Canadian Migration Patterns from Britain and North America

From Eastern England to Western Canada: Illustrations

From Eastern England to Western Canada: Illustrations John F.Davis ON APRIL 9, 1906, AFTER A FAREWELL SERVICE AT BEVERLEY MINSTER, where each had been given a pocketbook containing a New Testa­ ment and Psalms bearing the Beverley coat of arms embossed in gold, as well as gifts of clothes, fifty would­be emigrants were led by the town band as they marched from the Guildhall to the railway station. Arriving in Liverpoolby train the following morning, they sat down to a restaurant breakfast, paid for by a former Beverley resident, before setting sail for Canada. The group of fifty­five had been selected and approved by a doctor from sixty­five original applicants. The original plan had been to go to Winnipeg, but they initially went only as far as western Ontario. Theywere met by Church Army representatives upon their arrival in Canada. Itwas reported that all the men had undertaken to repay their passage fare within eighteen months, "their employers in Canada being authorised to deduct the amount from their wages and forward it to the Church Army." Thus, the Beverley Guardian in 1906 reported upon one of the larger group movements from east to west. The heading on 7April had been: Beverley Emigrants to Canada Fifty to Depart Next Monday Farewell Service at the Minster1 The story did not end there, for in late May and June, the paperpub­ lished excerpts from letters written home by some of the men, mostof them working on farms in southern Ontario.2 The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evidence for emigration from eastern England to western Canada over the thirty­five years 172 John F. Davis preceding the First World War using material gleaned from a not very scientific sampling of journals and newspapers over a period of years. The regions considered are verycrudely defined.By"Eastern England" I mean an essentially rural and agricultural area east of the Pennines, north of the Thames and south of the Tees, while the term "western Canada" is used to describe what would become the three prairie provinces, British Columbia, and also western Ontario. My defence for including western Ontario isthat would­be immigrants werefrequently advised to go to there first so that they could experience the Canadian way of life and farmingmethods before heading west.3 The period 1880 to 1914 coincides with the opening up by the railways of the prairie provinces. The need for farm settlers was great, while surplus labour was available on English farms as methods and conditions changed and as farmers' younger sons, tenants, and farm labourers looked for possible ways of becoming their own bosses. Conscious of the need to promote settlement, Canadian national and provincial governments and business organisations sought various mechanisms to advertise the attractions and advantages ofCanada as a destination, offer advice, and dispel fears. The widest coverage was from advertising through the press. Newspapers provide researchers into migration with a wealth of material.4 This paper represents the fruits of working through editions covering a range of years of some thirty regional newspapers andjournals. Newspapers frequently carried advertisementsfrom the main ship­ ping lines, such as the Allan Line and the Royal Mail Line. Examples exist in the Retford and Gainsborough Times and the Worksop and Newark Weekly News of January 3, 1890, which listed agents in Brigg, Gainsborough, Grimsby, Retford, Scunthorpe, West Retford, and Worksop. Not all advertising targeted people going to Canada to stay and work; the summer issues of this and other papers for 1890 and 1891 refer to tourists and sportsmen. Round­trip tickets were offered, com­ bining excursions to Niagara Falls and "the wonderful scenery and sporting delights of the Rocky Mountains and B.C." Readers of the Sheffield Telegraph in 1904and 1905had ample oppor­ tunity to gain some picture of work, life, and prospects in the area of Lloydminster,now on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Over sixty articles appeared, some filling a whole page, often accompa­ nied by pen sketches. These dealt with life in winter on the prairies, railway construction, an Englishwoman's experience, tips for would­be settlers, and much else. From Eastern England to Western Canada: Illustrations 173 Some years earlier, the Boston Gazette carried an item under the title FREE GRANTSOF LAND IN MANITOBAAND OTHER PROVINCES OF CANADA.This article commented on the reports of twelve British farmer delegates who had visited Canada that year and...