Llewellyn Walter Appleton 1901

Llewellyn Walter Appleton and his twin brother William John Appleton 1901 were born February 26, 1901 in East London Ontario, at 1033 Francis Street, to parents Frederick Jamieson Appleton 1866 and Margaret Beattie (Scott) Appleton 1865. A family anecdote claims that Llewellyn was the weaker of the two brothers at birth, and that he was not expected to survive other than for a few days. As it turned out, William died June 12, 1901, in the family home on Francis Street, of Bronchitis, at 3 months and 17 days. William is buried in Woodland Cemetery, London, Ontario. Llewellyn lived 84 years.

Both Llewellyn and William were enumerated with their family in the 1901 Census of Canada living in London East (possibly on Francis Street). Present in the 1901 census were sisters Olive Irene Appleton 1890, Edna Matilda Appleton 1892, and Annie Marguerite Appleton 1898, and brother Frederick Louis Appleton 1896, along with their parents Jamieson and Margaret. The family was again enumerated in the 1911 Census of Canada living at 926 Princess Avenue, London, Ontario. At this time the household consisted of parents Jamieson and Margaret, along with daughters Olive and Annie, and sons Frederick and Llewellyn. Within days of being enumerated in the family home, Olive married Leonard Everingham. At the time of the census, Edna Matilda and her daughter Edna Muriel Boyce 1910 were living in the family home, though Edna Matilda was married to Frank Boyce in 1909. Also living at 926 Princess Avenue at the time of the census was a nephew Frank Bartlett 1885.

The family was enumerated in the 1921 Census of Canada living at 772 Elias Avenue, London, Ontario. At this time the household consisted of parents Jamieson and Margaret, along with daughter Edna Boyce (now widowed), grand-daughter Edna Boyce, daughter Annie, son Llewellyn, and daughter Berniece.

All of the family homes to this date (1033 Francis St., 926 Princess Ave. and 772 Elias Ave.) had been within a few blocks of each other in London East. Llewellyn attended Lorne Avenue Public School in London East (note 1.)

On the 23rd of January 1917, when Llewellyn Walter Appleton was 16, he was enrolled in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He gave 718 Queen Street, London, Ontario as his address and his mother Margaret as his next of kin. He was entered into what was known as the “Boys Navy”.

It was recorded during his enrolment that he had brown hair, blue eyes, stood 5 foot 5 and a quarter inches tall, and carried a scar on the end of his 3rd left finger (Lew always claimed that this injury had been a result of a mishap with a lawnmower.) Years later, it was suggested by Llewellyn’s siblings that his enrolment in the Navy was motivated mainly by the stern, possibly violent nature of his father Jamieson.

During LLewellyn’s time in the Volunteer Reserve, he was assigned to the following stations:

When the Halifax Explosion4 took place December 6, 1917, Llewellyn was on leave, and on a train heading for home in London, Ontario. The family, hearing of the explosion, was very concerned until he showed up safe on their doorstep.

Sometime during his stint in the Volunteer Reserve, Llewellyn sailed to Bermuda. HMCS Niobe had been used to move the Royal Canadian Regiment to garrison duty in Bermuda in 1914, but this predates Llewellyn’s service dates. HMCS Niobe continued to be used in the Atlantic patrolling between Shelburne, NS, and New York. She logged 30,000 miles on convoy and blockade duty in these waters in the spring and summer of 1915. This predates Llewellyn’s service dates. In September 1915, the Niobe returned to Halifax where she was used as a depot ship for the remainder of the war. She was moored 700 yards from the explosion on December 6, 1917, and received extensive damage. From this information, we can only assume that the tour to Bermuda was on the HMCS Shearwater.

Llewellyn's cap ribbon from the HMCS Niobe is in his son's possession and will be donated to the Halifax naval Museum

Curiously, Llewellyn kept a photograph of the entire crew of HMCS Canada a ship commissioned in 1915. Though his records do not show him as a crew member of HMCS Canada, it is believed by the author that he is in the photograph, centre rear.

Although Llewellyn did not talk frequently of his time in the Volunteer Reserve, one could tell that he was quietly proud of this aspect of his life. By time he was middle aged, he had a number of tattoos covering most of his body. Hands, arms, chest, and shoulders had tattoos. It is very likely that his stay in the Navy played a big part in his early fascination with this art form.

During the 1920s, Llewellyn enlisted in the 1st Hussars, a cavalry unit in London Ontario. There are photographs of Llewellyn in his uniform, but it has been impossible to locate his service records to determine his exact enrolment and discharge dates because peace-time military records are not retained in Canada. Llewellyn's uniform buttons and badges have been donated to the 1st Hussar Museum in London, ON along with all photos of him in uniform and all of his Certificates of Qualification. Sometime between his discharge from the Navy in 1919, and his upcoming marriage in 1931, Llewellyn managed to join the army, and also wander across North America. He would occasionally talk about riding the railroad (without a ticket) across Canada, and about an ill-fated Model T Ford that had to be abandoned near Casa Grande, Arizona. He spoke about this being a trip to visit his brother Frederick Louis Appleton 1896 who lived in San Francisco at the time. During a family trip to California in 1957 he frequently referred to sights that he remembered from this trip through the south west.

Llewellyn married Erena Alice Williams, May 23, 1931 in London Ontario. There are photographs of the two of them together as early as the summer of 1929 on the beach with friends at Sand Hill, in Norfolk County.

Erena Alice (known as Alice or Billie) owned a confectionary business in London located on the South side of Dundas Street near Richmond Avenue. This business manufactured a caramel coated popcorn that was known as Anne’s Carmelcrisp. As the proprietor of this business, many people knew Erena Alice as Anne. It is believed by the author that Llewellyn was initially employed by Anne’s Carmelcrisp and that he may have been asked to staff a new second store in Chatham.

After a time operating the two stores, it was decided that the business would be better selling its products (caramel coated popcorn, candy apples, ice cream and candy floss) from trailers at country fairs, and markets in South Western Ontario, and in concert with a traveling midway throughout Northern Ontario. 

Anne’s Carmelcrisp was a well-respected business, and Alice and Lew were well-respected proprietors of this business. As part of Gray’s Greater Canadian Midway Shows, they travelled through Northern Ontario operating in many of the small towns for a week at a time. They would begin this route in March and return to South Western Ontario in early August for the beginning of the fall fairs. In the early years, before the completion of the Trans Canada Highway in Northern Ontario, the entire midway would move from town to town by railroad. The Anne’s Carmelcrisp trailer housed the living quarters, inventory storage, space for manufacturing, and retail space. It must have been interesting to load home, and business on a train and ship it ahead to the next town. Although the carnival business is a hard life, full of many unsavoury characters, and difficult situations, Alice and Lew consistently rose above this environment. Anne’s Carmelcrisp was a regular part of Gray’s Midway Shows from the mid 1930s until The Gray family got out of the midway business in the mid 1960s. Anne’s Carmelcrisp itself was sold in 1975 when Alice and Lew retired. In the early years it was difficult to travel the northern route: North Bay, North Cobalt, Timmons, Cocrane, Hearst, Kapiskasing, Geralton, Nipigon, Sault Ste Marie, Blind River, Espanola. Some of the moves were made by train, and bridges were not always available to cross rivers.

Llewellyn and Alice raised two children: Irene Agnes Appleton 1935, and Frederick Llewellyn Appleton 1947.

There was a period of time, before and after the birth of Irene in 1935 that Llewellyn and Alice were separated. Irene was Llewellyn’s step-daughter in fact only, being raised by Llewellyn as his own. Llewellyn and Alice lived together at 1045 Hamilton Road, London, Ontario. The original house was built about 1940, but it was completely remodelled in 1956 with the addition of a sun room and a third bedroom. They were proud of their home and kept it in show-room shape. In 1981, Llewellyn and Alice celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary by holding an “Open House” at their home. In 2021, the house is still standing and in very good repair.

In 1947 Frederick Llewellyn Appleton was born to Alice and Llewellyn. 1045 Hamilton Rd was the family home until 1995.

Music was a life long love for Llewellyn. He was always listening, singing, or whistling. He had the ability to hear the good from almost any artist, and enjoyed many different music styles. He was old enough to dislike Rock & Roll when it emerged, but he never criticized it. He understood the difference between a great voice and a great singer and preferred the better singer. He spent years trying to teach himself to play the organ and piano.

Llewellyn truly enjoyed his extended family. For many years Alice and Lew were “on the road” from March through to November, leaving the winter months to visit with members of both families. This time was planned very carefully to ensure that visits took place to each sibling, and that they hosted each family their home. Family reunions with each family were a key part of the social calendar.

Llewellyn inherited the ability to build things with his hands from working with his father. Although they are not thought to have been close, Llewellyn would have observed and helped his father building furniture, inventing stamp dispensers and other slot machines. In the late 1920s this business was known in London as “F. J. Appleton and Son”. The author believes that for a time both Llewellyn and his father worked at Globe Casket and here learned the skill of finely finishing wood.

Much of the interior finishing of the house on Hamilton Rd. was made by Llewellyn. He designed the flagstone fireplace that ran the entire width of the living room, identifying the shape snd size of each piece of stone. He built the bookcase that was embedded in this fireplace, and collected, arranged and finished the driftwood wall hanging that decorated the wall behind the fireplace. His handiwork was on display in every part of the house.

After retirement and the sale of Anne’s Carmelcrisp, Llewellyn and Alice travelled to places where they could research family history. This included many day trips within Ontario and the occasional trip to the United States or England. Being accustomed to living in a trailer through most of their working careers, Llewellyn and Alice purchased a “camper” van and continued to visit many relatives and do research using the van as their base.

Llewellyn Walter Appleton died of cancer when 85 years old. His final few days were spent in bed at the family home on Hamilton Road where he succumbed to the disease. Services were held for Llewellyn at Needham funeral home on Dundas St. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in London, Ontario.

Notes

1 Frederick Llewellyn Appleton (Llewellyn’s son also attended Lorne Ave Public School during the period when he lived at 911 Princess Ave.

2 HMS Niobe was a ship of the Diadem-class of protected cruiser in the Royal Navy. She served in the Boer War and was then given to Canada to form part of their first independent navy as HMCS Niobe. After patrol duties at the beginning of the First World War, she became a depot ship in Halifax. Classes at the Royal Naval College of Canada were held on HMCS Niobe, a ship used to train the cadets. Damaged in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, she was scrapped in the 1920s. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Llewellyn’s cap ribbons from HMCS Niobe are in the possession of Fred Appleton.

3 HMS Shearwater was a Condor-class sloop launched in 1900. She served on the Pacific Station. On September 8, 1914, the RN transferred ownership and the Shearwater (RN Decommissioned) became HMCS Shearwater. The Shearwater was manned after re-commissioning in order to be the Submarine tender for the two Submarines HMCS CC-1 and CC-2. This service saw the Shearwater escort the two Submarines to the East Coast's port in Halifax. For the remainder of the war, she saw very limited duty as a support vessel.She was sold to the Western Shipping Company in May 1922 and renamed Vedas.

4 The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. This is still the world's largest man-made accidental explosion.