Private James Peter Belfon (1891/1894) – 1965: A Barber for Toronto

Biography

James Peter Belfon was born in Grenada, British West Indies, to Peter Belfon and Ellen Barritae. James arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aboard SS Edyth on 29 July 1912. While his military service file lists his birth date as 24 May 1894, at the time of his arrival he told immigration officials that he was 21 years old, suggesting that he was born in 1891.

James was on his way to Sydney, Nova Scotia, a common destination for Black men from the British West Indies seeking work. He was barely 18 years old when he arrived in Canada, making his decision to immigrate rather daring.  

By mid-1918, James had moved to Toronto, where he found work as a barber. The previous year, the Canadian Parliament had approved the implementation of conscription. It was a controversial policy, men from all ethnic groups not responding when told to register and report for medical examinations.

James was one of the “defaulters” whose names were placed on a list. Apprehended in early summer 1918, he was taken to a recruiting center in London, Ontario on 24 July 1918. Five days later, he completed an initial cursory medical examination, which detected only a slight visual impairment of 30/20.

On 1 August, James complained of abdominal pain and vomiting, symptoms he had experienced “on and off for three years.” Upon examination, he was admitted to the Army Medical Centre, London, for treatment. James still needed to formally enlist, so he signed his attestation papers that same day while in the hospital. 

Doctors quickly determined that James had a gastric ulcer and placed him in Category “E”—“permanently unfit”—regarding suitability for military service. This meant that he could not serve with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and did not have to worry about being pursued again for military service. 

According to his service file, James was initially assigned to No. 2 Construction Battalion Base Depot, a segregated unit created by local Militia authorities because they did not want Black soldiers in regular units. However, soldiers at the Base Depot had departed for overseas in July. The assignment appears to have been a clerical error as the unofficial unit no longer existed.

Due to his Category “E” status, James was “struck off [the] strength” of 1st Depot Battalion on 13 August and transferred to “Registrar’s Records,” Western Ontario Regiment, where his name was added to a list of individuals not qualified for service and scheduled for discharge. The following day, medical staff reported that James’ “vomiting has stopped—no pain [,] on milk diet. Has improved.” 

James was discharged from hospital on 19 August and placed on leave with pay from mid-August to 12 September, when he was discharged from military service. Military authorities formally approved his release on 11 December 1918.

James returned to work at his barber shop, located at 4 McCaul Street, Toronto. The business later relocated to 457 Dundas Street West. On 4 November 1918, he married Isabelle Butler, daughter of James Butler and Lucy Russell, Hamilton, Ontario. The couple was residing at 467 Queen St. at the time of the 1921 and 1931 Canadian censuses. For unknown reasons, their marriage ended sometime after 1931.

On 2 January 1939, James married Margaret Teresa Tynes, a hairdresser and native of Dartmouth, NS, in a ceremony took place in the Afro Community Church. What appears to have been a tumultuous relationship ended one year later. James subsequently married Constance Lenora “Connie” Giscomb, daughter of Carl “Charlie” Giscomb and Louise Reid. Charles and Louise were natives of Montego Bay, Jamaica, who first immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, before relocating to New Liskeard, Ontario, when Connie was a young girl.

In the 1930s, Connie moved to Toronto, where she met and married James around 1940. The couple raised a family of five children—Garfield, Maxine, Ellen, John Franklin and Joseph Peter. By 1945, the family was living on Borden Street. Tragically, Garfield was killed in a police shooting on 29 November 1953. Contemporary news reports provide no details on the exact circumstances of his death.

James Peter Belfon died in Toronto General Hospital on 17 December 1965 and was interred in Park Lawn Cemetery, Toronto. His widow Connie returned to school in the 1960s, graduating as a “registered nursing assistant” and working for the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons until retirement. Constance Giscomb Belfon passed away in Lakeshore Lodge, Toronto, on 18 September 1998 and was laid to rest beside her husband.