Lillian Snook

Lillian Mildred Snook (18 January 1903 - 26 January 1989) was the adopted daughter of Anne Snook, somewhat mysterious because she isn't mentioned in her adopted father's 1930 obituary, and about whom the rest of the Anna Currie descendants remember very little.

She married Donald Cameron "Don" McLeod (12 March 1899 - 19 March 1963) in Winnipeg on 4 June 1924. Don was listed as a fireman on their marriage certificate.

They had a son, Elgin Murray Cameron McLeod (6 September 1926 - 14 July 1993), in Winnipeg.

Elgin had one son and one daughter with Jeanette Lillian Maxine McQuaig (born 1930 - died in Kamloops before 2018). He died on July 14, 1993, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 66.

Elgin had two children:

• Martin Leonard McLeod (19 March 1958 - 1 September 1999), who died in British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 41. He married the daughter of a Kenneth W. McKinnes (1939 - ) (who was perhaps this man: [1]) and had two children, including Ancestry member (and possible NHL player?) Kiel McLeod.
• Karen Dawn McLeod Heimbechner [2]

In 1960 at the time of her adopted brother George's death she was living in Fort William. Lillian's husband Don died in Ontario in 1963, and at some point after that, Lillian moved to British Columbia.

Lillian died at Trillium Lodge, a publicly-funded senior's home in the small town of Parksville, on Vancouver Island, on 26 January 1989. Her uncle John also died there so it is possible there was a family exodus for some reason to BC.

Lillian's obituary is infuriatingly short:

McLeod Lillian McLeod, 85, of Parksville died Thursday in Trillium Lodge [3] [4]. Sands Funeral Home.

— Nanaimo Daily News, Friday 27 January 1989

Her adopted sister Anna died five months later, in June 1989.

Lines of evidence

We know about her from six independent pieces of evidence:

1. The 1921 census, by which time she was living with Anna and George Snook, and establishing her year of birth as 1903. She is missing from the 1911 census at age 8, so she must have been adopted sometime after 1911 but before 1921.

2. Her mention in a news article about the wedding of her adopted mother's brother Joseph Parsons. (20 April 1922)

Lillian at her adopted mother's brother's wedding

3. Her mention in her adopted mother Anne Snook's 10 May 1924 obituary, which is the only source attesting that she was adopted, and which establishes that she was living in Winnipeg as of 10 May 1924.

4. The recollection of Bill Currie, who remembers personally meeting Lillian when he moved to Port Arthur in 1954; and she was specifically said to be an aunt of his father Jack Currie.

There were a number of my Grandma Currie's relatives living in Thunder Bay (Port Arthur) when my family moved there in 1954 and whom I met but, unfortunately, never clarified their exact relationship. Lillian, whom I believe my Dad referred to as his Aunt (which would make her Anna's sister - I don't recall any mention of what happened to George Jr.), was one. I can imagine census taking in 1911 missing or losing details so that could explain Lillian's absence in that edition.

— Bill Currie, grandson of Anna Currie, 2019

5. The recollection of Marilyn Hermiston, who also remembers a Lillian, although more vaguely. Marilyn Hermiston, great-granddaughter of George Snook, in 2019 remembered this: "Besides Annie Snook's brother George, I’m not sure [she had other siblings]. Think Dad had a relative by name of Lillian but that could have been his Uncle George’s wife, or the baby that died. Just know the name Lillian mentioned sometime. Sorry I can’t give you anything more"

6. Her brother George Jr.'s obituary (establishing that she married a Don McLeod and lives in Fort William as of June 1960).

7. A Manitoba marriage license on 4 May 1924 saying a Lillian Mildred Snook married a Donald Cameron McLeod (born 1899)

8. Her husband's obituary:

McLeod, Donald C. 64 19 Mar 1963 FW 20 Mar 1963 p.3

Early life

She was born circa 1903, according to the 1921 census.

She was adopted sometime after 1911 but before 1921. In 1911 she does not appear in the census listing with the rest of her family. In this census, it's just George, Anne, their namesake children, and George Sr.'s brother Edward Langley Snook living together.

At the wedding of her mother's brother Joseph Parsons in Port Arthur on 20 April 1911 or 1922, a "Miss Lillian Snook" is cited as accompanying the bride:

"The bride... was attended by Miss Lillian Snook, who wore a dress of negre brown trimmed with cream point lace and beads, with a corsage bouquet of pink carnations"

— Port Arthur News-Chronicle, April 1911 or April 1922

In the 1921 census she reappears in the record: an 18-year-old girl, working as a tailoress, living at 230 Algoma Street, Port Arthur, with her father and mother. Her father's income is $1550. All three are listed as Methodists; he is an Engineer at a "Powerhouse", his wife has no job, and his daughter is a "Tailoress" at a "Tailor shop".

Stranger still, in her father George's 1930 obituary there is no mention of her! She is not listed as a surviving child, or at all.

Apparent Marriage

She married a Don McLeod and moved to Fort William at some point prior to June 1960. We know this because in June 1960 her brother George Jr. died, and his obituary mentions that he is survived by two sisters: "Mrs. Alex Currie" of Winnipeg, and "Mrs. Don McLeod" of Fort William.

Future research

1. Other possible references to her are a Mrs. Lillian McLeod living at 290 Argyle Street on two voters' lists in 1935 and 1949, as a widow, with Mr. and Mrs. Lorne McLeod, the Mr. being a truck driver in 1935 and a fireman in 1949. (possibly her brother-in-law).

2. About 10 "Don McLeod" entries appear in the Thunder Bay obituary index. Searching these might find a man with a wife Lillian and a story of their life.

3. Her putative mother, Anna Parsons, had an obituary on Page 6 of the Port Arthur newspaper on 4 February 1924, and an "In Memoriam" entry the following two years on the same date and page. These entries might mention Lillian.

4. Perhaps George Jr.'s mention of a "sister" Mrs. Don McLeod meant a sister-in-law. Checking the siblings of his wife Pearl Cunningham would help to exclude this possibility.