Joseph Zimber was the youngest of three children of Aaron Zimber (1851–1901) and Elizabeth Ashmore (1857–1894). Aaron was a clockmaker who had emigrated to Ireland from the Black Forest region of Germany, while Elizabeth was from Ireland.
Joseph was born into a family whose connections already stretched beyond Ireland. His older sister Albertina (1881–1928) was my great-grandmother, while his younger brother Fred Zimber (1887–1915) later served in the First World War and was killed in 1915.
Following the deaths of their mother in 1894 and their father in 1901, Joseph and Fred's lives took different turns. In 1904, however, both brothers left Ireland for Canada. Fred went first, sailing for Canada aboard the Ionian in July. A month later, Joseph followed him, arriving in Montreal from Liverpool on 4 August 1904.
Joseph was accompanied by Bridget Coady, who had been born in New Ross in 1885, the daughter of Maurice Coady and Mary Leigh.
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| Marriage Register entry (Montreal) |
From New Ross to Montreal
Only six days after their arrival, on 10 August 1904, Joseph and Bridget were married at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Montreal.
The fact that Joseph followed his brother to Canada raises the possibility that Fred's move influenced his decision to emigrate, although we cannot know whether the two brothers intended to live or work together. Fred remained in Canada for several years before eventually returning to Europe, where he served during the First World War.
It is possible that Joseph's move to Canada was connected in some way with his brother Fred. Fred subsequently also went to Canada before returning to Europe to serve during the First World War, although I have not yet found evidence establishing whether he followed Joseph or whether the two journeys were connected.
[Rifleman Fred Zimber's story]
For Joseph and Bridget, however, their new life in Montreal was to be tragically short.
The accident at the Gohier Tannery
On 1 February 1905, Joseph was working at the Gohier Tannery in Montreal when an explosion occurred.
A report in the Montreal newspaper Le Canada the following day described an explosion at the tannery in which two men were killed. Joseph was not initially named in the report, but a further report published on 3 February identified him as one of the victims.
The other man killed was a Russian Jewish immigrant named Lewis Schoff, or Schoss.
The newspaper reports suggest that the explosion may have been caused by a barrel of gasoline being left too close to a furnace. Whatever the precise cause, the accident resulted in the deaths of both men.
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| Le Canada - 2nd February, 1905 |
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| Le Canada - 3rd February 1905 |
Joseph had been in Canada for less than six months and had been married for just over five months.
A short life in Canada
Joseph's story is one of the more poignant discoveries in my family research. His move to Montreal was part of a family story that had already crossed national boundaries: his father Aaron had come to Ireland from the Black Forest, while Joseph and possibly his brother Fred subsequently left Ireland for Canada.
For Joseph, however, the new life came to an abrupt end. He had arrived in Montreal in August 1904, married Bridget Coady within days of his arrival, and was killed in an industrial accident only six months later.
Bridget was left a widow after barely five months of marriage.
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| Death Notice from the Irish Times |
Joseph's death notice in the Irish Times was the first clue that led me to his life in Canada. The contemporary Montreal newspaper reports, discovered later, provided the circumstances of his death and turned what had initially been little more than a name and a date into a much more complete, if brief, story.
