Samuel Collier-3, Timeline

My great-grandfather Samuel Collier-3 leaves several loose ends. No birth record has been found to date. His whereabouts in 1881 remain to be accounted for in the UK census and no death record or even date of death is known.

My hunch is that Samuel Collier-3 died in Windsor, Nova Scotia sometime before the great fire there destroyed that city (and presumably all its written records) in October 1897. The province of Nova Scotia did not collect vital records during the period he would have been in Nova Scotia. Windsor sits on major deposits of gypsum so working in a quarry is consistent with Samuel Collier-2's marriage record. The fact that my grandfather went with my aunt and uncle to Windsor, Ontario to look for Samuel Collier-3's grave gives me pause, but if my grandfather only knew that his father died in Windsor, Canada, perhaps he never really knew of the Windsor, Nova Scotia possibility. Also worth noting in this context is that three of Samuel Collier-3's sisters emigrated to Nova Scotia later. Lastly, the Ontario records in ancestry.com seem very extensive so that I expect I might have stumbled upon a record of him in Ontario, had he ever gotten there.

• ca. 1858. Samuel Collier-3 born in the hamlet of Croft.
• 17 April 1861. Samuel Collier-3 living on Moss Lane in the hamlet of Croft at the time of the UK census with his parents Samuel Collier-4 and Sarah Rogerson-4 and five siblings.
• 2 April 1871. Samuel Collier-3 working as one of five servants on the James Gatrix farm in the village of Irlam according to the UK census. Age reported here would suggest a birth year ca. 1857.
• 3 April 1881. Have not yet found satisfactory match for Samuel Collier-3 in the UK census. Speculate that he may be in the military somewhere farther away from home. Need to check military records. Could be simply an illegible copy with a bad transcription too.
• 23 October 1886. Samuel Collier-3 marries Ellen Taylor-3 at St. Michael's church Flixton.
• 9 May 1887. Son, John Collier-2, born to Samuel Collier-3 and Ellen Taylor-3 in Brook Lane, Flixton.
• 19 June 1887. John Collier-2 baptized at St. Michael's church in Flixton, parents are Samuel Collier-3 and Ellen Taylor-3.
• 6 December 1888. Son, Samuel Collier-2, born to Samuel Collier-3 and Ellen Taylor-3 living at East Ordsall Lane in Salford.
• 3 February 1889. Samuel Collier-2 baptized at St. Michael's church in Flixton, parents are Samuel Collier-3 and Ellen Taylor-3.
• 6 July 1889. Likely arrival of 31 year old Samuel Collier-3 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Date of death in Canada as a quarryman. Undetermined.