Agnes Glover Wells was born 22 April 1884 to Eliza Wells at Mill Street, Mildenhall RS W, in the district of Lakenheath, county of Suffolk, England1. Her father is not listed on her birth certificate, but we can assume his last name was Glover based on the fact that no other member of her family seems to carry on a name of Glover. I have since confirmed her father was John Henry Glover, see that story here. Her mother was a domestic servant at the time.
When Agnes was two her mother marries Charles Parr11. At that time they were living in Fordham, in the county of Cambridge. Although this is a different county, the distance between the two town is only 10K, so they did not move far at this point. Charles was an agricultural labourer.
By the time she was six, Agnes had two half-sisters, Fanny Ellen and Alice Maud, as well as a half-brother Harvey Charles William2. At that time, the family was still living in Fordham. Three more siblings were added to the family: Elizabeth, Ruth and Fred3.
According to the Salvation Army Agnes converted at the age of seven and a half10.
By 1901, at the age of 16 Agnes was a kitchen maid in the home of William Browne of Linwood, Lillington, Warwick4. Her mother had died in 1898 and it is presumed that Charles had died by this time as well, because her half-siblings were living in the Newmarket Union Workhouse as a group12. All except for the oldest Fanny Ellen, who at 13 was working as a domestic servant in Sonnet, Newmarket13.
It is from here that she joined the Leamington Spa Corps of the Salvation Army. She completed her cadet training and became a probationary lieutenant in 190714. At that time she was sent to work at Brent House in London, a maternity home for unwed mothers. She was then fully commissioned as a lieutenant in 190815. She was promoted to captain in June 191016.
In 1911, Agnes was working at the Home for Orphans and Destitute Children at St. John at Hackney in London4.
In 1914, Agnes was transferred by the Salvation Army to Canada5,17. She travelled on the Megantic with other Salvationists and arrived in Canada on 01 November 19145. In 1916 she was living in Calgary and working as an assistant matron19. She worked in the Winnipeg Grace Hospital, then in Vancouver, and then was matron of the Calgary Children’s Home10.
She was working there when she corresponded with her future husband, Thomas Richard Tomlinson, who lived in Cedervale at the time. Richard travelled out to Calgary and they were married in the Salvation Army Citadel on 05 November 19176. She was 32 and he was 39. On the marriage license she listed her name as Agnes Glover with Parr in brackets. She listed her status correctly as a spinster. Perhaps because of the Parr in brackets, some administrative person later incorrectly crossed out spinster and wrote in widow. Agnes listed her father as Charles Glover, using her stepfather’s first name as it is unlikely she knew the name of her father (though perhaps it was Charles, time and further research will tell).
Agnes and Richard settled in Cedervale in northern British Columbia and she continued her activities for the Salvation Army. She and Richard were promoted to Senior Field Captains in 194810.
Agnes and Richard had three children, Agnes Kathleen, known as Kathy in 1919, Walter Richard in 1921 and Mary Florence in 1924 when Agnes was 407,18.
Agnes and Richard lived on the farm in Cedervale until she was moved to the Prince Rupert Hospital in September 1951. She died of a heart attack brought on by blocking of the arteries on 15 September 19518and is buried in Cedervale9.
Link to Agnes Glover in Genealogy
See Agnes’s mother Eliza Wells here.
1Births (CR) England. RD: Mildenhall, Mill Street, Mildenhall RS W, Lakenheath, Suffolk. 22 April 1884. GLOVER, Agnes.
2Census. 1891. England and Wales. Fordham, Newmarket, East Cambridge, Cambridge. Listed as Agnes Wells. http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 2018.
3Census. 1901. England. Lillington, St. Mary Magdalene, Royal Leamington Spa, Lillington & Milerton, Warwick & Leamington, Warwick. Listed as Agnes Parr. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
4Census. 1911. England and Wales. 10 Springfield, Upper Clapton NE, London. Listed as Agnes Glover Parr. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
5Passenger list for Megantic departing Liverpool, England, arriving Quebec, Canada. PARR, Agnes. 01 November 1914. Collection: Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
6Marriages (CR) Canada. Calgary, Alberta. 5 November 1917. TOMLINSON, Thomas Richard and GLOVER (Parr), Agnes.
7Census. 1921. Canada. Skeena, British Columbia. https://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
8Deaths (CR) Canada. Prince Rupert, British Columbia. 16 September 1951. TOMLINSON, Agnes. http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/69117910-1253-4ccb-bea4-24c31836862e: accessed July 2018.
9Monumental Inscriptions. Canada. Meanskinisht Cemetery, Cedarvale, Kitimat-Stikine Regional District, British Columbia. 1951. TOMLINSON, Agnes. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141577494/agnes-tomlinson#view-photo=115909738: accessed July 2018.
10The War Cry, Official Gazette of the Salvation Army. 1951. A Native Indian Work Poineer, Mrs. Sr. Field Captain R. Tomlinson Promoted to Glory. Saturday October 15. No. 3490, Page 13 (plus picture on page 12). in The War Cry, Official Gazette of the Salvation Army, http://salvationarmy.soutronglobal.net/Catalogues/Search.aspx: accessed 2017.
11Marriages (CR) England. Fordham, Cambridge. 29 June 1886. PARR, Charles and WELLS, Eliza. 403.
12Census. 1901. England. Exning, Exning St Martin, Newmarket, Suffolk. https://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
13Census. 1901. England. Sonnett, St. Nicholas, Kennett, Cambridgeshire. https://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
14Official Gazette. 1907. UK Women’s Social Work. January. PARR, Agnes. Cadets to be Probationary Lieutenants.
15Official Gazette. 1908. UK Women’s Social Work. January. PARR, Agnes. Probationary Officers Fully Commissioned.
16Official Gazette. 1910. UK Women’s Social Work. June. PARR, Agnes. Promotions. Lieutenants to be Captain.
17Official Gazette. 1915. UK Women’s Social Work. January. PARR, Agnes. Transfers. Ensign to Canada.
18A branch of Tomlinson Family. 1982. TOMLINSON, Thomas Richard.
19Census. 1916. Canada. Calgary East, Calgary, Alberta. . https://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2018.
