Pier 2 - NOT Pier 21

It is a common mistake people make, thinking their early immigrant family arrived in Canada at Pier 21 in Halifax. I did so myself!! Pier 21 is more well known and talked about, so it is no wonder that is the first (and only) place that comes to mind when we think of our ancestors arriving in Canada.  In fact, Pier 21 didn't open until 1926.

Our 1880+ ancestors arrived at a facility that included a wharf, Intercolonial Railway facilities and a huge shed. After a fire in 1895 a better concrete building took place of the wooden shed, and around that time the facility was called Pier 2.  

Immigration Depot Pier 2 

My husband's maternal grandparents immigrated to Canada from Galicia, Austria, with the promise of free land in Canada's West.  On 19 May 1900 the family of 8 left Hamburg on the steamship Arcadia and arrived at Pier 2 in Halifax on June 2nd. From there, with their fellow immigrants, they boarded the waiting Intercolonial train and traveled across the country to Winnipeg, Manitoba.... to a new life. 

Pier 2 became a beehive of activity during the course of World War One. Troops from across Canada arrived by train and embarked on ships for Europe. A hospital was built upstairs to receive the sick and wounded as they returned to Canada. 

Carmania at Pier 2

My grandfather and his brother both left from Pier 2 to go overseas. At the end of the war Grampa left Liverpool aboard the Carmania and arrived 30 December 1918 at Pier 2 in Halifax. From there he boarded a train for Montreal. By then it was not a pretty site, as  while the concrete shed and facilities survived, most of that part of Halifax was damaged in the explosion of 1917. 

Pier 2 continued to receive immigrants and visitors until in 1928 Pier 21 became the official port of entry. 




Relevant Links

Journal of Remarkable Occurrences 1880

Arrival of a WWI Hospital Ship at Pier 2

Database of Ukrainian Immigrants in Canada

Library Archives Canada has launched a new database of Ukrainian Immigrants 1891-1930.

Ukrainian Church in Insinger, Saskatchewan

(We passed this church on our trip across Canada)

They report that the first two Ukrainians arrived in Canada in 1891, followed by tens of thousands. They mostly settled in western Canada... Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The next groups arrived after WWI.

You can check for your Ukrainian ancestors in their database here.

Serendipity Sunday - Emigrant's Guide

The other day I came across this Emigrant's Guide published in 1832, sold in London for one shilling. The title is:

"The emigrant's guide to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, and New Brunswick: containing an enumeration of the advantages which each colony offers ; with the regulations adopted by His Majesty's Government to facilitate male and female emigration ; the price of passage, certainty of permanent employment, and rates of wages ; list of tradesmen and mechanics most wanted, and the pecuniary assistance offered to married men and single females, towards defraying the expense of their passage, with copies of the official forms to be transmitted to the Colonial Department by each emigrant ; also, instructions for the guidance of military out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, who may be desirous of commuting their pensions, with a view to their becoming settlers in the British colonies."

You would think that, with such a long title it would be a thick book, but it is only a pamphlet of 34 pages. Talks about possible employment and wages to expect, how much to expect to pay for goods, cost of passage, etc. with a bit about each place.


Relevant Links

Emigrant's Guide 1832

Serendipity Sunday - Original Lists of Persons of Quality to 1700

This week while researching my ancestors, I came across this publication...

 

 

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality;

Emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed, and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations - 1600-1700: with their ages, the localities where they formerly lived in the Mother Country, the names of the ships in which they embarked, and other interesting particulars. - 1874



Here is a sneak peek...

"13 November.   Grant to James Marquis of Hamilton, Henry, Earl of Holland, and others, all that continent, Island or Region commonly called Newfoundland, bordering upon the Continent of America, to them and their heirs."  (Newfoundland mentioned in a few places throughout)

Includes records for New England, Newfoundland, Bermuda (Sommer Islands) and Barbados. List of Walloons (of Belgium) and French promising to emigrate to Virginia.

Citizenship & Naturalization

The Government of Canada published lists of naturalized immigrants as stipulated by the Naturalization Act of 1914 and later acts.  The lists from 1915-1951 were published in the Reports of the Secretary of State in the Sessional Papers of Canada and in the Canada Gazette.

Sessional Papers 1922

Looking at the year 1922, I checked the index at the front of any volume number.  I see in the Index that the Secretary of State Report is No. 29, which I find in the Contents is in Volume 8. So on the list at Internet Archive under 1922 I would look for Vol 58, No 8 Sessional Paper No 27-32, for 1922. I didn't find any lists of names for other years that I checked, just numbers from each country.



Relevant Links

Sessional Papers 1922: Aliens granted Certificates of Naturalization (pg 319-613)

Citizenship and Naturalization Records at LAC, 1915-1951

Nationalization records at olive Tree Genealogy

The Canada Gazette Archives

How to find US Records of Immigration and Naturalization

How to find British records of Naturalization

How to find Australian Naturalization records

Naturalization and Alien Registration Records of New Zealand

Customs and Immigration Officers

I used to live in a small border town, and we were always going back and forth from Canada to the US. We got to know a lot of the customs officers and they were pretty easy going since we were all "regulars".  One time when I was going across, the long-time officer on the US side, who was stuck there most of the day, asked if I would get him come cigars on my way back. It was like that. The worst was in summer when they had student help... they didn't know us, were more by the book and real sticklers. 

A customs officer is a federal position, therefore in the Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada their names, stations and wages were listed in the Auditor General's Report.

The Department of Immigration was responsible for advertising for settlers, and making sure they arrived safely and were cared for. Immigration officers and staff were also listed in the Auditor General's Report, under the Department of the Interior.

My husband's mother's family immigrated to Canada in 1900 from Galicia, Austria. Canadian immigration agencies advertised for hard working families that were willing to farm for free land. They were taken to Hamburg where they were put on a ship to Halifax, from there put on a train to Winnipeg. They stayed there a while before moving on to Saskatchewan. At that time Mr. W F McCreary was the  Commissioner of Immigration in Winnipeg and his report in the Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada for 1901 listed several people responsible for locating, transporting, visiting and feeding the Galicians (as well as other immigrant groups).

These records are great whether your ancestor was an Immigration Officer or an Immigrant!

Relevant Links

Customs Department Canada - names and salaries at Ottawa and Provinces 1908

Customs Department Canada - names and salaries at Ottawa and Provinces 1910

Customs Department Canada - names and salaries at Ottawa and Provinces 1914

Customs Department of Canada 1921

Gratuities to families of deceased officers

Inspection, Preventive Service, Board of Customs and Laboratories 1908

How to find British Custom Records

Cdn Immigration: Agencies in Canada 1901

Cdn Immigration: Agencies in the United States 1901

Cdn Immigration: Agencies in Europe 1901

Immigration: general expenses and bonuses 1901

Immigration agents, officers, detention hospital staff 1910

Salaries of Customs Officers acting as Boundary Inspectors

General Services and Travel, Canada and US

Printing and Advertising - interesting background info

Bonuses and Commissions - eg:$2/head for Barnardo's Children 1910

Visit of Scottish Agriculturist and American Editors

Misc expenses: lecturers, translators, medical services, legal services, etc

Immigration: Agencies in the United States 1910

Immigration: Agencies in Europe 1910

Staff and expenses in Manitoba and Northwest (pgs K139 - K149)

Immigration and Colonization 1921

Expenditures for Chinese Immigration 1921

Related Posts:  Sessional papers

Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year Greeting Card

In honour of Chinese New Year, February 19, 2015, I have gathered some links to publications and websites that have to do with Chinese Immigration. If you have ancestors from China this may help get you started.

Relevant Links

Immigrants from China at LAC

Chinese Canadian Genealogy

Lisa Louise Cooke on Chinese Genealogy

Alphabetic List of the Chinese and Japanese Emperors

Chinese recorder and missionary journal (includes BMD of missionaries to China)

The surnames of the Chinese in America spelled according to the David Jones system of spelling Chinese names; with notes on various subjects of interest to the Chinese and those who do business with them – 1904

Case Files for Early Immigrants to San Francisco and Hawaii

Chinese New Year - Calendar, greetings, food, crafts, etc

The Chung Collection at UBC

Records about Chinese Australians in the National Archives



Passengers - Part I

"SS Great Britain by Talbot" by Henry Fox Talbot

I have two great-great-grandfathers who came to Canada with their young families around the same time. I don't know exactly when, just before 1865. Passenger lists are few and far between before 1865, as before that time the master of vessel was not required to keep the manifests. But, even though I do not find my ancestors on a passenger list, there are clues to help me narrow down the time they arrived in Canada.

~ My 2x ggf George King was on the 1851 census for Devonshire, England, working as a miller in Woodleigh.
~ Their marriage banns were read in May 1853 and the wedding took place January 1854 in Woodleigh, Devon.
~ In September of 1856 there was an Auction notice in the Exeter Newspaper for the sale of the property and animals of George King. (There was also a notice in the paper 5 months later for the business of his brother-in-law and sister.) 

~ Their first son was born in nearby Washbourne that December, and baptized January 1857. That was the last I find of them in England.

For some unknown-to-me reason, around the same time 4 of George's siblings went to Australia and George is the only one that came to Canada. Their mother had died 10 years past , but their father was not to die for another 7 years.

My 2x ggf Alexander Mavor came from Ellon, Scotland.

~ He was last on a census in Scotland in 1851, working with his brother Francis as a farm servant 8 miles north of Ellon, in Methlick.
~ His marriage banns were read in Ellon in May of 1853 and he was married in New Deer (home of the bride's family) in August 1853.
~ Their first child is born October 1853. That was the last I find of them in Scotland.
(Alexander's brother followed him to Canada years later, in 1873, with a wife and 10 children in tow.)

Both families had a daughter born in Canada in 1859, one in April and one in October.  So I know My Kings arrived between January 1857 and April 1959, and my Mavors arrived sometime between October 1853 and October 1859. So far that's the best I can do. 

Other places you can look when you don't have a passenger list are immigrant societies and perhaps voyage accounts by passengers.

Some passenger lists have been uploaded to Internet Archive.
*Index to passenger lists to various US ports - some are lists but others are cards with passengers information on them.  Even though they are not in alphabetic order, they are all of one letter in a file (ie opening the file the first name begins with R, they will all be R names).  It may be a chore to go through them, but hey, no one said genealogy was easy!

1 of a batch of cards of passengers arriving at Baltimore 1820-1897.

There are also some websites where volunteers have researched and transcribed passenger lists for us. (Big YAAAY and thank you for the volunteers!!!)

Relevant Links

Olive Tree Genealogy Passengers Lists

The Ship's Lists

Island Register - Ship and Passenger Lists for the Maritimes

A bibliography of ship passengers lists, 1538-1825; being a guide to published lists of early immigrants to North America

Passenger Lists of Vessels arriving at Baltimore - 1820-1897

Passenger Lists of Vessels arriving at Philadelphia

Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York 1897-1957

More Passenger Lists at Gjenvick-Gjønvik

St John, NB - Daly Telegraph May 14, 1874 - list of passengers on the "Sidonian"

St John, NB - Daily Telegraph May 14 1874 - list of passengers on the "Castalia"

Passengers arriving in the St Albans, Vermont district through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports - 1895-1954

Bristol to Canada: list of first class passengers; CNR Steamship Royal George - 1911

The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants, religious exiles, political rebels, serving men sold for a term of years, apprentices, children stolen, maidens pressed and others, who went from Great Britain to the American plantations; 1600-1700

South Australian Register - Monday 28 August 1865 - The "Cornwallis", ship arrival and full passenger list  27 Aug 1865 

List of emigrants to America from Liverpool, 1697-1707

St Andrew's Society Montreal - Immigrant list 

Links to Harvard Univ - Programs to help Immigrants (bottom of page)

Immigrants to Canada website 

Souvenir of the Anchor Line Agent's Excursion 1872

Ships Sailing from Scotland

List of passengers, R.M.S. Ophir, Orient Line, Australia 1895

SS Labrador passenger list Montreal and Quebec to Liverpool - 1898

"Alsatia" saloon passenger list New York to London 1878

SS Princess Sophia, Vancouver to Skagway and points in between - 1914

Royal Mail Steamer New York to Liverpool May 1880 

Passenger ship "Elizabeth" - Amsterdam to Philadelphia 1819

Society of California Pioneers 24th Anniversary, with list of passengers to San Francisco in the year 1848 (back of book)

CPR Empress of Ireland passenger list - Liverpool to Quebec, October 1911

Immigrants

People from all over the world have come to Canada seeking a better life for their families. Some people scrimped, borrowed and saved to pay passage to come here.  Some came from moneyed families but were not in line to inherit and were perhaps looking for adventure. Some came as indentured servants, and some were brought here specifically to work, as for the railroad, and not always treated well or fairly.   These people came with their own traditions and customs and made Canada the multicultural country it is today. Books were published and Societies popped up in the cities to help the new immigrants, i.e. The German Society, Saint Patrick’s Society, etc.

Scottish Doctor George Mellis Douglas worked at Grosse Ile from 1832 until his death in 1864, enduring the worst of the cholera outbreaks. In 1859 Dr. Douglas bought Ile aux Ruaux (just west of Grosse Ile) and built a huge house there as a retreat from the city. He went down to the docks to greet the ships of immigrants from Scotland and there he hired my 3x great-grandfather, who had just arrived with his young wife and daughter. (I don’t know yet if they came as assisted passengers, still researching). He took my ancestors to Ile aux Ruaux, where they worked for the next 5 years as farm servants, to grow food that would help feed the people on Grosse Ile.

Ile aux Reaux

In the late 1800’s Mr. Sifton, newly appointed Minister of the Interior, took responsibility for homestead expansion into the west. Sifton initiated a vigorous recruiting campaign aimed at Central and Eastern European rural peasants. According to Sifton, a "stalwart peasant in a sheepskin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half dozen children" was the right kind of settler for the Canadian West.  This is how my husband’s mother’s family came to immigrate to Canada from Galicia. They arrived by ship at Pier 21 Halifax, then went by train to Manitoba, a long arduous journey.

More recently, in the mid 1950’s or so, my parents were among others at our church that took in a Hungarian child for about a year while their immigrant parents found work and got settled. Although I was young it struck me how very hard it was for him, not knowing anyone or speaking the language. No matter how much clothing my parents bought him he would wear nothing but the leather shorts he arrived in. He was so happy the day his parents came to take him to their new home.

Whether your ancestors immigrated to America, Australia, India, or points beyond… think how they must have felt! Excitement. Trepidation. Most leaving all they knew and loved behind, often with a person they just married and barely knew. Women having their first baby and no mother to help or explain the process.  Men fearful that they would not be able to provide for their new growing family. Also their families back home, not hearing what became of them for possibly months.  They all have their stories to tell.

Relevant Links

Female Emigrant’s Guide 

Immigration databases at LAC

Immigrants Sponsored by The Montreal Emigrant Society 1832 (search button on left

Record of Indentures – Philidelphia 1771-1773  

The Walter E Babbitt Papers (Cape Cod Historian) – go past intro 

Immigrants to Canada (helpful site Univ Waterloo ON) 

Huguenots in America

Chinese Canadian Genealogy

Chinese Immigrants

Guide to the United States for the Jewish immigrant

The Emigrant's Informant, Or, A Guide to Upper Canada

Black History Canada

British Home Children

The Brooklyn Benevolent Society

Immigrants from England 1800 - 1900 – Frontenac County

Records of the Field Offices for the State of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872 (Check for other states as well)

Missing Friends (Ads for Irish Immigrants in Boston Newspaper The Pilot)

Immigrants to England in the Middle Ages (1330-1550)

List of Emigrants that went to America from Liverpool 1697-1707