If you’ve ever pondered about why it is that you were born on this side of the Atlantic, the reason is that 100 years ago this year Francis George Cuthbert and his wife Laura (nee McCarthy) came from Ireland to Canada with their seven children! They left behind their friends and relatives in what was then a somewhat economically-depressed country, to seek better opportunities for their family - and for us their descendants.
Francis George Cuthbert, known as Frank, came ahead by himself to scout out the new country. The Nanaimo Family History Society Ships’ Passenger List Index, for passengers arriving at Quebec ports between June 25th, 1905 and October 13th, 1910, at http://members.shaw.ca/nanaimo.fhs/ shows Frank Cuthbert, age 40, born in Ireland, arriving June 19th, 1910 on the ship Lake Manitoba (page 016-016, National Archives Microfilm Reel T 4768). Click on ”The Index” and do a search under “cur-cze”, scrolling down to find Frank.
On the National Archives site at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-100.01-e.php it is now possible to search for specific ships and, once found, to see the actual names of the persons on the passenger lists. The first page of the Lake Manitoba of the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. shipping line is at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5354&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=g2lggkts5ngtr3brj1t1cmdhq4 where details of the voyage are given. And Francis George’s name is on page 17 of 46, at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5354&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=53155&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=tf26lgsflcfuvumjhqulq7t6l0
about half way down the page, heading for Winnipeg. His occupation was traveller (i.e., travelling salesman) and this was his intended occupation in Canada.
A picture of the ship, the Lake Manitoba, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/lakemanitoba.htm
A picture of the ship, the Lake Manitoba, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/lakemanitoba.htm
Francis Percy Cuthbert, age 17, arrived next on September 30th, 1910, on the ship Tunisian (page 020-004, Reel T - 4772). His country of birth is shown erroneously on the Nanaimo FHS site as England instead of Ireland, possibly because the ship sailed from Liverpool in England.
On the National Archives site he is shown on the Tunisian of the Allan Line Steamship Co at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5495&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=56292&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=e86v1n09l9ac5j2ppjn9cgco04
on page 21 of 41, fifth name from the top. He is shown as going to his father in Winnipeg and that his intended first occupation in Canada was clerk.
A picture of ship, the Tunisian, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/tunisian.htm
A picture of ship, the Tunisian, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/tunisian.htm
Because the other members of the family came just after October 13th, they are not listed on the Naniamo FHS site. Therefore it's necessary to have some other source to find out the name of the ship they travelled on and the date of the sailing.
Laura Cuthbert and the other six of their seven children arrived in Canada on the Corsican of the Allan Line Steamship Co., arriving in Quebec, Oct. 15, 1910. Luckily I remembered that my Aunt Ida years before had told me the name of the ship and I first found them back in 2000 by laboriously scrolling through reams of microfilm at the Archives. That was before the information was more conveniently available on line.
Their names can be seen at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5516&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=56743&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=151ughvih931n4ktsta4bcptn0 on page 22 of 39, about half way down. They are shown as going to Winnipeg, to an Eaton’s Clerk, my grandfather’s first occupation in Canada.
A picture of ship, the Corsican, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/corsican.htm
A picture of ship, the Corsican, is at: http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/corsican.htm
Francis George’s uncle, Edward Beggs, and his family were on the same ship but not in steerage like the Cuthbert kids as Ida recalled. See http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-119.02-e.php?sisn_id_nbr=5516&page_sequence_nbr=1&interval=20&page_id_nbr=56729&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&PHPSESSID=151ughvih931n4ktsta4bcptn0. They are near the bottom of page 8 and Edward is a house agent (a real estate agent I guess in today’s terms).
We’ll never know what our lives would have been like (or even if we would have been born) if Frank and Laura had remained in Ireland - a lovely place really - but I’m ecstatically happy living here - and look at all those gold medals Canada has won at the Olympics this week :-) As I write there’s cheering going on outside on the street and so I think we must have won another gold!
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