Martin Family Archive — Enhanced Historical Narratives
Denmark · Seafaring · Engineering · Displacement
The Jørgensen story reaches back eleven generations to Søren Winther (c.1550), who worked the Hedegaard farm in Todbjerg parish, eastern Jutland. For three centuries, this line remained rooted within a fifteen-kilometer radius of what is now Aarhus—farming, weaving, and serving as parish clerks in the villages of Mejlby, Todbjerg, Egå, and Hjortshøj.
Dagmar Härtel née Jørgensen (1889–c.1964) was born on 9 May 1889 in Mejlby Mark to Laurs Peter Jørgensen, a husmand (smallholder) and væver (weaver), and Ane Kirstine Pedersen. Danish church records (kirkebøger) document her baptism, vaccination, and confirmation at Mejlby Kirke in 1903, where she received the grade "god" (good). Her father Laurs Peter died young at 42 in 1890, when Dagmar was barely a year old. Her mother Ane Kirstine remarried in 1892 to Nils Andersen.A genealogical discovery reveals that Dagmar's grandparents were first cousins—both Karen Laursdatter and Peder Laursen Kuk were children of Laurids Michelsen and Anne Andersdatter. This was legal in Denmark but unusual, creating "double Ane numbers" in the ancestry chart.
Dagmar's son Anker Børge Jørgensen was born 1 August 1913 at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. Family memory suggests uncertainty around his early years, including periods of foster care on a farm where conditions were harsh. These experiences left marks that were rarely discussed.
Anker trained as a mechanical engineer and entered the Danish Merchant Navy during the Second World War, serving as First Engineer. Photographs place him in Iceland (Isafjord Island, 1941) and document his wartime travels between Scotland, England, Africa, the Canary Islands, and North America. He carried goods back to rationed Britain for family—an informal supply line driven by skill and responsibility rather than profit.
On 11 November 1942, Anker married Mary Helen Kidd in Edinburgh. The marriage registry from 18 November 1942 survives in the family collection. After the war, the family returned briefly to Denmark, where their daughter Ingrid was born. A photograph from 1945 shows Mary with her mother and infant Ingrid at Port Seton, Scotland.
In May 1951, the family emigrated to Canada aboard the SS Gripsholm. The immigration ID card stamped at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 6 May 1951 marks their official entry. They settled first in Northern Ontario before eventually moving to Toronto.
Anker's working life in Canada was marked by retraining—he earned certification in stationary engineering and refrigeration—and by long hours across multiple jobs. His later years were constrained by severe pulmonary emphysema, likely worsened by industrial exposure and wartime service. He died in Canada in February 1977.
The Jørgensen line carries themes of resilience, technical competence, emotional reserve, and the quiet cost of duty. Its documented ancestry—traced through Danish parish registers to 1550—represents one of the deepest genealogical records in the family archive.
England to Upper Canada · Farming · Methodism · Settlement
The Stainton story begins in Westmorland, England. James Stainton was born and baptized on 9 January 1814 in Heversham, the son of Thomas Stainton and Eleanor Addison. Parish records from Heversham document a stable rural English family, grounded in farming and church life.
In 1835, James married Elizabeth "Betsy" West (1808–1893), a former governess from Liverpool. Within a few years, they joined the wave of English families leaving northern England for Upper Canada. Family tradition holds that James was an activist against the War Measures Act, and his departure around 1830 may have been partly political. By 1839, the family was settled in Darlington Township, Durham County, Ontario.
This was not speculative migration. It was part of a coordinated movement supported by family networks and Methodist connections. James became a farmer in Darlington and raised a large family. Census records from 1851 and 1861 show a stable household with steadily growing children: Elizabeth (1836–1885), Eleanor (1839–1864), James Jr. (1840–1850), John W. (1841–1934), Thomas (1844–1933), and William.
James died of typhoid fever in January 1865 and was buried at Zion Church in what is now Hampton, Ontario. His daughter Eleanor had died the previous year, also of typhoid, at just 25 years old.
Thomas Stainton (1844–1933) carried the line forward. He married first Margaret E. Garfat (who died in 1870), then Phylina Jane Scott (1849–1933). Phylina's parents, Jacob Scott and Ann Mary Virtue, had emigrated from Ireland—Jacob from Armagh, Ann from Enniskillen. A photograph from the 1870s shows "Jacob Scott's Children": Martha, Jacob, Robert, Margaret, and Phylina.Thomas and Phylina raised eleven children, including Herbert (1880–1983), who would live 103 years. Remarkably, Thomas and Phylina died within three weeks of each other in March 1933—Phylina on 10 March, Thomas on 31 March. A 1927 photograph captures their 50th wedding anniversary, six years before their deaths.
Herbert Stainton was born 10 August 1880 in Darlington, Ontario. He married Annie Maud Michael on 14 September 1904. Annie (1880–1959) was born in Harmony (now part of Oshawa), and photographs trace her life from an 1880s Sunday school portrait through her death notice in December 1959. She died suddenly in Norwalk, Ohio, at age 79.Herbert and Annie had seven surviving children, including Eleanor Jane Stainton (1922–1975), whose birth certificate dated 23 April 1922 survives in the archive. Herbert became Charter Member and Elder Emeritus of Hillcrest Christian Church, living to see 23 grandchildren and 55 great-grandchildren.
In 1962, at age 82, Herbert returned to England and was photographed at Windermere in the Lake District—the ancestral Westmorland region his grandfather James had left 130 years earlier. Herbert died 15 November 1983 in Toronto, aged 103. His final photograph dates to August 1983.
Herbert's brother Elmer Scott Stainton (1891–1918) enlisted in September 1915 and was killed in action at Arras, France/Belgium on 2 September 1918, just two months before the Armistice. His enlistment papers, death certificate, and service medals remain in the family collection. A 2021 Remembrance Day photograph shows his memorial continuing to be honoured.
The Stainton line is one of structure, continuity, and rootedness—from Westmorland to Durham County, from Methodist settlers to twentieth-century Canadians.
Adaptation · Continuity · Bridge Between Branches
The Martin line functions as connective tissue across generations and geographies. While less defined by a single dramatic migration, it is marked by adaptation and integration into existing communities.
Edward Martin and his wife Flora appear in early twentieth-century Toronto. A 1923 photograph shows "Edward with Louis, Flora with Jean"—capturing the parents with their children. A 1912 photograph identifies "Arthur Edward Martin," and a 1917 image shows "Edward, Queens York Rangers," suggesting military service in the First World War.Their son Louis Edward Martin was born in 1922 in Toronto. In December 1941, at age 19, Louis enlisted in the Canadian Army. A photograph dated December 1941 shows him in uniform, captioned "Louis Martin 19-years-old in Canadian Army." On 31 December 1941, he married Eleanor Jane Stainton—the marriage certificate survives—just as he prepared to ship overseas.
Louis served throughout the war, with photographs documenting his time in England (1942), his service as a gunner, and his presence at Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy in June 1944—part of Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion. A photograph captioned "pals at Lue-sur-mer Normandy" confirms his participation in this pivotal moment of the war.
While Louis was overseas, his son Peter Louis Martin was born on 1 October 1942 in Toronto. A photograph from September 1943 shows "Irene with Peter Martin" as an infant. Louis did not meet his son until 29 September 1945, when he returned from the war. The photograph "L E Martin meets son Peter" captures this reunion—Louis meeting his two-year-old son for the first time.
Louis and Eleanor raised their family in Toronto. Eleanor died on 22 December 1975 in North York, aged 53—her death certificate confirms the date and location. Louis survived until 2007.
Peter Martin married Ingrid Mary Jørgensen on 16 October 1965, uniting the Stainton-Martin line with the Jørgensen-Kidd line. Their children include James Ian Martin (b. 1967) and twins David Michael Martin and Lisa Jeanette Martin (b. 16 October 1968).The Martin line does not dominate the narrative but supports it. Where other families moved, adapted, or fractured, the Martins tended to hold steady roles within communities, providing continuity rather than disruption. The legacy is quieter but essential: stability, presence, and the ability to absorb change without losing cohesion.
Scotland · Service · Administration · Transition
The Kidd story is anchored in Edinburgh, Scotland, and shaped by public service, wartime administration, and the capacity to adapt across cultures.
Andrew Kidd married Mary Helen McVey in Edinburgh in 1903. A photograph from spring 1942 shows Andrew Kidd, identified as "Ingrid's grandfather." The Kidds were established in Edinburgh's working and middle-class networks, with connections to institutional employment and civic life.Their daughter Mary Helen Kidd was born 29 September 1920 in Edinburgh. Her birth certificate extract ("Extracte Entry of birth") survives in the collection. She came of age during the Second World War and served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS). Her work was administrative, precise, and embedded in large institutional systems—skills that would define her adult life.
After the war, Mary worked for the Allied High Commission in Copenhagen, stationed in the former German Embassy building. This placement put her at the intersection of diplomacy, reconstruction, and international coordination during the immediate postwar period. She learned Danish during this time—a practical adaptation that would later support family life.
On 11 November 1942, Mary married Anker Børge Jørgensen in Edinburgh. The union brought together two very different backgrounds: Scottish administrative order and Danish technical pragmatism. Their daughter Ingrid was born after the war, photographed as an infant with Mary and her grandmother at Port Seton, Scotland in 1945.
The family immigrated to Canada in May 1951. Mary's National Registration Identity Card (dated 19 January 1946) and her Immigration ID card (stamped Halifax, 6 May 1951) document this transition. A receipt for lodging in Halifax dated 16 May 1951 captures the family's first days in Canada.
Mary adapted to life in Northern Ontario, then Toronto, raising children across multiple relocations. Her wartime experience in administration and her acquired Danish language skills helped hold the family together through the displacement of immigration.
The Kidd line contributed structure, language, and institutional fluency to the family narrative—particularly during periods of transition between countries and cultures. Mary's story reflects endurance, service, and the quiet competence required to manage a family through profound change.
How They Fit Together
Taken together, these four lines form a coherent pattern:
The Staintons establish place and permanence—English settlers who built farms, churches, and communities in Ontario over six generations. The Kidds provide administrative strength and adaptability—Scottish institutional competence that bridges wartime service and postwar reconstruction. The Jørgensens bring technical skill, movement, and cost—Danish seafarers and engineers whose documented ancestry reaches back to 1550, carrying both capability and the weight of displacement. The Martins supply continuity and balance—Toronto roots, wartime service at D-Day, and the steady presence that holds families together across generations.On 16 October 1965, Peter Louis Martin and Ingrid Mary Jørgensen married, uniting all four lines. Their children—James Ian Martin (b. 1967), David Michael Martin, and Lisa Jeanette Martin (b. 16 October 1968)—inherit this complete history together.
Compiled from: Danish Kirkebøger (1550–1910); English parish records (1814); Canadian census records (1851–1861); Immigration documents (1951); Military records (1915–1945); Birth, marriage, and death certificates; Family photograph collection (3,600+ images).