James Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier (1885-1971)
Image courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Date of Birth: 2 August 1885
Place of Birth: Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
Date of Death: 1 September 1971
Burial Place: Sault Saint Marie, Ontario, Canada
Enlistment Date: September 1915
Served in Newfoundland: September 1915 - December 1918
Position: Telegraphist
Early Life
James “Jim” Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier was born on August 2, 1885 on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. He was the seventh child born to Robert Jarvis Bouteillier, a carpenter from French Village in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Helen Maria “Ellen” Smith from Eastbourne, Sussex, England.1
Robert and Ellen were married on September 23, 1874 in Chipman, Queens County, New Brunswick.2 The next year, in 1875, Jim’s oldest sister, Bertha May was born. His other living siblings were Clarke Jarvis (b. 1876), Clarence Edwin (b. 1878), Sarah Beatrice “Trixie” (b. 1879), and Richard “Dick” Stanley (b. 1881). Jim also had another sibling, Robert Esrom (b. 1883), who died shortly after birth.3 All of the Bouteillier children learned Morse Code from a young age.4
Jim, Dick, and Clarence out hunting
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Jim was nine years old when his mother died on August 20, 1894. His eldest sister Bertha died six years later on February 23, 1900. Jim and Dick were amateur Ornithologists on Sable Island. The records they kept were published in Ian McLaren’s book “All the Birds of Nova Scotia.”5 In 1901, at the age of sixteen, Jim moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia.6
Young Jim
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
This photograph above is of a young Jim with a signature on the back as a gift for his paternal grandmother, Ann Bouteillier (Spiers).
Working Life
Twenty-one year old Jim began working at the Marconi Company in 1906 as a Wireless Telegraphist. Jim was trained on Sable Island with John Dingle Taylor.7 He was stationed at Sable Island (NS), Clarke’s Harbour (NS), Belle Isle (NL), Cape Ray (NL), Camperdown (Halifax), Anticosti Island (Quebec, and the Magdalen Islands (Quebec).8 He worked at these stations through the years of 1906 to approximately 1963.9
When working at the station on Sable Island the Mumps disease made its way through. Jim and a fellow service member, Walter Gray, became very ill.10 At the time there was no vaccine and there was no treatment aside from attempts to lower a fever.
Marconi passport photo
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Marconi Account Books: January 1910
Source: MG28 III 72 Volumes 7-39 National Archives of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa Canada
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
In 1912 Jim was appointed Officer in Charge of the Marconi station in the Magdalen Islands in Quebec. The Magdalen Island station was constructed by John Dingle Taylor, an engineer with the Marconi Company since 1900 who worked with Jim on Sable Island.11
Ratification for Marconi Station
Source: MG28 III 72 Volumes 7-39 National Archives of Canada,
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa Canada
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Naval Service
In September 1915, at the age of thirty, Jim joined the British Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) as a wireless telegrapher on the HMS Calypso (later renamed Briton).12
HMS Calypso About 1910
Source: Admiralty House Communications Museum
Commander Anthony MacDermott wrote an account, “The Royal Newfoundland Naval Reserve,” in a chapter of Joey Smallwood’s The Book of Newfoundland. He states that after years of service, the Calypso was sent from England to St. John’s to be used as a drill-ship and for training of new recruits.13 It is specified that the Calypso provided armed guards for the Wireless Station in Mount Pearl, and, in reviewing the Briton Service List for 1916, it appears that other service members were provided. The name James Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier is registered as present on the Briton on January 20, 1916.
UK Navy List, 1888-1970
Source: Ancestry.ca
Image courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Service in Newfoundland
Jim’s service on the Briton led to his service at the H.M. Wireless Station in Mount Pearl. He worked as a Telegraphist from September 1915 to December 1918.
H.M. Wireless Station
Image courtesy of the Clem Scott collection
On January 24, 1916, Jim’s father, Robert Jarvis Bouteillier, wrote a letter to Jim’s brother Clarence “Clarrie” and notified that he had received “a letter from Jim on Saturday he has resigned from the Marconi Co and has a position with the Imperial Govt. at Mount Pearl”.14
Letter from Robert to Clarence. Blog Link!
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Life after the Station
After serving for a few years at the H.M. Wireless Station, on August 6, 1919 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Jim married Alice Edna Heighton (1889-1975) from River John, Pictou County, Nova Scotia.15 The marriage witnesses were Jane Lloyd and Elizabeth A. Gordon.16 The announcement of their wedding was posted in the Pictou Advocate, a popular Nova Scotia Newspaper. Jim and Alice then moved to Quebec together. They did not have any children.
The wedding announcement in the Pictou Advocate
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1670-1946
Source: Ancestry
After the records of marrying Alice, keeping track of Jim’s later life becomes a little fuzzy. Records are scattered and we only know approximate dates and approximate places of where he lived, worked, and what he and Alice did.
WW1 Medal Records for service as a wireless operator
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
At some point, likely in 1920, Jim was awarded a British War Medal for his service as a wireless operator according to this WW1 Medal Record housed at the National Archives.17
Jim and Alice lived in Sault Saint Marie from 1920 onward.18 Jim was working as Officer in Charge at the wireless station on Bruce Avenue, Sault Saint Marie, and his maternal aunt, Jane Lloyd, lived with Jim and Alice until her death in 1924.19
1921 Census
Source: Ancestry
Later Life
While we are unsure of the context of this picture; the donor, Jill Martin Bouteillier, identifies the couple on the left of the 1940 photograph as Jim and Alice.
Jim and Alice 1940
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
Jim retired as a wireless operator in 1963 and, according to a 1936-1980 Canada Voters List, resided in Apartment 3 of 139 Church Street in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario.20
Screenshot from Google Maps 139 Church Street, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
Jim’s last letter to his nephew
Courtesy of Jill Martin Bouteillier
On November 12, 1968 Jim sent a letter to his nephew, Bob, in Saskatchewan. Robert (Bob) is the son of Jim’s brother, Clarence Edwin Bouteillier. Jim mentions in the letter that he had a stroke and was in recovery, still having difficulty walking and talking, but thankful of what ability he had.
He talks of photographs and memories of his time on Sable Island, especially the importance of “Riggin Hill,” which Jim identifies as the highest hill on the island. At the end he thanks his nephew for reaching out to Trixie, Jim’s last surviving sibling, as she “seemed quite cheerful - even at her age”.21 He concludes with wishing the best of luck and love to his nephew.
Death
James Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier died on September 1, 1971 and was buried in Sault Saint Marie in Ontario. His wife, Alice Edna Heighton, was buried next to him when she died in 1975.22
Image Courtesy of Jill Martin
Family Tree
Parents:
Robert Jarvis Bouteillier (b. 1854, d. 1924)
Parents:
Esrom Bouteillier (b. 1825, d. 1897)
Ann Spiers (b. 1828, d. 1908)
Helen Maria Smith (b. 1844, d. 1894)
Parents:
John Smith (b. 1806, d. 1890)
Sarah Catherine Goldfinch (b. 1815, d. 1887)
Siblings:
Bertha May Bouteillier (b. 1875, d. 1900)
Clarke Jarvis Bouteillier (b. 1876, d. 1916)
Wife:
Helen Singer (b. 1878)
Clarence Edwin Bouteillier (b. 1878, d. 1962)
Wife:
Rebecca Bremner (b. 1875, d. 1936)
Children:
Helen Grace Bouteillier (b. 1902, d. 1990)
Robert Stanley Bouteillier (b. 1903, d. 1983)
Lillian Irene Beatrice Bouteillier (b. 1912, d. 1996)
Sarah Beatrice “Trixie” Bouteillier (b. 1879, d. 1978)
Husband:
Merton Byers Embree (b. 1889, d. 1956)
Richard “Dick” Stanley Bouteillier (b. 1881, d. 1928)
Robert Esrom Bouteillier (b. 1883, d. 1883)
Wife:
Alice Edna Heighton (b. 1889, d. 1975)
Parents:
Captain George Thomas Heighton (b. 1847, d. 1914)
Mary Perrin Dwyer (b. 1852, d. 1935)
1. James Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier Ancestry Profile. https://www.ancestry.ca/family-
tree/person/tree/55673342/person/26126663615/facts
2. New Brunswick, Canada, Marriages, 1789-1950.
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick; New Brunswick, Canada.
3. James Woodbury McLellan Bouteillier Ancestry Profile. https://www.ancestry.ca/family-
tree/person/tree/55673342/person/26126663615/facts
4. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2021
5. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2021
6. 1901 Census of Halifax (City), Ward No 6, Halifax, Nova Scotia, page 1. Library and
Archives Canada. Census of Canada, 1901.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2004.
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/database/census-1901
7. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2021
8. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2021
9. Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980. Library and Archives Canada;
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980
10. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2016
11. UK, Navy Lists, 1888-1970. Uploaded by Ancestry user Peter Singlehurst
12. Smallwood, Joseph R. The Book of Newfoundland. Vol. 2. St. John's: Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1937
13. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2016
14. Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1670-1946
15. New Brunswick, Canada, Marriages, 1789-1950. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick; New Brunswick, Canada
16. WW1 Medal Award Roll. National Archives. (ADM 171/92 Royal Marines: A-Z, Royal Naval Reserve: A-Mas 1914-1920)
17. Canadian Navy List October 1918. Department of Naval Service, Ottawa. https:..navalandmilitarymuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CFB-Esquimalt-Museum-Navy-List-1918-October.pdf
18.Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2021
19. Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980. Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Voters Lists, Federal Elections, 1935-1980.
20. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2016
21. Personal Communication, Jill Martin Bouteillier, 2016
Well done and very interesting!
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