My Family Tree

Alfred Mother dies in January of previous year (Jan 1922), Father dies in 1933.

Alfred arrived in Canada with £5-0-6.

Alfred was destined for working at T McAvity and sons, who paid his passage.

At that time T McAvity and sons, were a notable manufacturer in New Brunswick:

The first line of goods that was made in the foundry consisted of bells, rudder braces and various other brass articles and parts for ships. The age of steam was progressing rapidly, and to accommodate it, the first bronze valve was added to their line of products in 1879. From then, the company grew and expanded as conditions demanded adding new lines, plants and modern equipment, and new branches were established to facilitate product distribution. There were eight different locations in Saint John until they moved to the Rothesay Avenue building in 1918; the new 13-acre building amalgamated seven locations. The brass and iron foundries, machine shops and warehouses were now under one roof, but the plumbing department still existed in a separate building on Water Street.

In the early 1900s, T. McAvity & Sons was truly an innovative company. The products that turned out of the shops served many of the trade industries and utilities of Canada. Some of the products were gate valves, acid-resistant bronze and chrome-nickel steel valves and fittings for pulp mills, locomotive bronze work, inspirator valves, pops and whistles for the railways, bath and basin faucets, showers, traps and over 1,001 other articles used in the plumbing trade. The first McAvity fire hydrants were made in 1903 and were soon installed in municipalities all across Canada. The fire hydrant was the most familiar product of the day.

The Great War brought good times and bad for the McAvity family, company and staff. As well as devoting practically their entire manufacturing organization to the making of munitions, no fewer than five members of the McAvity family were on active duty in France, and 159 members of the McAvity staff were recruited to combatant units overseas, of which 26 did not return. The "Fighting 26th" New Brunswick Battalion was recruited and taken to France by the late Lieutenant-Colonel James L. McAvity. Many of the firms employees were enlisted in this unit.

T. McAvity and Sons grew to be one of the nation's leading foundry and valve casting companies. The company was unique in Canada for its self-contained, self-sufficient operation. From the in-house engineering to the foundries, machine shops and chemical labs, all work was performed from start to finish within the 13-acre complex. They manufactured more types and sizes of municipal waterworks equipment than any other company in Canada. The product lines expanded to include over 900 varieties of water main valves, corporation bronze valves and air and electrically controlled valves. The McAvity empire grew to include branch offices and warehouses in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver, and there were salesmen in strategic locations all across Canada. In 1955, the manufacturing plant of T. McAvity & Sons (Western) Ltd. was established in Medicine Hat, Alberta, to cover the western market. This plant manufactured fire hydrants, valves and waterworks specialties. The McAvity empire employed as many as 600–700 people.

(From https://www.clowcanada.com/about-us/company-history/)

Alfred Mother dies in January of previous year (Jan 1922), Father dies in 1933.

Alfred arrived in Canada with £5-0-6.

Alfred was destined for working at T McAvity and sons, who paid his passage.

At that time T McAvity and sons, were a notable manufacturer in New Brunswick:

The first line of goods that was made in the foundry consisted of bells, rudder braces and various other brass articles and parts for ships. The age of steam was progressing rapidly, and to accommodate it, the first bronze valve was added to their line of products in 1879. From then, the company grew and expanded as conditions demanded adding new lines, plants and modern equipment, and new branches were established to facilitate product distribution. There were eight different locations in Saint John until they moved to the Rothesay Avenue building in 1918; the new 13-acre building amalgamated seven locations. The brass and iron foundries, machine shops and warehouses were now under one roof, but the plumbing department still existed in a separate building on Water Street.

In the early 1900s, T. McAvity & Sons was truly an innovative company. The products that turned out of the shops served many of the trade industries and utilities of Canada. Some of the products were gate valves, acid-resistant bronze and chrome-nickel steel valves and fittings for pulp mills, locomotive bronze work, inspirator valves, pops and whistles for the railways, bath and basin faucets, showers, traps and over 1,001 other articles used in the plumbing trade. The first McAvity fire hydrants were made in 1903 and were soon installed in municipalities all across Canada. The fire hydrant was the most familiar product of the day.

The Great War brought good times and bad for the McAvity family, company and staff. As well as devoting practically their entire manufacturing organization to the making of munitions, no fewer than five members of the McAvity family were on active duty in France, and 159 members of the McAvity staff were recruited to combatant units overseas, of which 26 did not return. The "Fighting 26th" New Brunswick Battalion was recruited and taken to France by the late Lieutenant-Colonel James L. McAvity. Many of the firms employees were enlisted in this unit.

T. McAvity and Sons grew to be one of the nation's leading foundry and valve casting companies. The company was unique in Canada for its self-contained, self-sufficient operation. From the in-house engineering to the foundries, machine shops and chemical labs, all work was performed from start to finish within the 13-acre complex. They manufactured more types and sizes of municipal waterworks equipment than any other company in Canada. The product lines expanded to include over 900 varieties of water main valves, corporation bronze valves and air and electrically controlled valves. The McAvity empire grew to include branch offices and warehouses in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver, and there were salesmen in strategic locations all across Canada. In 1955, the manufacturing plant of T. McAvity & Sons (Western) Ltd. was established in Medicine Hat, Alberta, to cover the western market. This plant manufactured fire hydrants, valves and waterworks specialties. The McAvity empire employed as many as 600–700 people.

(From https://www.clowcanada.com/about-us/company-history/)