Ernest William "Pete" Britton

1908 - 1939  (30 years)

• Name	Ernest William "Pete" Britton
  Born	24 Aug 1908	Tottenham, London, Middlesex, England   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/249243222
  Residence	1911	Tottenham, London, Middlesex, England   [1]
  Died	11 Jul 1939	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  Residence	1973	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-423367
  Buried	Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I423367	Generations
  Last Modified	9 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	Private William Britton,   b. 20 Oct 1870, Hackney, , Kent, England ,   d. 10 Jun 1933  (Age 62 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Sharp,   b. 1873, Tottenham, London, Middlesex, England ,   d. 18 Jun 1933, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 60 years)
  Family ID	F54872	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Alice Plumtree,   b. 1910, Lancaster, England ,   d. 22 Jan 1973, London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada  (Age 63 years)
  Married	9 Nov 1935	Morriston, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Children	1. Ellen Britton   2. Joan Britton   3. Barbara Britton
  Last Modified	11 Sep 2024
  Family ID	F272465	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

  [S2446] Census - England - 1911, Tottenham, London, England Class: RG14; Piece: 7283; Schedule Number: 312. William Britton 40 Hackney, London, England - Builder Laborer Elizabeth 38 Tottenham, London, England Elizabeth 19 Rosey 16 Liley 13 Emily 11 Florence 7 Maud 4 Earnest 2 [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration. NameErnest William Britton GenderMale Age30 Birth Date25 Aug Birth PlaceEngland Death Date11 Jul 1939 Death PlaceGalt, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada FatherWm Britton MotherSharp SpouseAlice Plumtree Certificate Number034958 [S2488] aaa Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate 024443 (1935). Name:Alice Plumtree Gender:Female Age:25 Birth Year:abt 1910 Birth Place:Lancashire England Marriage Date:2 Nov 1935 Marriage Place:Galt, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Father:Ernest Plumtree Mother:Mary Ellen Plumtree Spouse:Ernest William Britton

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 24 Aug 1908 - Tottenham, London, Middlesex, England Residence - 1911 - Tottenham, London, Middlesex, England Married - 9 Nov 1935 - Morriston, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Died - 11 Jul 1939 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1973 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth