Slingsby Lane — A Compton Branch

the Slingsby Line is through my Great-Great Aunt Lizzie Compton, daughter of William Walter Compton and Jane Franks. Upon the death of Jane, William remarried and had my Great-Grandfather, Charles Compton.

Lizzie had a interesting life — in England she married Samuel Slingsby. Together, they had 3 daughters. Sadly, Samuel died around 1892. Lizzie then married his brother, Harry Slingsby, with whom she had 4 more children. With all her children and husband, she moved to Canada — Toronto, Ontario in 1905.

Harry was killed in a Tram accident in 1911, leaving Lizzie to raise her children alone.

Slingsby Lane is named after one of these children, and the story of how it came about is a wonderful thing that is findagrave & genealogy.

Sapper Walter Samuel Slingsby was with the Canadian Royal Engineers. His death occurred when two lorries collided on a beach. He was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey, England.

I had found the memorial for Sapper Walter Samuel Slingsby and had him linked to his family and added a small bio about his death. When he died, he left behind a wife and 6 small children.

In the summer of 2012, I received a note on my findagrave page, asking me to contact a man at the Toronto City Hall as they wanted to get permission to name a lane after him.

Hi Susan,

I believe you may be able to help me. I am looking for any next of kin to Samuel Walter Slingsby or Viola Slingsby.

My name is Brian Hall, I work with the City of Toronto and we would like to name a new residential lane to honour Samuel Walter Slingsby of the Royal Canadian Engineers, who was killed in action during WWII on February 7, 1943. According to the Toronto Telegram, he lived on Connaught Avenue, Newtonbrook, (North York district of Toronto) leaving behind his wife Mrs. Viola Slingsby. I just noticed on this website he had 6 children.

I saw your name and your connection to Samuel Walter Slingsby or Viola Slingsby. Is there anyone in your family that could e-mail us permission to name this new residential “Slingsby Lane”. I can give you more details if I receive a response.

As I am not a direct relative, I forwarded the request to a great-niece, Caroline Katsios. Through Caroline, we were able to get ahold of several closer relatives, including the Grand-daughter of of Walter, Barb Sims and also Kelly Moore. It was through various emails, permission was granted and Slingsby Lane came into reality in late 2013.

I have tried for months to get a photo, and finally thanks to another member of the Compton line, Dave Percy, I was sent the photo. Here is the location on google maps and then the photo of the sign.

slingsbymap

And thanks to Dave:

slingsbylane

So, through this little sign a family name will live on.

And it is thanks to findagrave, International Wargraves Photography Project and genealogy that linked together myself, Caroline, Barb and Kelly.

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