Albert Hatfield

1887 - 1939  (52 years)

• Name	Albert Hatfield
  Born	1887	, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	story, accident, misfortune
  Misfortune	1939
  	Accident: killed in gas accident
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-421882
  Died	11 Jul 1939	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  Buried	Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Person ID	I421882	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Jane Elizabeth "Elizabeth" Irvine,   b. 11 Feb 1893, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 26 Feb 1979  (Age 86 years)
  Married	25 Dec 1920	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  Last Modified	26 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F271888	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  3 Galt Workmen Drowned in Tank Overcome by Gas; Topple Into Two Feet of Water; Foreman Dies, in Attempted Rescue. GALT.-After consulting Crown Attorney Clement of Kitchener, Coroner James McQueen called an inquest for Monday night into the triple fatality at the septic tank of the city sewage disposal plant on Water Street South Tuesday morning, in which three regular Board of Works employees lost their lives. The Coroner's belief the men were drowned when they were overcome by sewer gas, was confirmed by a postmortem performed. The victims were Harry E. Westwood, 58, widowers, father of five, City Sewer Inspector and city employee for 28 years: Albert Hatfield. 49, married, city employee for 11 years, and William E. (Pete) Britton, 31, father of two small daughters, employed by the city since the spring. Victims of Methane Gas A theory was advanced that the men were victims of methane gas, the presence of which cannot be de tected, and that they toppled into the water which was only about a foot deep. The tragedy was not discovered until shortly before noon when Works Superitendent William Mc Lellan motored to the plant to bring the men back to the city. He found the door open, but saw no trace of them. He went in to make inquiries at an adjoining garage, and with H Kitchen, a mechanic, went back to the building and made the discovery. Firemen were called, and one without a gas mask went down into the hole and attached ropes for lifting the bodies. Hatfield and Britton were wearing rubber boots, while Westwood, the foreman, had on leather shoes, which led to the belief that he probably gave his life in an attempted rescue, when the other two were overcome. Kitchen said he heard the men in the tank shouting about 45 minutes before the bodies were found. "We didn't think anything of it," he said "They often called to each other for pieces of equipment or to have some one turn on a valve." The tank in which the men lost their lives is 12 feet long, 6 feet wide, with board covering and 16 feet deep. The Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, Ontario), Friday July 14, 1939, pages 1 and 8

  
  

• Sources

  [S2697] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge, Mount View Cemetery Internet Link. In loving memory of/ James IRVINE/ died Oct. 29, 1932 aged 66 years/ his wife/ Annie McGREGOR/ died Sept. 11. 1952 aged 92 years/ Albert HATFIELD/ died July 11, 1939 aged 50 years/ his wife/ Elizabeth IRVINE/ died Feb. 26 1979 aged 85 years/ IRVINE/ [S2491] aaa Vit - ON - Death Registration, death certificate 034979 (1939). [S2697] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge, Mount View Cemetery Internet Link. [B] Albert HATFIELD/ 1887-1939/ [S2488] aaa Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate 026147 (1920). Name:Albert Hatfield Age:33 Birth Year:abt 1887 Birth Place:England Marriage Date:25 Dec 1920 Marriage Place:Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Father:Alfred Hatfield Mother:Annie Balcomb Spouse:Elizabeth Jane Irvine

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1887 - , England Married - 25 Dec 1920 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 11 Jul 1939 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth