55 years ago today my parents, three brothers, 1 sister and myself got on The Cunard Carinthia and sailed away to a new life in Canada. What a journey. We went from Manchester to Liverpool where we got on the ship shown above. Looks so small compared to the ocean liners we see today. We sailed up to Scotland where more people boarded. Off we set for a 5 day trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Five days turned into 7 as we had terrible weather and the ship, at some point, got a broken rudder. My mum was sick from the minute we got on the ship until the minute we got off!!
We were all happy to get off in Montreal. We then had a 2 day 3 night train trip to Edmonton. All we saw was snow and trees, snow and trees, an occasional frozen lake and some tumbled down shacks. We were all pretty anxious as to what we had come to. It seemed like we never saw any towns or cities. Maybe we passed through them during the night.
We finally arrived in Edmonton and were met by a friend of my dads he had been in the police with. He and his wife had been in Canada a few years. We stayed with them until my dad got a job and then we moved to our own house.
Wow. that was a brave move for the family. Hope you all enjoyed the new life . Must have been difficult for your folks at first
ReplyDeleteI can sympathise with your Mum, I get seasick as well. What a massive decision your parents made especially back then when the world seemed so much bigger. Was it an era when Canada was encouraging people to go or did your Dad have a specific job he went to and final question lol, did all your family stay in Canada? xx
ReplyDeleteHow interesting - do tell us another instalment - did you stay in Edmonton or did yu move on? What about your school life? Did you all settle well? I would so love to hear what happened next.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit spooky, only last night Paul and I were discussing how daunting it must have been for families migrating to Australia and Canada all those years ago. It would be interesting to know more about how you settled.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful story. I was born in Liverpool 1956 and lived there until 1966. I spent a lot of time on the pier head looking at all the wonderful ships arriving and departing. Do you come back to the UK?
ReplyDeleteSnap. 55 years ago this coming October, my family left Scotland. Train,then Empress of England and train to Vancouver.
ReplyDeleteI laugh at today's immigrants. They want to be known as ex-Pats and are constantly on the phone to "back home". Our generation never had a choice. Phone calls were rare and expensive and air mail letters took forever.
My best friend came from Glasgow at roughly the same time. We wonder who we would be if our parents hadn't decided to move to Canada.
What an eventful journey. We, born here in Canada, are very glad you decided to join us. Thank you for coming.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
What stories you must have to tell of the journey across the ocean and then across the country. I would think your parents were just a bit concerned with what you were seeing of Canada on your way to Edmonton.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandparents came from Scotland, Ireland and England, but all arrived in the mid 1800's. I'll visit there someday, likely on a cruise ship but I agree it will quite different from the ship your arrived on.
What a wonderfully exciting, and no doubt apprehensive, journey to look back on.
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