Butler, Henry: Service no. 189305

Family Search: When Private Henry Butler was born on 28 January 1883, in Tottenham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom, his father, Jonathan Butler, was 45 and his mother, Mary Ann Cross, was 38. He married Ada Cortina Woodcock on 26 October 1913, in West Ham, Essex, England, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 5 daughters. He lived in Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom in 1911 and Blenheim, Kent, Ontario, Canada in 1915. He registered for military service in 1915. In 1915, at the age of 32, his occupation is listed as labourer in Blenheim Township, Oxford, Ontario, Canada. He died on 8 August 1918, in Crouy, Somme, Hauts-de-France, France, at the age of 35, and was buried in Crouy, Somme, Picardie, France.

Ada and Henry, The Beginning

Henry Butler was born in Totinham, England to Jonathan and Mary Ann Cross Butler. Ada Cortina Woodcock was born in Nottinghill, London, England to Sarah Simmons and David Edward Corti Woodcock, the sixth of eight children. Her father was an officer in Scotland Yard’s police force.

Ada married John William Frederick Sandys of Dublin, Ireland and London. They owned and managed a hotel and “pub” (bar) in the heart of London. One son, William John Frederick Sandys, was born to them in 1900. While bouncing someone out of the pub a patron kicked her husband in the privates and he died. While Ada was dealing with funeral arrangements for her husband the woman taking care of the baby dropped him and didn’t tell her and he died from injuries from the fall. Ada had lost her husband and her first child before she was 19 years old. After his death, Ada sold their hotel and purchased a laundry, which she operated for six years. On October 26, 1903, she married Henry Butler. Four children were born to them in England: Iris May and a twin sister – 1906, Henry (Harry) – 1910, and Dorothy Maud – 1914. The twin sister died shortly after birth.

They immigrated to Ontario, Canada in October, 1914 with their three small children. Henry Butler joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1915 and served in World War I. A fourth child, Dohreen was born in Canada on April 19, 1918. Henry was killed on August 8, 1918, in Marcelcave, France and buried at Croix, Somme, Picardie, France.

In 1926, Ada and her family moved to her sister’s ranch in Wyoming. She later bought a home in Cokeville where she raised her family. About 1944, Ada fell on the ice and broke her hip. She walked on crutches for the next thirty years. In December, 1968 she was honored by her family and friends on her 92nd birthday. Ada (96 years old) died in Ogden, Utah. She is buried in the Cokeville, Wyoming, cemetery