Hope for a Better Life
Immigrants arriving at Union Station, Toronto, c. 1910.
Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN 3194884.
Around 1867, more than four million people lived in Canada. Over 2.6 million of them were born in British North America, with the rest having roots in France and Great Britain (mostly Ireland). Two waves of European immigrants, 1896-1913 and 1946-1961, changed the face of the country. Following federal government action to promote industrial development, a new immigration policy centered on agriculture was implemented to populate Western Canada.
Interview with Ken Dolphin
Video clip
Download the video (WebM format / 28.6 MB)
TRANSCRIPT
Ken Dolphin: My grandfather's name was Ralph Dolphin. He arrived in Valleyfield in September 1912...
...to work at the cotton mill.
I think he came here because he was recruited by the mill in Blackburn (England)...
...where he came from, to work here...
in Valleyfield.
He arrived here in September, 1912.
My grandmother, Mary Sharp, had arrived here in the summer of 1910...
with the rest of her family.
I suppose they met here at the mill. They were both catholic.
They were married in 1913 and my aunt Philomene was born in 1914.
My grandfather only worked at the mill...
...for a few years.
Then, at the beginning of the First World War, he lost his job...
...and he went to work at the Canadian Bronze, where he worked for 40 years, so did my dad, Gilbert, he worked there for 40 years.
My grandfather’s family [is] from Blackburn...
... actually the family comes from Ribchester, just a few miles north of Blackburn.
So my grandfather started working at the [Canadian] Bronze in 1914.
My grandmother who was a spinner worked on and off at the mill,
and in 1920, when she was still working at the mill, she was allowed to live in a mill house. So they lived at 25 Stevenson Street, from 1920 to 1940.