This page holds the open questions behind Five Summers on the Lakes. A major 28 August 2026 research breakthrough moved Captain Ted’s orphan years from family memory toward a documented reconstruction; this notebook now separates what has been resolved from the questions that remain.
The August reconstruction still stands, but two new primary records now close questions that were explicitly open: Ted’s baptismal identity and the identity of Ellen’s daughter “Mrs. Kirby.” The legal guardianship question remains open.
A delayed Nova Scotia birth registration preserves the St. Paul’s baptismal entry for a child born 6 November 1905 and baptized 14 January 1906 as Alfred Edward Clarence Reginald Davies, son of Alfred and Ellen. The name order differs from Ted’s later usage, but it directly explains the 1921 census use of “Alfred.”
The Halifax marriage register for 24 June 1912 records Joseph Kirby marrying Nellie Davies, daughter of Alfred and Ellen. Ellen’s 1916 obituary can therefore be read with much greater precision: the daughter “Mrs. Kirby” with whom Ellen was residing was Nellie.
The 1 June 1921 census still provides the hard sister-household placement at 46 Bland Street. The new baptismal name makes “Alfred Davies” no longer a naming obstacle: Alfred was one of Ted’s own recorded Christian names.
A Joseph Kirby appears at 25 Wellington in the 1919–20 and 1920–21 directories, but Halifax had several Joseph Kirbys. The 1 June 1921 census shows another family at 25 Wellington. Treat the address as part of the wider Davies-family network, not as a proven Ted residence or an automatically identified Kirby household.
The old working idea that Nellie might be the later Spryfield aunt named McNeil is now weaker, not stronger: Nellie is proven married to Joseph Kirby in 1912. A later Kirby→McNeil remarriage would have to be documented before those identities can be merged.
The latest Ted Jr. recording remains controlling oral-history evidence: guardianship is unresolved; “Bertha” was prompted rather than independently recalled for the Spryfield aunt; domestic, Christmas and friendship details may be used only with their source boundaries intact.
The 1918 marriage, Roy’s 1919 birth, directories, the 1920 McKenzie marriage, the 1921 household and the 1931 census remain the strongest chain proving one older-sister household placement.
The official Canada Gazette proves the O.B.E.; the 1945 Imperial Oil Review identifies Davies as Sarnolite master and credits seventeen convoy-commodore assignments.
The broad hunt is over. The remaining Captain Ted questions are now narrow enough to target specific records.
These were once legitimate leads. The new records have either answered them or changed their meaning.
Found: Roy Albert Hall, 15 August 1919, Nova Scotia Archives ID 381441.
The earlier rejection of Burton Ronald McKenzie + Violet Alice Hall is withdrawn. The broader Hall→McKenzie record chain now makes them part of the relevant family reconstruction, while preserving the contradictions in the 1920 register.
The 1918 Charles M. Neall / Bertha Davies index entry is no longer the lead for the sister in the 1921 household. The primary Violet Alberta Davies → Charles Michael Hall marriage is the controlling bridge.
The government honours notice independently proves the O.B.E. The old publication hedge can be retired.
The previous publication bar is lifted narrowly: same hull, father commanded it as Sarnolite in 1945, Robert sailed aboard it as Imperial Hamilton in 1955.
That age was interviewer-supplied, not Ted Jr.’s recollection. Do not repeat it as testimony.
Found. The delayed birth registration preserves the St. Paul’s entry: born 6 November 1905, baptized 14 January 1906 as Alfred Edward Clarence Reginald Davies, son of Alfred and Ellen.
Found. The 24 June 1912 Halifax marriage register names Joseph Kirby’s bride as Nellie Davies, daughter of Alfred and Ellen. Mrs. Kirby in Ellen’s obituary can now be identified as Nellie.
Withdraw the old “strongest candidate” wording. Nellie was a Kirby from 1912; only evidence of a later remarriage could reconnect her to the McNeil surname.
Primary and period-primary records: civil registrations, censuses, directories, church registers and official government publications control when available.
Document images control transcription: the original record image is preserved alongside the interpretation. Indexes, OCR and automated transcripts are finding aids; if they conflict with what the image or original audio supports, the primary image/audio controls, with unreadable handwriting left explicitly uncertain.
Family testimony: memories are attributed to the speaker. The phrase “sister to sister” remains family reconstruction, now partly corroborated by the 1921 census rather than converted into a year-by-year custody fact.
Identity chains: variant names are not silently harmonized. Violet Alberta / Violet B. / Bertha / Alberta / Violet Alice remain visible because the records themselves vary.
Contradictions: the 1920 McKenzie marriage calls Violet a spinster and contains conflicting birthplace/parent fields. Those entries remain part of the evidence and are not edited away to make the genealogy cleaner.
Robert’s birth: the contemporary baptismal register directly attests 2 April 1936. The separate question of why Book 27710 says 1935 remains open.
Robert: Continuous Certificate of Discharge No. 27710; Saint Aloysius baptismal register entry B.36; The Shamrock 1955; family photographs and attributed testimony.
Captain Ted’s family network: 1891, 1911, 1921 and 1931 Canadian census records; the St. Paul’s baptismal extract preserved in Ted’s delayed birth registration; McAlpine Halifax directories from the birth/orphan period; Ellen Davies’s July 1916 obituary; the 24 June 1912 Joseph Kirby–Nellie Davies marriage; 1918 Violet Alberta Davies–Charles Michael Hall marriage; 1919 Roy Albert Hall birth; 1920 Burton Ronald McKenzie–Violet Alice Hall marriage; 1921 Ronald Edward McKenzie birth; and both Ted Jr. interview recordings, with original audio controlling.
Direct archive links: Roy Albert Hall birth — NS Archives ID 381441 · Ronald Edward McKenzie birth — NS Archives ID 403124.
Captain Ted’s wartime record: Winter 1945 Imperial Oil Review and the official Canada Gazette, 1 January 1945.
The “Imperial Sarnia” cook clipping: it concerns a different Robert. The complete five-entry discharge book records this Robert Davies as deckhand or wiper, never cook. Preserve the clipping in the archive, but do not merge that man’s service into this story.
For oral history, begin open-ended. Do not supply “Spryfield” or “McNeil” until after free recall.
Start with: “Which of Dad’s sisters do you remember, and where did they live?” Then ask which he saw most often and whether he ever spoke about where he lived after his parents died.
Did Robert ever tell anyone that he saw, heard or remembered the 1961 explosion of his former ship?
Mark the exact face in the 1950 St. Joseph’s photograph and the 1969 fastball team photograph.
Who drew on the graduation portrait? Was “The Brat” a real nickname? The classmates and their families may know more than the paper does.