The Rising Village: Voices of Canada in the 1800's: 30 Days of Remembrance - Day 16

In memory of
Lance Corporal
Arthur Stacy Payne
who died on November 14, 1920

Military Service:

Service Number: 681577
Age: 33
Force: Army
Unit: Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)
Division: 58th Bn.

Additional Information:

Husband of Ada Elizabeth Payne, of Toronto, Ontario.

Cemetery:: TORONTO (PROSPECT) CEMETERY; Ontario, Canada
Grave Reference:: Veterans 922.

Commemorated on Page 552 of the First World War Book of Remembrance.

At first glance it appeared that Arthur Stacy Payne wasn't actually a casualty of war, since he died in 1920 in a Toronto Hospital. I found his attestation papers which showed that he signed up for the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary force on March 27 1916. So it would seem likely that he saw some combat action.

Searching for Arthur Payne on Ancestry left me a bit puzzled. I found a tree that seemed to match with the correct wife (as well as a number of children and step children), but no sources. I decided to use the FreeBMD site to look for a birth registration for Arthur that matched his date of birth of June 17, 1887 and came up with this:

Surname	Given Name	District	Volume	Page	Transcriber
Births Sep 1887
PAYNE	Arthur Stacey	Lewes	2b	177	radiomick

This site does not give detail and the dates are by quarter so the registration for Arthur Stacey Payne's birth could have occurred anytime in the 3 months prior (and the actual birth even earlier) but it seemed like I was on the right track. I couldn't locate a baptism however so no help with parents names. I went back to Ancestry to see what I could find on Arthur's marriage and wife. I had no luck with a marriage but I found what looked to be the correct family on the 1911 Canadian census living in Halifax, Nova Scotia - Arthur Pane born July 1887, his wife Elizabeth b 1880, a daughter Mary 4 months, and a stepson Vincent Fagan. Arthur is listed as born in England, immigration year 1907. Elizabeth and both children are listed as born in Nova Scotia. So far it all seemed plausible and fit the tree to a point. I had a look for other children and found an Arthur Henry Payne b 1913 in Toronto to Arthur Payne and Ada Elizabeth Waterman which lined up with the other info I had but one little detail stood out- the birth registration indicated that the parents were married in England in 1912, a year after Mary's birth. Back to the Free BMD and found a registration for the marriage in Lewes, Sussex, in the April - June quarter, 1912.

I decided to go looking for Ada Elizabeth Payne in 1921 to see if there were more children and this is where things got muddled. The only census record that seem to fit was also in Halifax but under the last name of Payne there were 2 entries- an A.S. Payne, (initials only) head of the family, born England age 34 and E Payne, wife, 42, born Nova Scotia. There were no Payne children listed but there was a stepson, V. Fagan, age 14, all of which fit the 1911 census but not the death of Arthur in 1920! I'm left with a mystery.

Arthur Stacey Payne's Circumstances of Casualty record shows only that he died at Davisville Hospital in Toronto and was buried in Prospect Cemetery.

but the Ontario Death registration shows that he died of cardiac failure as a result of sub-acute endocarditis which he had suffered from for 3 years and likely contracted during the war.