Ernie Barrett
Served 1920-1955
Ernest “Ernie” Walter Edward Barrett was born September 25, 1895 on Emerald Street N, Hamilton to Thomas Barrett and Jane Kirby. He was one of 8 children born between 1886 and 1906. The father died in 1910 and his mother remarried. Ernie was 19 years old at the start of World War 1 and he enlisted in Hamilton. He posed for a “Real Time” postcard at the Recruiting Office on James Street North at some point. He is the short young fellow here, second from the right. We don’t know who the policeman was. At the time of his enlistment, he had been in the Militia for three years with the “13th Regiment” in Hamilton. They later became the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.
Ernie fought with the Canadian Regiment (Also known as the Fourth Battalion or the “Mad 4th) throughout the war. He fought at Ypres and Vimy Ridge and survived, of course. His grandson Albert reported that Ernie suffered gas attacks, a bullet wound in one leg, a bayonet in the other and shrapnel in his back at different times. A shell once landed near him during battle and killed all his friends and buried him alive for eight hours. He finally dug himself out. He probably did have a lot of recuperation time in England. He only ever talked to his granddaughter Lynda about the dirt and bugs, the cold and water and ‘de-lousing’ stations everywhere.
In 1915 Ernie married a woman named Bridget Hyland in Kent, England and she gave birth to a child named Florence in 1916. Bridget died shortly after the birth and Ernie was left with a new baby.
Army records show that Ernie sailed to Canada with the baby Florence, in September 1916. He turned up in Canada and gave the baby to his mother to raise. He then got back on the boat and sailed back to England where he was on duty again in November 1916. His turn-around time was about one month in each direction.
In August 1918 Ernie married Lucy Mannering in Chichester England. After the war she followed Ernie back to Hamilton. They had two children; Claude Cyril Ernest Barrett was born in 1920 and Albert Barrett was born in 1921.
After the war Ernie worked at Stelco for a short period and then was hired by the Hamilton Police Service. He was one of the founding members of the Police War Veteran’s Association and “Fourth Battalion Association”.
For most of the 1920’s Ernie was driving a Police Motorcycle because of his previous experiences. There were no Cruisers, so calls for service were answered on foot or by a motorcycle. That did not stop during the winter. They had to keep driving in all conditions which must have been something to see in the snow. They used a sidecar in the winter to help keep themselves upright.
Also in the 1920’s Ernie became a member of the Hamilton Police Association.
He is seen here in the back row, at an Association Picnic in 1926.
In the 1930’s Ernie became a Detective and then a Detective Sergeant. There is some evidence in the book “The Whiskey King” by Trevor Cole, that he was involved in the search for Rocco Perri, the famous “Bootlegger” although no Police records exist to show what that investigation entailed.
In 1944 an arsonist set fire to the Moose Temple on Catherine Street and ten people died and 47 were injured. Twelve children were orphaned and three more lost one parent. Ernie and his partner Sam McGee arrested Arthur Dunsmoor who was sent to prison for life.
During the Second World War, Ernie’ sons both volunteered for service. Claude served in the Canadian Navy and Albert served in the Army. When they returned home in 1945, he sat them down and announced where they would now go to work. He told Claude to join the Hamilton Police Service and Albert was told to join the Hamilton Fire Department, which they did. No reasons were given.
Later in 1946 he met Evelyn McLean Dick when she reported her husband John Dick missing. Quite by chance Evelyn knew his son Claude (also a police officer by then) from Elementary School. She sat on the corner of his desk to report her husband missing and asking after Claude. Later Ernie said to his son Claude “you need to remember you’re a married man!” Claude knew that very well and asked what all this meant. Ernie said “some floozy sat on the corner of my desk reporting her husband gone. She was swinging her legs and batting her eyelashes and asking after YOU!”
In April 1951 a man was murdered in northern Ontario and his car was stolen and sold in Niagara Falls. Ernie and his partners arrested Lloyd Weiss at the Wentworth Arms Hotel in Hamilton with some of the dead man’s property. He was found guilty in October 1951 and hung until he was dead in January 1952. (Justice was swift in the old days)
In the Nominal Roll for 1951 as reported by the Annual Report of Chief Chamberlain, Ernie was listed as one of 3 Sergeants of Detectives along with Stan Gaylard and J. Wittun. There were also four Detective Sergeants (J. Freeborn, Sam McGee, Clarence Preston and A. Robson) and finally ten Detectives.
Ernie worked until 1955 when he retired.
He then worked at the Wentworth County Sheriff’s Office
for another ten years and then retired again in 1965.
He died in February 1975.