son Raftan Canning to Mary Anne O'Connor in Paris, January 1862, lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(3) birth of his son Baltriune in 1837 lists Alfred as "Civil Engineer";
(4) Marriage Alfred D. Canning and Anne Powell on June 2, 1817, Saint Martin, Worcester, Worcs. (not conclusively ours; no parents' names, places of birth; but date of marriage corresponds well to our records)
Alfred Canning (1858 Paris - France?): Eldest son of Baltriune Canning. Consular Birth Registration, Paris; Info reads Alfred, boy, born Nov. 16, 1858, Father Botrinne Canning, Gentleman, Mother Margaret Hook, Informant's signature "B. Canning", residence L. Boulevart de l'Etoile Fernes [=Ternes], registered Dec. 23, 1858
Arthur Rafton-Canning (1865 Paris -1952 Vancouver, BC): (Rafton's third son) --
(1) Birth Registration from British Consulate at Paris; Name, Arthur Canning; Date of birth, May 7, 1865; Father, Rafton Canning; Mother, Mary O'Connor; Profession of mother's father, Clerk; Informant, Louisa Butler, Dressmaker [Note: possibly related to our Angel-Butlers of Guernsey], 117 Faubourg St. Honore, Paris; When registered, Nov. 7, 1866 [Note: months after Rafton's death].
(2) Death registration from the Archives at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Died Dec. 15, 1952 at Age 86, at Vancouver
Baltriune Canning (1837 Rotherhithe, London -1865 died at sea): Rafton's brother (see "George P. Canning" following).
(1) Birth certificate in Rotherhithe, London, born July 15, 1837, in a "Cottage on the Rector's Island" (=Seven Islands, now Southwark Park), father Alfred Canning, Civil Engineer, mother Anne Canning formerly Powell, residence of informant (father) "Cottage on the Island", registered August 25, 1837;
(2) birth certif of his first son, Alfred Canning 1858 Paris (qv), listing him as "Gentleman";
(3) birth certif of his second son, Rafton Boutrenne, 1860 Arcis-sur-Aube, Champagne, France, "no profession"; both boys' mother is Margaret Hook (Hucks).
Eugene Hilary Davidson (1839 Calcutta - 1918 Toronto?) Marriage certificate to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, July 9, 1869, Kensington, married in the Register Office, both then living at 48 Ledbury Road, Bayswater, London, his father Charles James Collie Davidson, Colonel in the Indian Army; her father Dennis O'Connor, Clerk.
George Canning (c. 1864 where? -1938 Ft. Worth, buried Cleveland): (no birth record; supposedly Rafton's 2nd son) ~~~ death certificate from Ft. Worth, Texas, (certified copy) d.o.d. March 31, 1938, d.o.b. August 27, 1863, saying his father's name was George Canning, mother's name Mary Ann O'Conner, and that he, (George) was born in France. We have found no birth registration for George, in the British Consul's records.
George P. Canning (1837-1865): (Rafton's brother Baltriune Canning, which fact is established by an officer's journal from the CSS Shenandoah, wherein it is described how Rafton Canning, owner of an "ale and stout depot in London," responds to newspaper ad seeking George's relatives in Nov., 1865) ~~~ evidence consists of historical military documentation from the journals of the officers of the CSS Shenandoah (photocopy of stamped official photocopy), the warship which destroyed the US whaling fleet in the Bering Sea, 1865, with George P. in charge of the Marine group and the guns ~~~ the crew learned he had a wife in Paris (but he would tell no one of her name or whereabouts), a brother in Australia, and that his friends were in "St. Germain"; he was accompanied on board by an older Negro servant named Edward Weeks/ Wickes to whom he was very close and for whom he insisted on equal pay; he said he was wounded at Shiloh, as an Aide de Camp for General Polk (but no record exists of him there); he died on board ship Oct. 30, 1865, of phthisis, and was buried at sea with a Roman Catholic ceremony.
Marinus Francis Alfred Canning (c. 1828 where? -1911 Perth): (proposedly was Rafton's brother) -- (1) Death certificate from Perth, Western Australia (certified copy): Date of Death, Nov. 13, 1911, at 83 years of age; Father's name, Francis Canning (deceased); Mother, Ann Powell; Born in Paris, France; Buried, Anglican Cemetery at Kerakatta (?) on Nov. 15, 1911; followed by a listing of his issue [children] in order of birth w/ ages: Ada 5(4?), Letitia 52, Arthur 50, Edmond 45, Eleanor 44, Blanche 42, Algernon 40, George 38, 1 male 4 females (deceased).
(2) Much biographical information from the Battye Library in Perth, Western Australia, where he was Member of Parliament, including records of voyages, stating (possibly from a passport) that he was born in England, and
(3) Obituary [the West Australian, Nov 14, 1911] stating "Mr. Canning was a son of Mr. Francis Canning, a member of an old English county family, the Cannings of Foxcote, Warwickshire, famous in English history. He himself was educated at l'Ecole Charlemagne, Paris, and privately in England. He had always been a politcal student, was a classical scholar..." and
(4) Biographical Register of MP's of WA: "Canning, Marinus Frederick [sic] Alfred: Educ. priv. in Engl. and at Ecole Charlemagne, Paris. arr. Q 1855; storekeeper in 1856; bank mngr early 1870s to Tahiti; 1875 joined Bank of NSW; 1877 to Noumea office and later possibly to Tas.; 21 Feb 1883 arr. in WA to found Perth br. of bank; 1884 left bank and founded WA Mortgage & Agency Co., 1888-95 mngr; sec. AMP 1886, Comm. agent 1887-89. founded WA Stannaries; 1893 JP: 1891-1911 member Perth Public Library Cttee."
Mary Ann O'Connor Canning Davidson (1832 Rathkeale -1925):(Rafton's wife) ~~~ (1) unreferenced newspaper obituary clipping (photocopy) titled "One in the Court of Napoleon III Dies," describing her sons (steel brokers in Cleveland), her adoption at age 16 into the court of Napoleon III by a French duchess, "many years of colorful court life", and her escape from France at the fall of the Court of the Second Empire, "...as a friends drove her to the coast from which location she made it safely to England" (2) death certificate, 92 years old, died March 2, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, was widow, wife of Eugene H. Davidson, born in Rathkeale, Ireland, father Jeremiah O'Connor (b. Ireland), maiden name of mother Unknown (b. Ireland), informant George Canning of 16861 Homer Ave. East, Cleveland, died of broncho pneumonia.
Rafton Canning (c. 1832 where? -1866 Clerkenwell, London): (1) Death registry from London, Apr. 3, 1866 (certified copy) age "about 34"; address at time of death at 48 Spencer Street, Clerkenwell (which is a baker's establishment - home? shop?) on a street containing several jewellers and goldsmiths; Occupation "Beer and spirit merchant"; person in attendance -- his brother-in-law John O'Connor of "14 Denmark Terrace, Islington"; cause of death -- "Phithisis, Certified [sic]". (2) Consular birth registry of his son Achilles Botriune in 1862 (see below), which lists father "Raftan" (not "-ton") Canning, residing at 4, rue de Villejust, Paris, Profession -- "Commercial Agent." (3) Consular birth registry of his third son, Arthur, in Paris, 1865, (4) Marriage record to Mary Ann O'Connor, January 1862, Paris -- spelled Raftan in this record, (5) reference to a letter received from a Rafton Canning, "owner of an ale and stout depot in London," by the officers of the CSS Shenandoah, when they advertised seeking George P. Canning's family; See the
Rafton Mystery
Rafton Boutrenne ("Paul") Canning (1860 Arcis-sur-Aube - France?): Son of Georges Boutrenne Canning and Margaret Hook
mentioned in letter (original, ink on thin paper, 8 pages) dated Aug. 3, 1877, from Louise Canning Pierrot to "sister" Mary Ann (O'Conner Canning). As Louise thinks she is dying ("I cough blood"), and Mary Ann has left for America, mention is made of every male child, of the generation following that of Rafton and Marinus, whom Louise has cared for. No mention of the father of Paul and Alfred is made. However, Paul is described as one who must have been a teenager "feeling his oats" and gets kicked out by Louise, preferring to lodge at the Chantilly stables where his heart lies. And Alfred is mentioned with him, as of good character, but hindered by his epilepsy, which is described as being serious. These two are contrasted by Louise with the "good" boys, sons of Mary Ann; Have 3 documents: (1) French birth record, 1860, Arcis-sur-Aube, parents Georges Boutrenne Canning 26, no profession, and Margrette Phillipis [sic] Hook, 27, no profession, born in the residence of the shire officer; (2) Letter, 1877, from Aunt Louise Canning Pierrot to Mary Anne O'Connor Canning, delineating "Paul's" behavior and mentioning all the boys she is raising (see above); and (3) 1881 census in England, Rafton Canning age 20, working in Sussex as a servant ("Boots") at a hotel in East Grinstead, Sussex, born in "Arrusn Aube" (Arcis-sur-Aube), France
For fuller details, see the Biographies
To see scans of the complete set of all documents found to date Click Here. WARNING: Very large file!
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