Parents of Dorothy Pearl Kathleen Spark/Davidson

Research Note by Wesley Johnston, begun 11 Jan 2014, last updated 11 Jan 2014

This is a research note to capture what I have found on the parents of Dorothy Pearl Kathleen SPARK (or SPARKS) who became Dorothy Pearl Kathleen DAVIDSON, apparently as a foster child or by adoption, either legal or de facto. I do not have first-hand knowledge of this family. I am tracing the descendants of my KEAM ancestors, and Elizabeth Jane (CARPENTER) DAVIDSON was the daughter of Henry CARPENTER, whose mother was Charity KEAM.

Since Dorothy did not appear in any census with Elizabeth, and since Elizabeth married at age 37, it was a surprise to me when I saw that the informant on Eleanor's death record was her daughter, Mrs. G. PRESTON. So I have been piecing together what I could find, and this is my best understanding of what the records are showing.

Birth Family

She was born Dorothy Pearl Kathleen SPARKS (definitely with the final S in the record) 28 April 1902 in Mariposa Township in Victoria County, Ontario, Canada. Her birth parents were John Clarence Spark and Eliza Ann Short, who had two older children. They had married 19 Dec 1894 at Cannington, Ontario. By 1911, Dorothy's mother had died, and her widowed father and siblings and her (age 9) were all living with her father's parents in Mariposa Township. In 1914, her father remarried.

Here are URLs for relevant information.

- 1872 Birth Record of her father (as SPARK): http://interactive.ancestry.com/8838/ONMS929_9-0134/1366455

- 1902 Birth Record of Dorothy (as SPARKS): http://interactive.ancestry.com/8838/onms929_161-0136/732112

- 1911 Census of Dorothy's childhood family (as SPARKE): http://interactive.ancestry.com/8947/e082_e002031825/6535152

- 1914 Marriage Record of father (as SPARKS): http://interactive.ancestry.com/7921/ONMS932_323-1294/2095271

- 1921 Census of Dorothy DAVIDSON lodging in PRESTON home: http://interactive.ancestry.com/8991/1921_094-e003044434/1708962

- 1923 Marriage of Dorothy DAVIDSON and George PRESTON: http://interactive.ancestry.com/7921/VRMCAN1923_102585-00688/3742486

DAVIDSON Family

Lorenzo and Elizabeth never appear in the census with Dorothy. In the 1911, there is a "Home child" (a foster child?) living with them.

- 1911 Census of childless Lorenzo and Elizabeth DAVIDSON: http://interactive.ancestry.com/8947/e082_e002031822/6535007

- 1921 Census of widow Elizabeth DAVIDSON alone: http://interactive.ancestry.com/8991/1921_093-e003044082/1855304

Observations and Conclusions

At some point between the 1911 and 1921 censuses, Dorothy SPARK/SPARKS became Dorothy DAVIDSON. She gave that as her name on her marriage record, where she also listed Lorenzo and Elizabeth (CARPENTER) DAVIDSON as her parents. So presumably, there was a legal adoption at some point between 1911 and 1921. The reasons for that cannot be learned from the records available to me at this point, and I will not speculate. But clearly it did happen.