Passenger list lookup for Evelyn West

[downside]

Hi Folks

I'm trying to establish when an ancestor of mine emigrated to Canada.

Evelyn West born 26 March 1891 in Rackham, Sussex, England.

She went over to Canada when her elder sister Mary Ann Stoneadge (nee West) became ill.  Mary Jane died 1920 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Stoneadge family may have been living in Wolseley, Manitoba at the time which I believe is a suburb of Winnipeg.

Thanks

downside

[MJP]

Hi downside,

Unfortunately Canadian passenger lists are a bit tricky to work with.  Library and Archives Canada has them starting in about 1865, but they are not indexed.  They are just arranged chronologically by arrival and port.  So unless you can narrow down the arrival to within about a month or so it is a pretty fruitless search thorough reams of film hoping to spot their name.   

There are some that have been transcribed by various volunteer efforts, so sometimes you get lucky, but it is hit-and-miss.  Check out the Canada Resources section of this board - I think there is a thread about ships lists with a few links. 

The arrivals for 1925-1935 have been indexed by the Archives and are online, but that sounds too late for your person. 

There may be directories of Winnipeg available for the late 1910s, but I would guess that it would be Mary Ann's husband who would be listed in the directory - Evelyn's name would probably not appear.

I know nothing about Winnipeg, so I can't offer any more suggestions about how to find out when she was there....   

MJP

[eillo]

You might want to try the 1911 and 1901 census (also 1906 for Prairie Provinces) to see if she is there. That will help narrow the immigration date!

See http://allcensusrecords.com/  click on CANADA then each census year in turn for online records and links to other sites that have them. MJP has already told you some of the difficulties in finding your family without a more precise date.  But if you want to go ahead...

The National Archives of Canada (NAC) holds immigrationrecords from 1865 to 1935. 

Ships are on the reel, in order of arrival. You can find the details at this URL

           http://www.archives.ca/02/020202_e.html


If you want to order filmed passenger lists (remember they aren't indexed!), a  list of NAC microfilm numbers for passenger lists to Canada 1865-1922 can be found at

http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/filmnos_can1865.shtml

If you want to try your luck searching transcribed ships passenger lists online,  passenger lists for Ships to Canada after 1865 are freely available at

http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tocanp05.shtml

You can also try TheShipsList.com at http://www.theshipslist.com/  They have been indexing arrivals from Newspapers and have many passenger lists online

There are search engines to search online free databases on multiple websites for ships to Canada at

http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/search_shipscanada.shtml

[downside]

Hi eillo

Thank you for your detailed reply.

Is it just me or am I missing something?  That Olivetreegenealogy site seems to be a front for the dreaded ancestry.com?

downside

[KarenM]

Hi Downside,

I don't think Olive Tree Genealogy is a front for Ancestry.  Lorine, who created the Olive Tree web site is extremely knowledgable in Canadian Genealogy (and other Countries), she provides the links to where you can find your information, free sites and pay sites, whether it's ancestry or not.  If you go to the Olive Tree site you can read all about her.

Karen

[eillo]

Is it just me or am I missing something?  That Olivetreegenealogy site seems to be a front for the dreaded ancestry.com?

There's tons of free data on Olive Tree!

There are ads/links for Ancestry but if you don't like Ancestry then ignore those and just use the free databases on the Olive Tree site. There's over 1500 databases online there and they are all free.  Take your time and really look around the site.

[J.J.]

Oh, yes...Olive Tree is just a super site... and constructed to aid. If it
leads to pay sites, well so does my genealogy page...if they are good sites,
they must be acknowledged...I only have a small page and it's a devil to
keep up so I admire all the work that goes into larger sites...
 
Mary Jane was married to George Henry STONEADGE in Virden in 1907 ...http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php

The family is down for the 1911 under Stonage ...with initials only....
the lazy census taker!  Both immigrated the year of their marriage...
B.C. born 1907, and Geo.H. Jr. born 1910
http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/Test16.jsp?id=26124

There is also a sister-in-law Lileh West in the same household...(imm.1911)

The surname is not a common one in Canada... so the 2 found here might be
 worthwhile to contact...They are in the western Province of B.C....There are
none by that surname still living here in Winnipeg....
http://findaperson.canada411.ca/

Perhaps they can shed some light on the more recent  family history for you....

Best of luck!  J.J.

[J.J.]

An Evelyn M. West came through Ellis Island in 1914 but it says 35 not 25...
 http://www.ellisisland.org/  as it has been stated it is hard to find records
within your search criteria....but you never know if you can get lucky....J.J.

p.s. why is ancestry.com dreaded?  I use it to find free information and
many find their information that way and then pay for the use of the site and
enjoy the access to full view....It's not perfect, but it's not so bad, either....

[eillo]

Good sleuthing, JJ! 1907 as the immigration year is very helpful, even tho you have to allow a year or two on either side.

Now downside has a choice --  to order filmed passenger lists (remember they
aren't indexed!). Just to repeat, a  list of NAC microfilm numbers for passenger lists to Canada 1865-1922 can be found at

http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/filmnos_can1865.shtml  These are FREE, they aren't part of Ancestry (although I personally love Ancestry and their wonderful databases, couldn't have done as much on my lines as i have, without them)

We will soon (?) be able to search these unindexed years! Library and Archives Canada plans to digitize passenger lists for 1865 to 1935 as part of their new Moving Here, Staying Here online exhibition at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/immigrants/index-e.html

But meantime, here's another possibility... Nanaimo Family History Society has a Passenger List
Indexing Project for 1900-1921 online at http://members.shaw.ca/nanaimo.fhs/  I don't know if 1907 +/- is done yet but it's worth a look.