Families of Immigrants: Early Twentieth Century

It’s odd the tidbits that get handed down. Family lore has it that my grandfather, Harold Chambers, immigrated to Canada because of an advertisement in a railway station. Canada was actively promoting immigration in Britain in 1911 when he made the move. So that sounds likely. 

Of course, that was only part of the story. I needed to find out more. When I went looking, I found a 1911 entry for Harold Chambers on the Laurentic, going from Liverpool to Quebec, a good stopping point from which to reach his ultimate Prairie destination. I was satisfied with that entry but a visit to the Canadian Museum of Immigration turned up a 1911 entry that might be a better fit. But could it be right? That ship, the Empress of Ireland, was destined for St. John, New Brunswick. Did immigrants destined for the Prairies really travel there? 

 

The Empress of Ireland*

 

It turned out that St. John was used as an immigrant port, mainly in the winter when the St. Lawrence was blocked by ice. There was an immigrant clearing station at Sand Point for those who were continuing on further by rail. Immigrants went through medical screening. Happily, Harold passed the screening, by no means a certain outcome given his family history.

Harold was the last remaining member of his immediate family, the other members, including his younger brother, having succumbed to heart disease or tuberculosis. Immigration and a new start must have seemed like the best move.

Although their reasons may have differed from Harold’s, immigration was a step that many were prepared to take. English immigration was at its peak during the early twentieth century. Improvements in transportation helped spur the increase. Railway links delivered immigrants to ships in England and, at the other end, from the ships to towns and cities close to their ultimate destinations in Canada.

 

There was competition for passengers among steamship companies. Care and attention were paid to passenger accommodations. The Empress of Ireland had dining rooms, public areas and berths or cabins for each of the four classes of passengers. This and the increased speed of the crossing greatly improved the immigrant experience from days gone by.  (The photo at the left shows a ship's cabin accommodation in an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Immigration.)

Immigration was good for both England, which had a surplus of workers due to rapid industrialization, and Canada, which was expanding ever westward and needed people to fill up the land. Canada, of course, was looking for farmers and farm labourers, what they got, for the most part, were English clerks and factory workers, people who wanted to work in cities and towns.

Harold was one of those urban workers. The March 1911 passenger list for the Empress of Ireland gave his occupation as a clerk. It also stated that his destination was Winnipeg, Manitoba. Why, then did he appear on the 1911 Canadian census as a bank clerk in Craig, Saskatchewan? The answer might be found in the system of immigration halls the Canadian government set up which, among other things, helped new immigrants to obtain employment. If Harold Chambers’ experience was typical, it looks like the Canadian government had an efficient immigration system in place by 1911. 

 

Colonist railway car from about 1926 similar to transport in the 1910s**

 

 Sources:

* By Agence Rol - Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11043964

**By Canadian National Railway - Library and Archives Canada, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43420019

Campey, Lucille H. Ignored but Not Forgotten: Canada’s English Immigrants. Dundurn, Toronto, 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Ireland 

Pigott, Peter. Sailing Seven Seas: A History of the Canadian Pacific Line. Dundurn, Toronto, 2010.