Coming to Canada
Posted by on Monday, July 1, 2013
Canada Day! A day to celebrate the great nation of Canada, and all of the immigrants and first nations people who have made it one of the best places in the world. There are as many tales of this country as their are people, and every immigrant who came here had their own reasons and their own story. Here are a few from my own ancestors,
Robert Bird was a letter carrier and furniture maker in Nottingham, England. He had a wife, Catherine (Scrimshaw), four adult sons (Arthur, George, Henry, and John) and a daughter (Elizabeth), and was working two jobs to pay the bills. Then at some point in the later 1870s or early 1880s he learned that the Government of Canada needed men to settle the west and pioneer in the prairies. And they were paying the way and giving land to every healthy adult male who immigrated. With visions of a better life, Robert and Catherine packed up everything and with their sons got on a boat to the new world. Their daughter remained behind to work as a maid for a wealthy family, and never saw her family again. Robert and Catherine settled in Clumber, Saskatchewan where Robert found work as the first postmaster of the region - a job later taken over by his son John. Meanwhile Arthur, not wanting to settle into prairie life, paddled through Alberta and the Yukon to join in the Klondike gold rush. His son Robert died as a toddler when he fell ill, and due to winter storms no doctor could be found. Eventually Arthur built a home for his wife and five surviving children in Victoria, BC, before he himself journeyed to the Northwest Territories seeking gold once more. Arthur's home still stands as a heritage building.
William Frazer was a young man living in Boyle, Roscommon, Ireland in the mid - 1800s. His ancestors had been Scottish nobility before being chased out during the Reformation, and settling in Roscommon, Ireland where they were wealthy landowners for two centuries. But in the 1850s, the potato famine hit Ireland, and people were dying by the thousands. It was clear that there was no future there for a young man starting out in the world. So William and a brother of his boarded a ship for Canada. His brother turned south and became a successful fruit grower in New York state. William settled in Ontario taking on various jobs and raising a family. But when his wife, Mary-Jane, died in 1884 he had to send his younger children away to foster homes and live-in apprenticeships. His son George was only seven when he began training as a harness maker. In his early twenties, George moved to the newly formed community of Saskatoon and cleared the land for first and second avenue, before building a harness shop and doing thriving business with pioneers passing through town. But when cars replaced horses, George opted to retire and be a farmer, and began to increasingly rely on his sons to support him and his wife. George's son Ernie Frazer would fight in the second World War, before moving to the west coast to work in the saw mills, completing the Frazer families cross country journey.
Parinka 'Pearl' Mikitiuk was a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, living on a farm in the Ukraine with her parents. One day her mother fell ill, and died while Pearl sat with her. Her father couldn't raise the children alone, so he sent Pearl to live with an uncle of hers who had joined the pioneers settling the Saskatchewan prairies. The Ukrainian people had done well in Canada, as the prairie soil and weather closely matched those of their homeland. She was sixteen when she reached her uncle's farm, but he couldn't support her either as he had his own family to consider. And so by the age of seventeen she was married to Joseph Remanda, a man her uncle had picked for her and whom she was forced to marry, and had her first child the same year. She would eventually raise thirteen children in a small farmhouse in the middle of the prairies.
David Thomson had grown up in Dysart, Fife, Scotland, the youngest child of William Thomson and Rachel Young. William was the harbour master for Dysart, and his own father had been a successful ship's captain sailing trading ships around the British Empire. The family had remained in the same neighbourhood for generations, with William, his father, and his children all sharing two adjacent houses. Seeking his fortune, David's brother John Thomson bought passage on a boat sailing for Canada in the 1890s, with dreams of striking it rich in the Klondike gold rush. Instead he worked as a baker in the Yukon, and eventually settled in Victoria, British Columbia where he found success running a brewery and a pub. By 1906 his two younger sisters set sail for Victoria to seek better futures, and not wanting to travel along, their brother David came with them. It is believed that David had been training as an electrician in Scotland, but in Victoria the only work he could find was as a letter sorter for the post office. He lived in Finlayson house, a boarding house for young Scottish men run by and elderly lady. His sister Helen would marry and with her husband, pioneer on Hornby Island off the west coast of Canada before having her land stolen by local church officials, cursing all future owners of the land. David would marry a Scottish girl and remained in Victoria for the rest of his life, in a house that still stands today.
Elizabeth Moyes was a young lady in Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland, the youngest daughter of a mine supervisor. The town was considered the poorest in all of Europe, and everyone who stayed in the town was either doomed to be a miner or a miner's wife. Most of the men died young or were crippled with injuries and forced to live on charity. Elizabeth's brothers James and Ebeneezer left Scotland instead, with Jim workings as a missionary in China, Tibet and Hong Kong before settling his family in Victoria, British Columbia, and Ebeneezer joining him there to marry and raise his own family. The mines were not the only hazard of 1900s Scotland though, and Elizabeth's betrothed died suddenly of tuberculosis. Stricken with grief over the loss, Elizabeth needed a distraction and so her mother,Ann, sent her to Victoria to be a bridesmaid for her brother's wedding. Her brother's gave her a place to stay, and took care of her while she was in this strange land. She had always planned to return to Scotland after the wedding, but a postcard changed her fate. A bold young letter sorter by the name of David Thomson had spotted a postcard from near his hometown in Scotland, addressed to a young lady living nearby. So he wrote a note on her mail asking if she would go out with him, and she agreed. A few months later they married and would raise two daughters together. Elizabeth didn't get back to Scotland for forty years, and never again saw her parents or most of her siblings. But she did get to see her children and grandchildren grow up, and even got to visit with her great-grandchildren before she ultimately passed away.
Robert Bird was a letter carrier and furniture maker in Nottingham, England. He had a wife, Catherine (Scrimshaw), four adult sons (Arthur, George, Henry, and John) and a daughter (Elizabeth), and was working two jobs to pay the bills. Then at some point in the later 1870s or early 1880s he learned that the Government of Canada needed men to settle the west and pioneer in the prairies. And they were paying the way and giving land to every healthy adult male who immigrated. With visions of a better life, Robert and Catherine packed up everything and with their sons got on a boat to the new world. Their daughter remained behind to work as a maid for a wealthy family, and never saw her family again. Robert and Catherine settled in Clumber, Saskatchewan where Robert found work as the first postmaster of the region - a job later taken over by his son John. Meanwhile Arthur, not wanting to settle into prairie life, paddled through Alberta and the Yukon to join in the Klondike gold rush. His son Robert died as a toddler when he fell ill, and due to winter storms no doctor could be found. Eventually Arthur built a home for his wife and five surviving children in Victoria, BC, before he himself journeyed to the Northwest Territories seeking gold once more. Arthur's home still stands as a heritage building.
William Frazer was a young man living in Boyle, Roscommon, Ireland in the mid - 1800s. His ancestors had been Scottish nobility before being chased out during the Reformation, and settling in Roscommon, Ireland where they were wealthy landowners for two centuries. But in the 1850s, the potato famine hit Ireland, and people were dying by the thousands. It was clear that there was no future there for a young man starting out in the world. So William and a brother of his boarded a ship for Canada. His brother turned south and became a successful fruit grower in New York state. William settled in Ontario taking on various jobs and raising a family. But when his wife, Mary-Jane, died in 1884 he had to send his younger children away to foster homes and live-in apprenticeships. His son George was only seven when he began training as a harness maker. In his early twenties, George moved to the newly formed community of Saskatoon and cleared the land for first and second avenue, before building a harness shop and doing thriving business with pioneers passing through town. But when cars replaced horses, George opted to retire and be a farmer, and began to increasingly rely on his sons to support him and his wife. George's son Ernie Frazer would fight in the second World War, before moving to the west coast to work in the saw mills, completing the Frazer families cross country journey.
Parinka 'Pearl' Mikitiuk was a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, living on a farm in the Ukraine with her parents. One day her mother fell ill, and died while Pearl sat with her. Her father couldn't raise the children alone, so he sent Pearl to live with an uncle of hers who had joined the pioneers settling the Saskatchewan prairies. The Ukrainian people had done well in Canada, as the prairie soil and weather closely matched those of their homeland. She was sixteen when she reached her uncle's farm, but he couldn't support her either as he had his own family to consider. And so by the age of seventeen she was married to Joseph Remanda, a man her uncle had picked for her and whom she was forced to marry, and had her first child the same year. She would eventually raise thirteen children in a small farmhouse in the middle of the prairies.
David Thomson had grown up in Dysart, Fife, Scotland, the youngest child of William Thomson and Rachel Young. William was the harbour master for Dysart, and his own father had been a successful ship's captain sailing trading ships around the British Empire. The family had remained in the same neighbourhood for generations, with William, his father, and his children all sharing two adjacent houses. Seeking his fortune, David's brother John Thomson bought passage on a boat sailing for Canada in the 1890s, with dreams of striking it rich in the Klondike gold rush. Instead he worked as a baker in the Yukon, and eventually settled in Victoria, British Columbia where he found success running a brewery and a pub. By 1906 his two younger sisters set sail for Victoria to seek better futures, and not wanting to travel along, their brother David came with them. It is believed that David had been training as an electrician in Scotland, but in Victoria the only work he could find was as a letter sorter for the post office. He lived in Finlayson house, a boarding house for young Scottish men run by and elderly lady. His sister Helen would marry and with her husband, pioneer on Hornby Island off the west coast of Canada before having her land stolen by local church officials, cursing all future owners of the land. David would marry a Scottish girl and remained in Victoria for the rest of his life, in a house that still stands today.
Elizabeth Moyes was a young lady in Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland, the youngest daughter of a mine supervisor. The town was considered the poorest in all of Europe, and everyone who stayed in the town was either doomed to be a miner or a miner's wife. Most of the men died young or were crippled with injuries and forced to live on charity. Elizabeth's brothers James and Ebeneezer left Scotland instead, with Jim workings as a missionary in China, Tibet and Hong Kong before settling his family in Victoria, British Columbia, and Ebeneezer joining him there to marry and raise his own family. The mines were not the only hazard of 1900s Scotland though, and Elizabeth's betrothed died suddenly of tuberculosis. Stricken with grief over the loss, Elizabeth needed a distraction and so her mother,Ann, sent her to Victoria to be a bridesmaid for her brother's wedding. Her brother's gave her a place to stay, and took care of her while she was in this strange land. She had always planned to return to Scotland after the wedding, but a postcard changed her fate. A bold young letter sorter by the name of David Thomson had spotted a postcard from near his hometown in Scotland, addressed to a young lady living nearby. So he wrote a note on her mail asking if she would go out with him, and she agreed. A few months later they married and would raise two daughters together. Elizabeth didn't get back to Scotland for forty years, and never again saw her parents or most of her siblings. But she did get to see her children and grandchildren grow up, and even got to visit with her great-grandchildren before she ultimately passed away.