Jean Longstaff has submitted the following:-

John Eden Harrison, born on 27th February 1880, was one of eleven children born to marine boilermaker William and his wife Isabella nee Harrison, who died in 1894 after the birth of their youngest child Herbert. All the family were brought up in Pilot Street, Stranton, West Hartlepool, and after the death of their father in 1901 John became head of the same house with his younger sister Emma acting as housekeeper, but with only the youngest three members of the family at home.

John married local girl Mary Reid at the start of 1902, and his younger brothers, Herbert and Alfred, were put into the care of the Children’s Society, which sent them to Canada as part of their emigration scheme. By 1911 John and his wife Mary had their own house in Harbour Terrace with their family of 2 girls and a boy, and John was working as a blacksmith for the Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company. The following year John emigrated to Canada and settled in Sedgewick, Alberta with his brothers Herbert and Alfred, and was followed in 1913 by Mary and the children.

In July 1915 John travelled the 178km to Edmonton and enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, becoming Private 466302 of the 63rd Battalion. The battalion embarked from St. John, New Brunswick on 22nd April 1916 on the SS Metagama, and on arrival in Liverpool 13 days later made their way to camp at Shorncliffe on the south coast. After John had left Canada Mary and the children did too, returning to the north east, but settling in South Shields. On 28th June 1916 John was transferred to the 7th Battalion, who were then in railway dugouts near Ypres. After fighting at Courcelette and Thiepval, the battalion moved on to Vimy Ridge and it was here that John was killed in action on 8th April 1917. He has no known grave and is one of the many remembered on the Vimy Memorial In France

John’s widow Mary remarried in 1919, becoming Mrs Byron, and there is a note in his service record from 1924 saying that the army were unable to determine beneficiaries or next of kin regards medals.

John's brother Herbert was killed only five days after him on the 13th April 1917.

John Eden Harrison Bulmer is remembered at Hartlepool on H115.30 page 6 and at West Hartlepool on W111.54 and W111.86 page 5

He is also remembered in Canada on the Virtual War Memorial and Book of Remembrance, and on a war memorial in Sedgewick, Alberta.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Canadian Book of Remembrance
The CWGC entry for Private Bulmer