May 2016
The Coulsell surname has always belonged to a relatively small number of individuals living mainly in England until emigration began less than two-hundred years ago. This is fortunate for anyone delving into the history of the family, although misspellings, which are common, can make the search sometimes challenging.
The British roots of the Coulsell family have been traced back several generations by descendants now living in England, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The emigration to Australia of Lane Bradford Coulsell III [1834 - 1909] and his wife Jane Foster [1841 - 1910] along with their children during the mid 19th century has been well documented. Australia was also the destination of James Coulsell [1816 - 1897] and his wife Emma Parratt and James' sister Mary Ann Coulsell [1824 - 1865] with her husband Frederick Cox perhaps a bit earlier. New Zealand became the home of Eleanor Coulsell [1818 - 1900] a distant cousin of our branch of the family and her husband John Eaves at about the same time. My Grandfather's sister Florence Edith is known to have married Frederick Sidney Jourdain in 1898 and subsequently emigrated to South Africa.
The history of the American branch of the Coulsell family begins in England with James Samuel Coulsell II [1848 - 1916] and his wife, Annie Maria Thomas [1852 - 1916]. James and Annie had a daughter Florence Edith born in 1875, and a son, the patriarch of our branch of the Coulsell family, Archibald James [1881 - 1951].
Archibald James Coulsell married Louise Mary Ann Daniel in 1903. Archibald was a journeyman carpenter in London during the early 1900’s. Louise, prior to their marriage, a vaudeville singer and dancer. Louise was the only child of George and Louise Daniel. Archibald and Louise had nine children. Five died at birth or shortly after and only minimal information is known about three of the five.
Florence Edith Coulsell and Frederick Sidney Jourdain made their journey to South Africa aboard the Braemar Castle in December 1905. As of 2011, no substantial information has been found about Frederick and Florence or any of their possible descendants.
Sometime prior to 1906, Archibald and Louise made the decision to emigrate to Canada. The reason for their move was never mentioned to anyone of my generation, but conditions in the area where our family had lived provide a clue. Bethnal Green is a district in the East End of London. By the end of the 19th century, it was one of the poorest slums in London. Jack the Ripper operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighboring Whitechapel. Archibald and Louise can be remembered with gratitude for their fortunate decision.
The emigration of Archibald and Louise Coulsell and their family from England to Canada involved several transatlantic trips between the years 1906 and 1920. Their initial trip was made with their first son, my father Reginald Archibald who was born in 1904 in Thundersley, Essex. The process was interrupted by World War I and Archibald’s volunteer enlistment in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in January of 1916. The family returned to England for the duration of the war, returning to Winnipeg, Canada in June of 1920. The long journey was finally concluded by their final journey by automobile to the United States in 1922.
Archibald’s family may not have been the first Coulsell immigrants to Canada. An uncle of Archibald's, Frederick Thomas Coulsell and his wife Elizabeth Ornsby and their daughters, Ethel Emily and Alice Mae probably arrived about the same time. Although no record of their emigration has been found, Alice's name appears in the destination entry on the Passenger Declaration cards our family members completed prior to their final arrival in Winnipeg in 1920. The daughter of another of Archibald's uncles, Charles William Coulsell and his wife Ellen F. Goodman, Minnie Seaford is known to have arrived in Toronto in 1922. There is also some evidence that Archibald's sister-in-law, Mary Ann Thomas, immigrated to Canada with her husband Alfred Pipe.
There is also an inbound passenger list for the S.S. Canada sailing from Liverpool, England on April 6, 1905 and arriving in Portland, Maine on April 16, 1905. Included in the list is a group of young men in transit to Doctor Stevenson's Childrens Home in Hamilton, Ontario is 16 year old George Coulsell. No further information about George has been found.
The earliest emigration record is an entry on the outbound passenger list of the steamship Lake Manitoba departing Liverpool on April 24, 1906 bound for Montreal. The passenger list shows only A. J. Coulsell. Archibald is shown as a carpenter, 25 years of age and mysteriously single. His name is crossed off and there is no appearance of Louise or Reginald on the list. It is evident the family’s plans were delayed and they did not sail in April.
The voyage to Canada and return to England took about one month and the Lake Manitoba next departed from Liverpool bound for Montreal on May 28, 1906. The passenger list still shows only A. J. Coulsell. Archibald is still single. His name is not crossed off and there is still no appearance of Louise or Reginald.
The Lake Manitoba arrived in Montreal on my father's second birthday, June 9, 1906. The inbound passenger list compiled by the purser upon arrival shows Archibald Coulsell on one page and Louise and Reginald on another. Unless Louise and Reginald were stowaways, their omission from the outbound list was an error by the purser. The occupations of both Archibald and Louise are listed as carpenters.
Archibald and Louise's second child, Doris May was born July 3, 1907 after their arrival in Brandon, Manitoba. Doris May had a twin brother, James George who lived only eight hours. The family returned to England on the steamship Tunisian on September 18, 1908. Doris May appears on the Liverpool inbound passenger list along with Archibald, Louise and Reginald. Archibald is listed as a carpenter. The reason for their return or their destination in England are unknown, but it did result in another Englishman, James Keith, their second son born in Ilford, Essex on January 4, 1909.
The family traveled to Canada for the second time, departing from Liverpool on the Laurentic on April 30, 1910. Archibald's name appears twice on the outbound passenger list, once without the remainder of the family and again with Louise, Reginald, Doris, and James. Both entries for Archibald show his occupation as laborer. The Laurentic arrived in Montreal on May 9, 1910. The destination of the Coulsell family is shown as Brandon, about 130 miles west of Winnipeg.
Another child, a girl was born on July, 27, 1911 and lived for only one day and was not given a name. She is buried at the Brandon Municipal Cemetery. The name on the cemetery record is "Caulsell". She is buried in section 007, block D, plot 027, subplot 001. A third son, Leslie George was born on April 26, 1914. He lived only six days, the "Province of Manitoba Official Notice of Death" lists Asthemia as the cause of his death. He is buried at the Brookside Cemetary in Winnipeg. The family is shown living at 702 Arlington Street in Winnipeg at the time.
Archibald enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on January 20, 1916 and was assigned to the Royal Winnipeg Rifles/Winnipeg Light Infantry 101st Battalion with the rank of private. The 101st Battalion left for England on June 29, 1916 on the RMS Olympic, one of the two sister ships of the Titanic. The Olympic carried 70,000 Canadian and American soldiers across the Atlantic to Britain in World War I. Archibald was transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion on July 13, 1916. He did not serve in an active battle area and was admitted to the Brigade Hospital on September 3, 1916 and to the Canadian Red Cross Hospital in Buxton, Derbyshire on October 21, 1916. His military and medical records show that he received a medical discharge due to rheumatism and myalgia on March 13, 1917. Louise, Reginald, Doris, and James returned to England on the steamship Grampian on September 25, 1916.
The final journey to Canada as a family was made on the steamship Scotian which departed from London on June 16, 1920 and arrived in Montreal on June 29, 1920. Archibald’s mother Annie traveled to Montreal with them as her husband, James Samuel Coulsell II, had died on July 25, 1916. The entire family is listed on the outbound and inbound passenger lists. Archibald, Louise, Reginald, Doris, and James are indicated as returning Canadians previously living in Canada from 1910 to 1916. Annie is arriving for the first time. A note in the listing indicates Archibald is a returning soldier with his family.
Arriving passengers over a certain age were required to complete Passenger Declaration cards for customs officials. The card for Annie shows her sister Mrs. Alice Coulsell [likely an error on the card] living at 20 Rose Avenue as her destination. The cards for the rest of the family show an aunt at the same destination address. Louise’s card shows the family had lived on Aikins Street prior to leaving Canada in 1916. The family traveled third class from Liverpool and, with the exception of Annie and Archibald, the Canadian Government paid for the family's passage back home after the war.
Annie Coulsell made her final round trip alone to England in August of 1921 and on to South Africa in September. In England she visited her sister Mary Ann Pipe who was living at 38 Forest Road in Forest Gate, a residential area in the London Borough of Newham. The Forest Gate area was the childhood home of Archibald and his siblings. Annie's sister married Alfred Pipe on February 6, 1882. In South Africa Annie visited her daughter Florence who had emigrated there with her husband Frederick Sidney Jourdain in 1905. No further information about the South African branch of the family has ever been found. Annie Maria became an U.S. citizen in 1938 and lived with the family until her death in 1939. She is buried at the Inglewood Park Cemetery.
Louise Coulsell made her final round trip alone to England in May of 1937. Her five month visit was made in time for the coronation of King George VI on May 12th. Louise’s destination was 11A Babington Road in Romford, a large suburban area in the London Borough of Havering. Archibald’s sister Florence was married in Romford in 1898 and James Coulsell, Archibald’s and Louise’s second living son, was born there in 1909.
There is a family story that has been put to rest with the discovery of the details of their transatlantic trips. The story tells of one return journey to be made on the Titanic, but by a stroke of luck the family missed taking the ill-fated ship by one week. The Titanic sailed from Liverpool in April of 1912 bound for New York. As it seems, unless another trip is found, the family was in Winnipeg from May of 1910 to September of 1916 and a large bit of luck can be saved for another day.
Other family stories claim the Huguenot ancestry of the Coulsell families. There is a story that during the bitter wars between the Roman Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots an earlier Coulsell escaped from France by ship by hiding in a wine barrel. The wars lasted from 1560 to 1590. The story goes that on his arrival in England on Guy Fawkes Day, November 5th, which was celebrated with a huge bonfire on the village green and with exploding fireworks. With the celebration taking place, he thought he had escaped the religious war in France only to arrive in the middle of another war in England. The story could be true if the celebrations of Guy Fawkes and the timing of a Huguenot escape might coincide.
Eric Patten who was living in Shropshire, England in 1996 and is the grandson of Margaret Coulsell, tells of earlier spellings of the name, one of which is Courcelle. There is a Boulevard De Courcelles in Paris, a major street in a fashionable part of the city. Another tale of our French forefathers, an ancestor is said to have owned a silk factory, but during the French Revolution, lost everything. The revolution lasted from 1789 to 1799. There is some history of silk weaving in the Bethnal Green district of London, an area in our families past, in the early 1800s. The earliest reference to a Coulsell in England that I have found is to a Johannes Coulsell who died in Isleworth, Middlesex about 1678.
Another story claims the captain of the ship that brought the Liberty Bell from England to America was a great uncle of Archibald. This may have been the reason that Archibald was offered the title of Lord, only to decline as "it would not have put bread and butter on the table". Archibald seems a practical man whose distant cousins, another story points out, were Lord and Lady Sharp, who founded the Sharp Creamy Toffee Company. Their toffee packages carried the Royal Seal. A story tells of relatives of Archibald emigrating to Tasmania, Australia where one became the head of the Fruit Growers Association. As of 2011, no members of our branch of the family have been located in Australia.
The Canadian census of June 29, 1906, taken three weeks after their first arrival in Canada, shows Archibald, Louise and Reginald living at 341 9th Street in Brandon, Manitoba. They are shown as boarders living with the Wilson family who had arrived two years earlier. Archibald's uncle Frederick and his family are not shown on the 1906 census. Other than the birth of James George and Doris May, no other details are known about the family's first stay in Canada.
The next Canadian census taken in 1911 shows Archibald, Louise, Reginald, Doris and James living at 251 12th Street in Brandon, Manitoba. Also listed are Frederick, Elizabeth, Ethel and Alice Coulsell at 191 Ellen Street in Winnipeg, about 135 miles east of Archibald and his family. Archibald worked as a cabinetmaker for the Grand Trunk Railway during the family's second stay in Canada. Two letters from Louise to Archibald written during August 1912 still exist. The letters are addressed to General Post Office and C/O Royal Bank of Canada in Ardath, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ardath was a small railroad hamlet along the Grand Trunk Railway, about 400 miles west of Brandon. It is likely that Archibald's work for the railway took him away from the family during this time.
The Canadian census taken June 3, 1916, just days before Archibald's departure with the 101st Battalion, shows him in the military still in Canada with Louise, Reginald, Doris and James living at 471 Aikins Street in Winnipeg. Archibald's occupation is shown as a cabinetmaker for the Grand Trunk Railway. The death of Archibald's father and his pending medical discharge may have been factors in Louise's decision to return to England with the children. Two letters from Archibald to Louise written in December 1916 and January 1917 were addressed to her at 53 Cranleigh Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England.
It might be a reasonable guess that the family waited for the end of World War I and for Archibald's mother Annie to make her arrangements before returning to Canada. The ensuing three years and nine months was to be their final time in England. Archibald was 39 years old upon his return and planned to continue his work as a building superintendent. Reginald was 16 and planned to continue as a designer. Perhaps my father's artistic abilities matured during their time in England. Doris 15 and James 12 were to continue their schooling. Annie is shown on the incoming passenger list as joining her sister Mary Ann Pipe.
The Coulsell's third and final stay in Canada was in Winnipeg. Their Passenger Declaration cards show an aunt, Alice Coulsell at 20 River Avenue as their destination. The 1916 Canadian census shows Elizabeth Coulsell, a widow and Alice May living in Winnipeg. Frederick had died sometime after 1911 and their daughter, Ethel Emily had married Ernest Miles in 1914. Alice was to marry William Thomas in 1923.
The family lived on Young Street for a time and at 581 Machray Avenue. They were able to purchase a gramophone and record shop and lived above the shop from 1920 to 1923. Archibald and Lousia's last child, a third son, Donald Kenneth was born in 1922. At some point during their time in Winnipeg, Archibald was employed by Gray-Campbell, Limited selling Canadian manufactured Gray-Dort Motor Cars.
Reginald took a position as as an assistant color reproducer on the Artist Staff of Bulman Brothers Limited where he and George Toseland met and became close friends. A letter of recommendation, "We feel assured in recommending him that our recommendation will be borne out in good shape." was given to Reginald to help him in finding similar work in California. I'm sure that a second letter recently found pleased my father, "If by that time you are not comfortably situated, why perhaps you would like to come back and freeze up again for a season. Tell George that any time he would like to come and sit with his old engraving machine we will be very glad to have him." Both letters written August 7, 1923 still exist. Except for a vacation trip made with his family in the late 1950s, my father did not return to Winnipeg. George Toseland remained in California, married Mildred Mason in 1934 and died in Arizona in 1982.
Perhaps it was the cold winters, family stories do not include a reason, but early in 1923 the family made the decision to move again, this time to the United States. They sold the gramophone shop and rented a home at 122 Bryce Street until they left for California in July. There are only a few photographs and records of their journey, but on applications for United States citizenship made by family members in the late 1930s, the trip from Winnipeg to where they crossed into the United States at Noyes, Minnesota on July 3, 1923 is shown as made on the Great Northern Railroad Train Number 8. The photograph taken by George Toseland shows the family around their heavily packed automobile camped in East Grand Forks Minnesota on their way across the Red River to Grand Forks North Dakota. Although it is difficult to tell, the insignia on the radiator of the automobile may be that of a Gray-Dort. Family stories tell of the seven Coulsells and George Toseland traveling in a single automobile, but one existing photograph taken along their journey shows what appears to be two automobiles traveling together. Other photographs taken after their arrival shown our family's automobile with Manitoba License B106 497, and what may be George's with California License 52 237. A logical guess might be that Archibald and George each drove their automobile from Winnipeg to Noyes meeting the train passengers to begin their journey. The campground in East Grand Forks would have been about 80 miles south of Noyes, perhaps one days journey in an automobile in 1923.
Archibald, Louise, Reginald, Doris, James, Donald, Grandmother Annie, along with George drove to West Los Angeles arriving on July 23. The reason for their choice of destination is not one of the family stories nor is the change from the San Diego destination shown on "The List of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission" form showing their entry into the United States.
Archibald built the family home at 2718 South Bentley Avenue in West Los Angeles. Photographs taken at the time show an orchard of trees with only a single home, the family's, starting construction. South Bentley had filled with homes by the time I was old enough to remember my family's visits. It was a lovely home with a living room and bedroom in the front and a large kitchen, two more bedrooms and bath in the rear. There was a separate garage and a workshop for Archibald. Louise enjoyed gardening and filled the backyard with flowers and a vegetable garden. My most vivid memory was of the pond in the backyard with goldfish that fascinated the grandchildren. Archibald and Louise would be sad to know the pond was replaced by the Santa Monica Freeway.
The carpentry skills Archibald learned as a young man in England were likely taught to him by his father James Samuel. The certificate of Archibald’s birth lists James Samuel II’s occupation as a builder, the certificate of James Samuel II’s birth lists James Samuel I’s as a master plumber and glazier. Archibald was self-employed as a custom cabinet maker and carpenter. His business card states: Cabinetmaker- Refinishing-Custom Built Furniture. Family stories have him doing work for Bing Crosby and many notable people. While living in West Los Angeles, Archibald and Louise were active members of the Bay Cities Post 143 of the Canadian Legion in Culver City Louise and Doris were active in the Ladies Auxiliary.
Archibald and his second son James operated a Rio Grande Gasoline Station at 10799 West Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles during the 1930s. That address no longer exists, but it may have been on the north-east corner of Pico Boulevard and Glendon Avenue, just across Glendon from the present Apple Pan restaurant. Although its fate isn’t known, it was mentioned in a trade magazine in 1931. It may be that Doris and her future husband Donald Skinner met while he was working at the station.
Archibald became a Naturalized United States citizen on March 18, 1936. His Draft Registration Card from 1942 lists his employer as Hughes Aircraft on Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles. Family stories tell of his working on the H-4 Hercules Flying Boat while at Hughes. The huge aircraft, better known as the Spruce Goose, was made largely of wood and even a small contribution would have been a proud memorial to Archibald's woodworking skills.
Archibald died on July 26, 1951 from the affects of a stroke suffered while attending the Canadian Legion Convention in Santa Cruz, California. He is buried near his mother at Inglewood Park in the 100 Charter Oak section of the cemetery devoted to members of the Canadian Legion. In her later years, Louise remarried. She outlived her second husband, Frederick Gilbert Leamen, and died in 1965. She is buried in space 4, lot 8450, in the Devotion section at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.
My father, Reginald Archibald, married the granddaughter of Helen Lofstrom, Esther Helen Eaglin in 1927. The 1930 Census shows that my parents owned a home at 2625 South Bentley Avenue just one block north of the rest of the family. They lived there during the early years of their marriage, moving to the San Fernando Valley prior to my birth in 1940. They lived for several years in a quaint house at 4118 Kraft Avenue at the corner of Dilling Street in North Hollywood until they moved to a home that Reginald designed at 4502 Irvine Avenue about 1942. They moved again to the home where I was raised at 5445 Simpson Avenue in 1947 and finally to a Mobile Home Park on Canoga Avenue in Canoga Park in 1970.
Reginald was blessed with a natural artistic ability. During the depression of the 1920's and 1930’s he was fortunate to be employed by the Meyberg Lighting Company and then Dietzmann's Ironcraft Works in Los Angeles. While at Meyberg, he designed the chandeliers that are still hanging in the Chinese and Pantages Theaters in Hollywood. I remember him telling of airplane trips to Hearst Castle to work on lighting fixtures and ironwork used at San Simeon. Some of the fixtures installed at Death Valley Scotty's castle are Reginald's work. While at Dietzmann's he designed the gates which stand at the main entrance to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. The original drawings of the gates are still a family keepsake.
Reginald worked for many years as a Motion Picture Set Dresser for Columbia Studios, almost until his death in 1970. The men who worked in his "Green Department" almost became members of our family. I remember trips to the studio on Gower Street to see the sets they were building with truckloads of fresh greens ordered each morning. I always seemed to win the nail driving contests. Reginald did not live long enough to see his grandchildren, but Esther saw them grow up during her almost thirty years living alone until her death in 1999. My parents are buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood.
Doris May Coulsell married Donald Gordon Skinner in 1936. Doris and Don had two children, Doris Louise born in 1938 and Donald Keith in 1941. They lived on Armacost Avenue in West Los Angeles, near the border of Santa Monica a short distance from Archibald and Louise. I can remember many trips from North Hollywood over Coldwater Canyon to Santa Monica with a stop at the Apple Pan for hickory-burgers and visits with Aunt Doris and Uncle Don and my two cousins. Most of the trips included the short drive to see grandma and grandpa. I can still hear their British accents, and I wish now there could have been more family stories and questions asked. It was quite enough to be finally included in the family poker games which included lots of kidding and additions to my vocabulary. Doris and Don moved to Canoga Park in the 1970's, just across Ponce Avenue from their daughter Doris and her husband Bob. Donald Gordon died in 1986 and Doris May in 1990. They both are buried at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth.
James Keith Coulsell married Rachel Leath Saxton in 1930. James and Rachel had three children, James Keith born in 1931, Reginald George in 1932, and Gordon Barry in 1934. They lived on Princeton Street in Santa Monica right after their marriage later moving to Seward Street in Hollywood before their final move to Van Nuys in the 1950’s. Standing in the front yard of their home on Steward Street and looking north to the mountains I remember the Hollywood Sign. I also can remember visiting Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Ray on New Years Day to watch the Rosebowl Game on television. Their boys would be there with their families along with Aunt Doris and Uncle Don.
My father and Uncle Jimmy had perfected a good-natured rivalry. Our first television in the early 1950's was a ten inch Magnavox. Jimmy had entered the video era with his set, "better for watching the games", a twelve inch Muntz. A difficult challenge for Reggie cleverly met, the Magnavox was converted to a fourteen. Jimmy's new Cadillac Coupe de Ville was trumped by Reggie's bi-annual Oldsmobile 88's. I remember our first trip to see Jim and Rae's new home in Van Nuys, with the backyard swimming pool, but without a diving board or ladder. I also remember my father not saying much, a short time later, our new pool had a chrome ladder and a board with a built-in spring. James Keith died in 1994 and Rachel in 1995. Their youngest son Gordon died in 1991. All are buried at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth. Their middle son, Reginald, died in 2009, his ashes were scattered at sea.
Donald Kenneth Coulsell married Robbie Ann Wilkerson in 1952. Donald and Robbie had four children, Donald Kenneth born in 1953, Julia Ann in 1955, Donna Jean in 1958, and Lori Sue in 1964.
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