In our continuing series, I am sharing stories I received from our readers of how their ancestors ended up in this area and their early experiences upon arrival.
This account comes courtesy of Ken Sisler, who tells us the story of his aunt, Monica Sisler, who, by all accounts, had an interesting life. I should mention that his aunt lived near me at 72 Niagara St. when I was growing up, and I knew the family well. Here is her story.
Monica Frampton Sisler’s story begins in 1919 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, where she was born. Her father was in the British Army, and in 1921, this family found themselves living in Pachachi, India, where her sister, Joan, was born. It appears the family was living a pretty good life in India and apparently had servants. By 1925, the family had moved onto the British Colony of Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain. It was here that Ken’s mother and Monica's sister, Yvonne, was born. By 1931, this family had returned to England, and in about 1932, Monica relocated to Poole, Dorset, England.
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the area around Poole had thousands of soldiers stationed there. Here, the first step in our story unfolds. Monica met a young Canadian soldier, Howard Sisler, who was stationed there. They married in 1942 at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.
In 1946, Monica boarded a ship along with her son, Peter, headed for Canada. From many other stories that I have recorded over the years, this was a common event back then, the arrival of the war brides to Canada following their repatriated soldier husbands.
Ken tells us this ship carried the wives and children of other Canadian Armed Forces members. Howard had travelled home to Canada on a ship that carried our Canadian Armed Forces members. Of interest is the fact that on Monica's ship was Betty Gordon, who would become a well-known resident of Newmarket. Many of the era will remember the Betty Gordon Dance Troup.
As one can imagine, it was to be a big change for Monica to move from a big city to the farm of her in-laws near Newmarket. Monica, Howard and Peter would soon move to Barrie, where four more children would be born.
About 1960, the family returned to Newmarket, where sadly, Howard passed away in 1971. Many years later, Monica married Roger Proulx and moved to Richmond Hill, Roger’s home. Roger passed away in 2005, and Monica Proulx moved on to live with one of her sons in Richmond Hill.
Then in 2013, Monica returned to Newmarket and took up residence at Eagle Terrace Nursing Home on the northeast corner of Eagle Street and Lorne Avenue. Monica rejoined her sister, Yvonne Sisler, at Eagle Terrance, where they became roommates. Yes, the two sisters had married two Sisler brothers.
Their stories had many parallels; both found their way to the Newmarket area, Monica as a war bride, Yvonne following her sister to Canada, both married a Sisler brother, and both went on to call Newmarket home. I think that it was a fitting end that both sisters found their way from England to Newmarket and eventually became roommates in their twilight years.
In 2019, Monica Proulx died at Southlake hospital in Newmarket, just two months short of her 100th birthday. Monica is buried with her first husband, Howard Sisler, at Pine Orchard Friends Cemetery, located just east of Newmarket.
The story of the Sisler sisters is most certainly not unique in our area. Over the years, I have interviewed many war brides, and their stories are always inspiring and intriguing.
This wave of war brides and their children here was a common story, and as I remember, it was not without some controversy. Between 1942 and 1947, the Canadian government would bring approximately 47,783 war brides and their 21,950 children to Canada.
Most of these women were from Great Britain, where Canadian forces had been based during the war. In several accounts I have read, I have come to understand that although the voyage and transition were often very difficult for many war brides, most would persevere and grow to love their adopted homeland.
I find the story of the repatriation of nearly 48,000 Canadian servicemen and their wives who had married overseas during the Second World War an intriguing story, and in the coming weeks, I shall return to it with a closer look at it. So many of these families settled or re-settled in our area, and it is a large part of our history.
In the coming weeks, in addition to my closer look at the war bride immigration wave, I will be posting more of your stories about how you came to live locally, and I will be writing about the story of the local Friends (Quakers) and the part they played in the Underground Railroad and the abolition movement. This is a story that I learned at my grandma’s knee and one I think many people do not know much about.
Sources: War Brides: The Stories of the Women Who Left Everything Behind to Follow the Men They Loved by Melynda Jarratt
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod — the History Hound — has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews. [email protected]
