Cochrane family line

The line that bears my own surname is also, in many respects, the one that has proven the most difficult. Family oral history only told me that my Cochrane ancestors were from Nova Scotia but originally from Scotland; when I was a young child, we visited Nova Scotia and my father showed us some of the places that were memorable to him. Unfortunately, no photos were labeled and virtually all of that information was lost as neither my father nor my siblings are still alive.

The surname has been spelled both with and without the final “e”, with the older records tending to be spelled ‘Cochran’.

James Cochran (unk-unk)

I have not found any documentation for this individual other than in others’ family trees. The same sources indicate a spouse by the name of Nancy Lyons and a son also named James Cochran (see following).

James Cochrane (1813-1898)

The earliest in the line that I have been able to positively identify is James Cochrane, who was apparently born in Ireland in or about 1813. I have not been able to definitively date his arrival in Nova Scotia, but it was certainly before 1841 as that is when he was married in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

He married Eliza Ann English (1818-1895) on 14 February 1841 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Her parents names were Abel English (1791-1866) and Elizabeth Crawford (1796-1872), who both appear to have been born in Nova Scotia.

In the 1861 census, a ‘James Cochran’ appears as the head of a household that consisted of 5 males and six females, for a total of 11. Unfortunately, none of the names of the other members of the household are available on this document.

In The History of Kings County by Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton (1910), there is this entry:

Another text, The Cogswells in America, by E.O. Jameson (1884, Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son) has this passage at page 233:

It was the son James, born on 30 November 1844, who is the next step in the family line and my ancestor (great-great-grandfather).

The 1871 census shows James as being 60 and Eliza being 54. James’s occupation is shown as being a carpenter. On the next page, a number of other Cochrans are found, some of whom correspond with the above.

• John, aged 64, carpenter, born in Ireland (probably James’ brother, born in 1843)
• James, aged 25, carpenter
• Elizabeth, aged 23
• Annie, aged 22
• Nancy, aged 21
• Samuel, aged 18, carpenter
• Charles, aged 16
• Margaret, aged 13
• Florence, aged 11

There is a passage in the book “The History of Kings County, Nova Scotia, Heart of the Acadian Land” (referenced above) which describes how ‘Brother James Cochran’ fashioned a Master’s Chair for the local Masonic Lodge:

“An interesting relic of the lodge is a Worthy Master’s Chair, made by
Brother James Cochran from the wood of an oak tree cut on the
farm of a brother mason, who had grown it from an acorn, and had
presented it in 1878.”

The 1881 census shows a number of inconsistencies, such as showing James as being 68 and Eliza being 65. The following other individuals appear in the household:

• James Jr., aged 34, carpenter
• Charles, aged 27, carpenter
• Nancy, aged 28, dress maker
• Annie, aged 29
• John F., aged 14
• David, aged 9

The 1891 census shows James (84), Eliza (74), Charles (32), Annie (36) and David (18) shown as a living in the same household – David seems to be the grandson of the head of the household. The ages do not quite correspond to those from other sources but it is unquestionably the same household.

As is so often the case in compiling family histories, there are always some facts that seems to contradict matters. Using the ‘Find a Grave’ search tool, I was able to find an entry for both James Cochran and Eliza Ann Cochrane in the Chipman Corner Cemetery in Kings County. This would be entirely consistent with their places of residence, but the years of birth of both vary from the above records: specifically, it shows James as having been born on 18 March 1805 and Eliza Ann as being born on 24 August 1895. There is a photo of the memorial, but it is not possible to read the inscription.

Also in this cemetery are:

• John Cochrane (1843-1872), son of James and Eliza, died age 29
• Mary Cochrane (died 1868), relationship unclear, died age 86
• William Z. Cochrane (1855-1860), son of James and Eliza, died age 5

I was also able to find an obituary for James in the Halifax Herald (Tuesday, 15 November, 1898, page 5):

I have searched the ship arrivals from 1924 in Nova Scotia, so far without success.

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James Cochran(e) (1843-1936)

There is no documentary record of my great-grandfather’s birth – only what can be gleaned from secondary sources. As late as 1881, he was still living with his own parents but appears as a lodger with his in-laws (the Ross family) with his own family on the 1891 census. He is listed as being a ‘machinist’, and their son Donald (my grandfather) was two years old.

Luckily, the 1901 census includes the dates of birth of all who were included in the household. From this, we can see that James was born on 30 October 1837 and Rachel on 23 April 1870.

So, from this record, we can see that James and Rachel had the following children:

1. Donald Stuart Cochrane, born 31 March 1889 in Nova Scotia – my grandfather*
2. Mable Estra Cochrane, born 29 September 1893 (married Herman Percy Brennan in 1912, died 1951)
3. Hilda Grace Cochrane, born 28 January 1898 (married Frederick John Parker in 1920, died following childbirth in 1922)

This small excerpt is from the 1907-08 edition of McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, in which James is noted as being a “pump maker and machinist”.

A record in the 1911 was more difficult to find, as the surname had been transcribed as ‘Cockson’ rather than as ‘Cochran’. The excerpt clearly shows James, Rachel, Donald, Mable and Hilda all living in the same household in Aylesford. Both James and Donald are listed as being a ‘machinist’.

The 1921 census shows James Cochrane (with an ‘e’) as the head of the household in Aylesford, with Rachel and Mabel. Mabel’s husband Herman and their son James are both shown as ‘lodgers’ in the household. Once again, the ages of James, Rachel and Mabel don’t quite match previous census declarations.

The final census on which James appears is that of 1931, and he is noted as living in the household of his daughter, Mable Brennan. James’s age is noted to be 92. Rachel is absent from this census entry despite the fact that she lived until 1938. There is a census record for a Rachel Cochrane from the same year in Annapolis, where she was employed as a cook. This is consistent with notes made on her death certificate seven years later: “last occupation cook 8 years”. Her place of residence is nonetheless shown as being Aylesford.

James died at Aylesford on 18 June 1936, with the cause of death noted as being ‘cystitis’. His birthdate, according to the death certificate, was 31 October 1838; his age at death was noted to be 97 years, 7 months, and 18 days. His daughter, Mabel Brennan, was the informant.

Rachael passed away a couple of years later in Digby, Nova Scotia. Once again, Mabel was the informant.

As noted above, it seems that Rachel (who was much younger than James) worked outside of the home as a cook for the last several years of her life.

I have not been successful in finding a record of her burial.

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Donald Stuart Cochrane (1889-1943)

My paternal grandfather was born on March 31, 1889, though some later records show his birthdate as being the same date in 1887. I am using the census of 1891 as being the best evidence, as it is unlikely that someone would not know the difference between a two- and a four-year-old.

By 1911, Donald was 22 years old and his occupation is stated as being a ‘machinist’. It is also interesting to note that the family describes their ethnic origin as ‘Scotch’ rather than Irish.

It is possible that Donald was ‘double counted’ in the 1911 census. He is also listed as being a ‘lodger’ in the Parker household – as we can see from above, Parker was the surname of his sister’s husband. He is also described in that entry as being a ‘machinist’, and the birth year and other details appear correct. His place of employment was at a sawmill and it appears that his earnings were 35 cents per hour.

In 1915, Donald enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Details that were not previously evident from his census records includes his place of birth (Scot’s Bay). Also note that his date of birth is now listed as being 31 March 1887 rather than 31 March 1889. He was therefore attesting that he was 28 years old, rather than 26. There seems to be no reason for the discrepancy, as it is difficult to see any advantage that he might have gained by claiming to be two years older than he was.

On April 11, 1919, there was an article on page 3 of the Evening Mail (Halifax) regarding the repatriation of some Canadian soldiers – Donald’s name was among them.

His stay in Nova Scotia must have been brief, because by October of that year he married Helen Maud Russell in Winnipeg (13 October 1919). It is unknown why he moved to Winnipeg, or indeed how long they stayed there. The 1921 census shows them living there with their first child, Thelma, who was born on 22 November 1919 – but in Nova Scotia. Their second child, Audrey, was born on 11 July 1921 (a month after the census), also in Nova Scotia. I have not been able to find any record of their births in Nova Scotia, yet all subsequent census entries show them as having been born in Nova Scotia. The 1921 census also shows 1888 as being Donald’s year of birth.

We know from other sources (Manitoba vital statistics) that both Thelma and Audrey were, however, born in Winnipeg.

We know for a fact that both Bob and Ian – the next two children – were born in Aylesford, N.S. Bob was born on 2 March 1923, and Ian on 19 July 1925.

The 1931 census finds Donald as a foreman in a machine shop in Winnipeg, with a yearly wage of $2,400.00. He was noted as being the owner of the house in which they lived and which was valued at $5,500.00. He gave his age as being 43, again implying a birth year of 1888. The census also confirms that the family had a radio. The youngest child, Vivian, was born shortly after the census was conducted (her date of birth was 31 July 1931). All four children noted on the census were again indicated as having been born in Nova Scotia, though we know from the Manitoba vital statistics records that both Thelma and Audrey were born in Winnipeg.

I know from my father’s stories that he attended school in Nova Scotia for a time. The exact dates of when the family, or some of them, moved back and forth to Winnipeg are unclear. What is known that by the late 1930s or early 1940s the couple were living apart from one another. In Maud’s obituary in 1946, it was noted that “Mr. Cochrane had been employed by the Winnipeg Brass foundry. He died in Halifax in 1943, while employed as a mechanic in the wartime shipbuilding industry.”

Donald died on 21 July 1943 at the Camp Hill Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The cause of death is noted as being ‘acute pulmonary edema’, due to coronary thrombosis and myomalonia (sp). It was also noted that he had chronic bronchitis and pleurisy. The year of birth on the death certificate is shown as being 1888.

There was only a terse obituary in the Winnipeg Tribune the following day, stating only that he had died in Halifax and that he was the husband of Maud Cochrane.

When we visited Nova Scotia in the summer of 1967, my father saw Donald’s grave for the first time. I am not sure of the exact location, although there is a reference to Auburn, N.S. on the death certificate. There are a couple of cemeteries in that area, and the St. Mary’s cemetery in Auburn shows a Cochrane among the surnames there. Investigation on this issue continues.

The couple had five children:

1. Thelma Maud Cochrane⁺ (November 22, 1919, in St. James-Assiniboia, Manitoba) – married Gerald Lenton, remained in Winnipeg
2. Audrey Edith Cochrane (July 11, 1921, in St. Vital, Manitoba*) – married Roy Mitchell in Halifax in 1941, moved to Victoria, B.C.
3. Robert Russell Cochrane (March 2, 1923, at Aylesford, N.S.) – remained in Winnipeg
4. Ian William Cochrane (July 19, 1925, at Aylesford, N.S.), my father, married Catherine McIntyre, remained in Winnipeg
5. Vivian Cochrane (July 31, 1931, at Winnipeg) – married Herbert Johnston, moved to Kitimat, B.C.

⁺Thelma’s Manitoba birth record is 1919,062166.
* Audrey’s place of birth is noted as being “St. Vital, Manitoba” on her marriage certificate. Manitoba birth record is 1921,025841.

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Ian William Cochrane (1925-2014)

My father was born on July 19, 1925, in Aylesford, Nova Scotia. He was the youngest of the siblings until his sister Vivian arrived in 1931.

As can be seen from the notes on Donald and Maud’s lives, the movements of the family between 1919 and 1943 are somewhat unknown. My father told me that they moved back and forth between Winnipeg and Nova Scotia, and that he went to school there. He remembered the name of one of his teachers, Mrs. Mappleback (a common name in the Aylesford area). The family may have also lived in Halifax for a time.

The 1931 census, the latest that has been released, shows the family living in Winnipeg – just prior to Vivian being born. All of the children (except for Vivian) are declared to have been born in Nova Scotia, and my father’s birth certificate states his place of birth as being Aylesford.

With the objective of determining the family’s whereabouts during this period, I turned to the Winnipeg Henderson Directory (click to enlarge):

As a further clue, there is this snippet from the Winnipeg Free Press (8 September 1938, p. 19), when Ian would have been 13:

So it would seem that the entire family packed up and went to Aylesford in 1938, though we can’t be completely sure of the motivation. It may have been because of the economic situation at the time, or it might have been a result of the death of Donald’s mother that summer. It’s possible that the house that his mother was living in was now vacant and that he returned in order to re-establish in Nova Scotia. Their daughter Thelma had aready married Gerald Lenton in 1937 and had remained in Winnipeg.

It would be interesting to examine the telephone directories of that time to see exactly where they were living. In any event, my father’s memory of having attended (and dropped out of) school in Nova Scotia makes sense, as he would have been 13 when they moved to Aylesford. I believe that he only finished the 8th grade, so that implies that he only attended school for a year or two following the move.

From 1932, we have this charming bit of news (Winnipeg Free Press, May 28, 1932):

Audrey‘s marriage certificate from 1941 (when Ian would have been 16) shows that she was living in Halifax at the time, at 180 Robie Street, and working as a clerk at a credit company. The civic addresses were changed in Halifax and the current address is 1312 Robie Street (it appears to now be part of Dalhousie University). Here is a side by side of how it appeared when our family visited Nova Scotia in 1967, and in 2023:

Another “then and now” comparison: The photo on the left was also taken in 1967, during our epic summer holiday. The one on the right dates from 2025 and is from a real estate website – my dad would have loved to have looked at some of the interior photos!

The address is 2557 Nova Scotia Trunk 1, in Aylesford.

It is clear that Maud and the three younger children were back in Winnipeg at some point in 1942 or 1943, from the Henderson Directory entry showing her to be living at 137 Enfield Crescent in St. Vital.

According to his military file, Ian enlisted in the Canadian Army Reserves on 9 April 1943 (a few months before his 18th birthday) and worked in the No. 5 (R) Divisional Ordnance Workshop (at the rank of private) until 7 February 1944, at which point he joined the Royal Canadian Navy. It seems that from 1942 until 1944, he also worked at Western Steel as a sheet metal worker. After basic training in Winnipeg, he was deployed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. He spent about six months of his service at sea—the ship that he referenced was the Jolliette, a town-class frigate.

Following his discharge from the navy in 1946, he lived with his mother on Craig Street in what is now called the Wolseley area of Winnipeg. At the time of Maud’s death in June of that year, it was noted that Bob and Vivian were also living “at home” with their mother.

From that point, it seems that Ian stayed in the family home on Craig Street for a short time but by 1947 he was living with his sister Thelma and her husband (Gerry) in St. James.

Although Ian expressed a desire to work with the railway following his military service, he ended up working on the post-war housing boom. At one point, he entered into a partnership with another man named Don McAngus (who went on to have a very successful business).

Many of Ian’s plans were abruptly interrupted when he contracted polio in 1953. Winnipeg saw an epidemic of that as-yet unpreventable disease sweep through the city that summer—it is not clear when exactly he was stricken and hospitalized, but we know that he spent a considerable period of time in the Municipal Hospitals in Winnipeg.

If there was a silver lining to having contracted the disease, it was in the hospital that he met a young occupational therapist, Catherine McIntyre, who became his wife in May of the following year. He had recovered from the worst (he had apparently been told that he might not walk again) but still walked with a brace or, at best, with a pronounced limp, for the remainder of his life.