Helen Maud Cochrane (nee Russell)
She was born on June 4, 1887 at Avongrange, in Hamilton, Glasgow, Scotland. Her parents were Archibald Russell (1855-1900) and Helen Isabella Johnson (1855-1938). She had three brothers and three sisters.
Little is known about her early life in Scotland. She married James Wilson (b. 1877) on March 26, 1907, but divorced him several years later. Some documentation, however, is in the name of Helen Maud Wilson.
During World War I, she worked as an ambulance driver in France. For her service, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross. A number of years ago, I wrote to the Royal Red Cross to see what records they might have, and was provided with images of this index card:
At some point (in either France or in England) she met Donald Stuart Cochrane (1889-1943), who was deployed to France from Canada as a member of the Canadian Forestry Corps.
She arrived in New York on October 2, 1919, aboard the S.S. Carmania from Liverpool. She was still using the surname “Wilson”, but it is undoubtably the same person as the address given is the same as that on the index card above.
In the part of the landing form that requests details of her destination, the officer wrote above the typed “In Transit to Winnipeg” the following: “Intended husband Donald Cochrane (illegible) Hotel”
She made her way from there to Winnipeg and married Donald in that city on October 13, 1919. He had sailed back to Canada earlier that year, though it is not certain exactly when he arrived in Winnipeg. It is also not known why a man from Nova Scotia, who had just spent several years in Europe, ended up in Winnipeg. Presumably he had some contact there, or an offer of employment.
The couple had five children:
- Thelma Maud Cochrane (November 22, 1919, at Winnipeg?)
- Audrey Edith Cochrane (July 11, 1921, at Winnipeg?)
- Robert Russell Cochrane (March 2, 1923, at Aylesford, N.S.)
- Ian William Cochrane (July 19, 1925, at Aylesford, N.S.), my father
- Vivian Cochrane (July 31, 1931, at Winnipeg)
The family first appears on Canadian census records in 1921, two years after their marriage. Their address is shown as being at 117 (or 175?) Vivian Avenue, in St. Vital. It appears that the census was taken just before Audrey was born. It notes that Thelma was born in Nova Scotia, which seems unlikely but not impossible. Donald’s occupation is listed as “toolmaker”.
At some point, though, the family moved back to Nova Scotia.
Maud (as she preferred to be known) traveled back to the UK in 1924 with Thelma (4), Audrey (3), and Bob (1). They arrived in Glasgow on 23 April 1924 aboard the “Saturnia”, indicating their destination as Merkland, Moffat. They sailed back to Canada on the “Sachem”, departing Liverpool on 18 September 1924, arriving in Halifax on 29 September. She indicates her destination as being Aylesford, Nova Scotia, so the family was clearly living there at that time. Also, my father was born in Aylesford in July of 1925, so they were in Nova Scotia until at least then.
The 1931 census shows the family back in Winnipeg, though Vivian is still a month or so from being born (Maud was 44 when Vivian was born). Donald is listed on the census as being a foreman in a machine shop. Interestingly, the four older children all seem to have been reported as being born in Nova Scotia. My father, Ian Cochrane, appears on his first census!
(Note that the release of data for the 1941 census will not occur until June 2, 2033).
Donald later moved back to Nova Scotia at some point without his family. He died in Halifax in July 1943, with the death certificate noting that his death was due to heart failure. He is buried in Nova Scotia, and his obituary in the Winnipeg Tribune simply notes that he was the “husband of Maud Cochrane, 167 Enfield Crescent, Norwood”.
Aside from her work as an ambulance driver during the war, there is no indication that she was ever employed in any capacity. It is likely that she was in receipt of some of the wealth that had accrued in the family a few generations before.
She was, however, very active in the community and was a keen curler. She was the president of the Manitoba Ladies’ Curling for the 1937-38 season and curled at the Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg. There are several articles in newspapers of the time that mention her activities.
The original photograph can be viewed better here.
During World War II, she would invite servicemen who were separated from their families to dinner on special occasions such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. She did this by contacting the local military base and offering to host one or more of them.
Her husband Donald died on July 21, 1943, in Halifax.
Maud died on June 21, 1946, of cervical cancer. According to Pat Basso, it was common at the time for diagnoses to be late because of the social stigma attached to cancer. At the time of her death, her three youngest children (Bob, Ian and Vivian) were still living at home.
