Great-uncle George William Smart was a surprise when I found him on the 1871 census living at 9 Paul Street, West Ham in the extended (and I suspect complicated) family of great grandfather Thomas William Smart and his second wife Mary Blair (née Still) and her children. By the time of the 1881 census his father had died and his stepmother was planning her next marriage. Although I can’t find George on this census he can’t be far away as he married Mary Ann Elizabeth Carter in Bethnal Green on the 25th December 1881. I have found her in 1881: she’s living with her parents and brothers at 7 Cross Street, West Ham. Her father is a railway signalman and the family are from Yarmouth in Norfolk. Her brother Ambrose is a Smith like George, so I wonder if that is how she met her future husband. In 1891 George and Mary Ann are living at 71, Victoria Street, West Ham with three children: Marguerite Ann, Thomas William and John Arthur. George is working as a Blacksmith as his father and grandfather had done before him. On the 8th March 1900 the family sailed from Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia on board the Vancouver. George’s occupation appears to be Farmer - a possible misreading of Farrier. By the time of the 1901 Canadian census they had crossed the continent to arrive in Revelstoke, British Columbia where George is once again working as a Blacksmith. Revelstoke is in southeastern British Columbia and is located about 400 miles east of Vancouver. The town was founded in the 1880s when the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was built through the area, and this is presumably how the Smarts crossed from east to west. By 1903 George was well-enough established in Vancouver to be the vice-president of the International Order of Blacksmiths Vancouver Union. (Vancouver Independent Sat. Jun 27 1903) On the 29th August 1904 Mary Ann died in Vancouver, and George married Johanna Heffernan on the 29th January 1912. Johanna had arrived in Canada from her native Australia in 1910, having spent a year in Washington State on the way. Born in Bega in New South Wales in 1876, she was the oldest of the twelve children of Thomas Heffernan and Johanna Beck who had married in Bega in 1875. On the 19th November 1912 George, whose address is given as 2126 Eton Street, was granted a building permit for a two-story frame residence at 235 Templeton Drive, at the cost of $1500; he is named as architect and contractor as well as owner. On the 26th May 1915 George and Johanna’s son Desmond Francis (though the two names were sometimes reversed) was born in Vancouver. In the meantime George’s son Thomas William had married Ethel May Hale (30 June 1908) and his daughter Marguerite Ann had married Thomas Kennelly (10 May 1911), both in Vancouver. I can’t find any of them in the 1911 Canadian census, except perhaps George’s son John Arthur who is a Lodger, and a Merchant in Vancouver. But thanks to the British Columbia City Directories 1860-1940 I have found details of the Smarts in Vancouver from 1902 to 1916. The directory entries show their employers, occupations and residences and the culmination must be in 1908/1909 when the family are working together as blacksmiths under the name of G W Smart and Sons. A full list is at the bottom of this page. 1916 brought a big change for George and Johanna: they decided to move to the United States. George went first - probably with his son John Arthur - on the Princess Charlotte sailing from Vancouver and arriving in Seattle on about the 8th February 1916. He set about finding work and a place to live: when Joanna and baby Francis Desmond arrived on the 24th May 1916 they stated that they were going to join him at 911 Seneca Street, Seattle. On the 7th November 1916 their second son Lloyd George Smart was born in Seattle, and on the 4th February 1918 George became an American citizen. In the 1920 census George, Johanna and their sons are living in Director Street in Seattle and George is working as a Blacksmith: as most of his neighbours are employed in the Shipyard I guess he was also using his skills in shipbuilding. John Arthur Smart has married and is also in Seattle with his wife Elizabeth and children Florence and Arthur, and is working as a blacksmith. On his Draft Registration card from 1917 John Arthur gives his occupation as Blacksmith working for Skinner & Eddy Shipbuilding Co., his address is 1515 Forrest St., Seattle and he is already married. Strangely he gives his place of birth as Kent, England - but as he was only 10 when he left England he probably only had a hazy idea of the geography: like his father he was an Essex Boy. In 1930 George and Johanna are living at 3948 Eddy Street, Seattle; George is a blacksmith in the shipyards and Johanna is a cook in a restaurant. Desmond and Lloyd are aged 16 and 14 respectively and are still at home with no occupation. John Arthur (or Jack as he appears in this census) is now a house carpenter, and he and Elizabeth have gained another daughter, Eunice born in 1922. George possibly died in 1931 though this burial marker in the Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, has also been claimed for another G.W. Smart on Ancestry. In 1933 Johanna visited Australia with Lloyd, presumably to pay a final visit to her father who aged 97 was to die the next year. "Thomas Heffernan, the oldest man in the district, has died aged 98. He selected land near Bega in 1867." Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 1934. On their return - they travelled on RMS Niagara - through Vancouver in transit for Seattle on the 30th May 1933 she gives details of herself and Lloyd: she is a widow, aged 57 and a cook, and their address in Seattle is the same as in the 1930 census. She also says she has previously lived in Vancouver from 1910 to 1916 and gives her address there as 235 Templeton Drive; Lloyd is noted to have poor vision. They both give USA as their nationality but Irish as their race or people. In addition Johanna says that she was naturalized by marriage in May 1922 Superior Court, Seattle, Washington. Johanna possibly visited Australia again in 1947 - but this time she flew via Honolulu. Johanna died on the 18th May 1956 in Seattle. Sources: Canadian and US censuses, Naturalization and Draft documents on Ancestry. English censuses, passenger lists and border crossings on Ancestry and FindMyPast. Births, marriages and deaths from FindMyPast, Ancestry and FamilySearch. 1902 Henderson's BC Gazetteer and Directory - Vancouver Smart, G. Blacksmith. Van. Eng. Works 616 Princess 1903 Henderson's BC Gazetteer and Directory - Vancouver Smart, George, blacksmith N. Thompson & Co, h 636 Princess Smart, T., apprentice Van. Eng. Works, h 616 Princess 1904 Henderson's BC Gazetteer and Directory - Vancouver Smart, George, blacksmith N. Thompson & Co, 334 Alexander 1905 Henderson's City of Vancouver Directory Smart, George, blacksmith, lvs 271 Victoria Drive 1906 Henderson's City of Vancouver Directory Smart, George W., blacksmith, lvs 271 Victoria Drive 1907 Henderson's City of Vancouver Directory Smart, George W., blacksmith, lvs 271 Victoria Drive 1908 Henderson's City of Vancouver Directory Smart G W of G W Smart & Son h 2126 Eaton Smart G W & Son blacksmiths 56 Alexander Smart Thomas W of G W Smart & Son lvs 2126 Eaton 1909 Henderson's City of Vancouver and North Vancouver Directory Smart George W of G W Smart & Sons h 2126 Eaton Smart G W & Sons blacksmiths 56 Alexander Smart Thomas W of G W Smart & Sons lvs 2126 Eaton Smart John A benchman E H Heaps & Co. lvs 2126 Eaton 1910 Henderson's City of Vancouver and North Vancouver Directory Part 2 Smart G W blksmith Ross & Howard h 2126 Eaton Smart John A confectioner 1066 Pender W res 2126 Eaton Smart John E carp h 2126 Eaton Smart Thomas W blksmith E H Heaps & Co h 225 Templeton Drive W 1911 Henderson's Greater Vancouver Directory Part 2 Smart George W blksmith 142 Alexander h 2126 Eaton Smart John A confectioner 1066 Pender W Smart Thomas W blksmith E H Heaps & Co h 225 Templeton Drive N 1912 Henderson's Greater Vancouver Directory Part 2 Smart Geo W blksmith Letson & Burpee h 2126 Eaton Smart John A carp r 2126 Eaton Smart Thos W blksmith E H Heaps & Co r 2598 Eaton 1913 Henderson's Greater Vancouver City Directory Part 2 Smart Geo W grocer h 2126 Eton Smart John A grocer r 2126 Eton 1914 Henderson's Greater Vancouver City Directory Part 2 Smart Geo W grocer 235 Templeton Dr N h 2126 Eton 1915 Henderson's Greater Vancouver City Directory Smart Geo W grocer 235 Templeton Dr N h same Smart John A carp r 235 Templeton Dr N 1916 Henderson's Greater Vancouver City Directory Smart Geo W blksmith h 235 Templeton Dr N Smart John A carp r 235 Templeton Dr N

Bradley families George William Smart of West Ham, Essex … and Vancouver & Seattle