Background
Albert Morris was born December 2, 1893 in Birmingham, England to Robert
Morris and Ellen Collier. According to newspaper records, in addition to
Albert, Robert and Ellen would have eleven children together named Letty,
Robert Jr., Lilly, Henry, Edward, Maggie, Thomas, Nellie, Harold, Clemet,
and Mona. They would also be the adopted parents for a boy named John
Charnley, a young man from England who had been close with Albert, Henry,
and Robert. Like many others from England, family stories suggest that the
Morris’ had primarily come to Canada looking for job opportunities. After
arriving, they would initially find work in Ontario and Quebec before
moving to Fredericton for employment at the Marysville cotton mill in 1910.
In addition to the mill, Robert would support the family as a local
shoemaker and his sons, including Albert, would find jobs as labourers at
the Marysville mill and the local shoe factory. While few details highlight
the specifics of Albert’s early life in Fredericton, newspapers suggest
that the Morris family was well-known and had particularly close
connections to the north-side Devon community.
When war broke out in 1914, Albert’s younger brother Henry was the first of
four Morris boys to enlist. Although, Albert’s service record reveals that
he had no prior military training, their father had been active with
militias in England before coming to Canada. And so, the desire to enlist
was likely strong in the family. At the time of his formal enlistment in
Sussex, July 28, 1915, Albert was twenty-two years old and unmarried.
According to documented family stories, and their individual service
records, John and Robert Jr. would accompany Albert to Sussex where all
three would enlist together. He was described as having brown eyes, dark
brown hair, a fair complexion, and standing approximately five feet five
inches tall. Along with other boys from the area, including his brothers,
Albert joined the 55th Battalion and began training with his unit. After
making their way to Valcartier, Quebec for training in the summer of 1915,
all three brothers would be together as they prepared to go overseas a few
months later.
Wartime Experience
On October 30, 1915, Albert and his brothers embarked from Montreal, Quebec
aboard the S.S. Corsican for Plymouth, England, arriving over a week later
on November 9. Albert would be given the rank of lance corporal and
attached to a machine gun unit for training during the winter of 1915-1916.
He would work in England as a machine gun instructor over the next year.
However, by the spring of 1917, newspapers reveal that he would give up his
rank in England for an opportunity to go to France in search of his younger
brother Henry, who had been reported missing. By this time, both John and
Robert Jr. had been killed in France.
According to his service record, Albert would request to join the 9th
Machine Gun Company in July of 1917, landing in France August 2 with his
unit after more than a year and a half in England. The next day, August 3,
Albert left with his unit for northern France and the Ypres Salient where,
according to newspapers, he would reunite with his brother Henry prior to
the Battle of Passchendaele. A few months later, on October 27, 1917,
Albert would be admitted to hospital as a result of poison gas and gunshot
wounds to his right leg while fighting near Ypres, Belgium. He would be
evacuated to England for treatment at the Queen Mary’s and Ontario military
hospitals over the winter of 1917-1918 before being discharged back to
Canada on May 6, 1918. According to Albert’s medical records, he would sail
home aboard the H.M.S. Llandovery Castle arriving to the Armouries in Saint
John, New Brunswick. After receiving treatment in Saint John for two weeks,
Private Morris would be transported to the Carleton Street Hospital in
Fredericton where he would be admitted June 1 and pass away in the middle
of the night on June 2. According to Albert’s circumstances of death
report, he would die of heart failure. Albert Morris was twenty-four years
old, leaving behind his parents, friends, and extended family.
Lest We Forget
Private Albert Morris is buried in the Fredericton Rural Cemetery located
along the Woodstock Road in Fredericton, New Brunswick. According to the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Albert is one of approximately
twenty-one burials honoured here. The cemetery is owned by the Wilmot
United Church.