The Land of Milk and Honey

Immigrants were often lured to Canada by shipping agents who painted a picture of the land of milk and honey.

A family tree can wither if nobody tends it's roots

Unknown

Revised November 2016

This is fictional based on what I have learned and feel went on.

Agnes was looking over the railing of the S.S. Canada into the fridge, murky, grey water of the St Lawrence River. It was April 1907 and late the night before the steam ship had passed Anticosti Island then moved into the mouth of the St Lawrence.  Possibly tonight would be their last on the ship before reaching Montreal, the ship’s destination.*

 The SS Canada

 From there they had a three-day train ride to Regina Saskatchewan and another day’s journey to the homestead where Wilfred, her husband of two years, would be working.

 Agnes was alone on the deck; Wilfrid had gone off to play cards with some of the men headed to western Canada to settle on land they hoped to tame.

Jessie their 14-month-old daughter was sleeping in the tiny cramped cabin the three of them had been sharing during this eight day ocean crossing to their new country…

They’d left Liverpool England on a lovely March day with one trunk and a couple of large, bulging valises.  Most of their possessions had been auctioned off or sold to pay the expenses for this new life.

 When they got to Montreal Wilfred would prove to the authorities that they had enough cash to survive for at least one winter and then purchase train tickets for the next part of their journey. 

Supplies, such as sundries and perishables, would be bought in Regina to take with them to the Beaver Hills, north of Saskatoon, where the homestead was. Necessities such as blankets, pots, farm tools, had been brought with them from England. 

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Agnes was feeling another  bout of nausea. It was a familiar sickness something she had experienced for a period of time once before.  She was pregnant with their second child; this baby would be born in a new world far away from their relatives, friends and her beloved homeland.

The cold damp sea air made her feel a bit better but it didn’t calm her fears. “What had they done?” went through her mind.  “Bringing a young child into the unknown and a baby on the way?  Then again,” she thought, “that was not the plan when we had decided to leave England behind to come to Canada, the Land of Milk and Honey” as it had been promoted.

What had they given up? What price would they pay, seeking out their fortune in this cold, wet, grey miserable looking country?

 Agnes could not foresee what challenges truly lay ahead… for if she had she might have headed straight back to England.

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According to a book, Selling Canada  by Daniel Francis

there were three Propaganda Campaigns that Shaped the Nation (Canada)  first in the 1880’s, then in early 1900’s and after War World I. It would seem   my grandparents got caught up in the second one and were convince to pack up and come to the Land of Milk and Honey to farm in the fledgling province of Saskatchewan

Not sure why they left England as Granddad was the eldest son and the Harrison Family owned a nursery/green grocer business both he and Granny had worked in. Have tried to find a clue in history but no luck so far.

 * Not sure about the destination as the records show Halifax yet a trunk that was around for years was marked Montreal .Arrival in Halifax didn't start until later in the 1900's according to the Peer 21, in Halifax, records.

Baby Wilfrid Harrison

If you don't know history, you don’t know anything. 

You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. 

 Michael Crichton

  Wilfrid Harrison (my paternal grandfather)  age 2

By Cathern Agnes Harrison       September 2004    revised in 2016  

Last weekend when the Quebec cultural weekend events were published in the Montreal Gazette I decided that one of the places I was going to check out was the Quebec Family History Society on Cartier Avenue in Pointe Claire.

Dragging my husband with me and off we went to have a look at what was available…

And came away with information I never went in looking for…. Its enough to make me want to learn more about my roots as well as my husband’s.

 We tried finding his grandfather first because Drury is a less common name than Harrison. The search didn’t go far although we were able to get his parental grandparent’s birth dates the well more or less ran dry after that, as we didn’t have names and other info with us. I plan to pursue it though if not for my husband, for my own sake as well as my desire not to regret trying to tie up loose ends for our sons and grandchildren.

Because I have a bit more information to go on for my relatives, the president of the society was able to find on-line via ancester.com the 1891 England Census and my 10-year-old grandfather. Because his given name was Wilfrid it made the search for the common surname Harrison easier.  Knowing the year of his birth 1880, also helped

 He printed the page off for me as well as a copy of the hand written census page my grandfather is on… More about that  later.  

The president went on to look for the 1881 British Census Household Record which lists my grandfather as a 9 month old.

That census gave me a bit about my grandfather’s family, my great-grandparents and their children.

Great Granddad James Harrison was 30 at the time and his birthplace was Salford Lancashire England Occupation:  Market Gardener with two acres (Not Dom) meaning it was explained to us, worked for himself… I knew they had a nursery as we call it today but now because of that census know the name of it because of the dwelling: Chorley New Rd Lostock Nursery. He and his 24-year-old wife Elizabeth, birthplace Bury, Lancashire had 3 young children.  My baby grandfather was the youngest. There was Sarah E. who was 5  a scholar and 3-year-old Ethel.

There is one person that stood out in the household; Great–Grand Uncle Joseph Harrison who was also a Gardener.  He was 22 at that time.

In the 1891 census there are 3 more children but no great-great Uncle Joseph. The 3 children are Jessie who was 8, Joseph Henry 2 and James 1.

 My 10-year-old grandfather is now listed as a scholar but he’s the only one that is despite all the girls ( Sarah 15 and Ethel 13) being of school age or by today’s standards at least. 

Another interesting fact is that  the ROAD, STREET, No. or NAME of  House  is now 39 Parsonage House and my Great Grandfather James is ticked off as an employer,   a Nurseryman & Florist

Great-Grand Uncle Joseph is missing from the household.  However, there’s now a boarder, Thomas Jackson listed as being 48 and employed as a Clerk of Waterworks.

Noticed this as we drove home from the Society offices -  the next household to be listed is 40 Parsonage Cottage has  Joseph Harrison 32 as the head of the household and a gardener (nursery). The last person on that census page is 64 year old Mary Ann Roberts mother is says.

Guess I need the next page to see the rest of the household.

On the 1881 census my Grandfather’s name is spelt Wilfred but on the 1891 census it is WILFRID. Easy to see how names etc can get confusing…

And that was how easy it was to entice me beyond names and  dates when I said I wasn’t interested as I found the many list of names and dates in the many family trees I had come across on the internet very boring - they told me very little about anyone. It was not how I wanted to meet my ancestors. However, it did give me a good idea of how far back my given name was popular because that is how I came across other women with the name Cathern when I searched for my uncommon name. Usually they were long gone but soon realized they had lived around the mid to late 1800’s and possibly early 1900’s.

It was finding out how much information could be gleaned from censuses I was hooked.

 

Back home I searched though the information I had, and the dates my sister had recorded from the Harrison Family Bible.  The Bible recordings had started with our great-great grandfather John Harrison and his wife Mary Ann Barrington. Recognize that given name?

The Bible is now with a nephew who is the 6^th generation and the last direct line, male Harrison.

Much more is known about the Harrison Family now however,  for now will add that MARY ANN Barrington wife of James Harrison remarried in 1881.  She had been a widow for a few years when she remarried. Not sure what happened to her second husband but when I learned to go through everything with a fine tooth comb realized it was  was the Mary Ann Roberts on the 1891 census as mentioned - also noticed she was blind. Yet ten years later she was Mary Ann Harrison again and one of her daughters was living with her.

I have given her a bit of a life which I have done for many other ancestors and will  share them too  down the road .

The Leaves of Life

Genealogists do not gather facts,

 but breathe life into all who have gone before

Family Tree Magazine 

 
The Leaves of Life

By Cathern Agnes Harrison (Originally written January 30 2011)

  

In the spring leaves bud fresh and green.  Throughout the summer they yield to weather and the atmosphere surrounding them. In the fall they change colour, turn brown, wither and dry up, fall to the ground and are forgotten.

Completely revamped  this in November 2016 because it is time to start sharing what I have created or collected since finding  the 24/7 library, the WWW. This week I wrote my first blog and feel the urge now to continue along that vein but in a completely different direction; that of our roots and stories.  Spent too much time searching for the stories I have written through the years to get started on this blog as they are ‘lost’ among the humongous amount of ‘stuff’ I have put aside to share or finish another time.

…………………………..

WHAT ARE WE BUT OUR STORIES?

From Sam’s Letters to Jennifer a book by James Paterson

Some never make a mark - they come and go with little fuse much like a leaf.  Many do not even get fifteen minutes of fame and if it were not for descendants giving them ‘life’ after death, all they’d be are memories that fade away eventually. Many remain faces in dusty, faded unnamed photos and untold family stories.

 Some do not even have the correct birth dates or other records of life and very little fanfare when they leave this life. Nor can anything be found before their birth, if that is even found.

This has been on my mind for several months or years now since I began researching our family trees.  Very thankful for what has been discovered,  some proven branches go back to the 1600’s. Found roots to Nouveau France on my maternal Grandmother’s side of the tree. In my husband tree, there are possibilities of ancestors that came over on the Mayflower though his father’s roots .

Have come across history, stories or explanations to back up records and add to our family history. Cannot forget the delight of meeting descendants, second and third cousins, some even farther removed  - most are more than willing to share or help to gather our records together so we have much more than a list of names and dates.  Yet it is also sad not to get anywhere with some of the members of our roots, my paternal grandmother is one of those lost in records before marriage.

At this time I am comfortable with our trees as they are. There is not a need to expand what already has been collected. However, our ancestors need to come out of boxes and folders to live in the world again.

And that is why I woke with the need to find my writing and stop procrastinating about getting it organized then start sharing before it is completely lost. 

This writing is dedicated to all those that have gone before us

Found at "Looking at Robert Wood"   http://lookingforrobertwood.weebly.com/