Why did Arthur Perry become a farmer?

[Tom Piper]

In 1901, Arthur William Perry, aged 30, a well-qualified solicitor, his new wife Miriam Maude, and their little girl Isa are living in Heyes lane, Timperley, England

By 1904, Arthur and Miriam have left their daughter in England, and have travelled to Saskatchewan, and started a farm together with Miriam's brother Alfred Lee. Unfortunately, Arthur is killed in a farm accident in 1906, and Miriam returns home.

But why did they go in the first place? Did something happen in Timperley between 1901 and 1904, does a newspaper for that area record anything?  What was being offered in Saskatchewan that would persuade someone who had never worked on the land, leave his solicitor's office near Manchester and move to new farm at Garnock?

Okay they wanted a new life with new opportunities, but it must have been hard for someone not used to farm work!

Any ideas anyone?

I have asked this question in the Cheshire section to see anyone knows what happened there that would make someone think of emigrating.

Tom

[J.J.]

You need to look into the records of the business to see if it was indeed successful...but many men became "farmers" in order to get in on the great land deal posters & pamphlets offered immigrants
Settlers were encouraged to come with the promise of free land for homesteads. It was meant to attract farmers...  with free 160 acres for only a $10 registration fee. In order to receive the patent for the land the settler had to be a male 21 or older, ( & eventually women who were the sole supporter of family) Before being granted a patent the applicant had to be a British subject or a naturalized British subject, had to reside on the homestead for a period of time, usually six months of the year for three years, make improvements to the land by cultivating at least 30 acres of land, and erect a house worth at least $300. This probably sounded pretty good until you found out you had to cross an ocean then cross half a continent by train, then somehow get to your land which needed to worked & cleared before it could be farmed...  Oh, and did anyone mention winter?
You bet it was hard. My grandfather was from a family of lumberjacks and blacksmiths, not farmers....and it took him years to get a farm going and many more to even make much money at it.

More reading...
http://canadachannel.ca/HCOJR/index.php/G._Making_a_Western_Home,_1896-1900
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/immigrants/021017-1111-e.html
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/saskatchewan100/theme-%20immigration.html

[cosmac]

Around this time the Barr Colony, which established the city of Lloydminister in Saskatchewan and Alberta (the city straddles the provincial border), was advertised in Britain.  If you google it you will find quite a bit of information on the internet which would give you an idea of how Canada was marketed, how settlers travelled, the conditions they endured etc.  This link
http://www.lloydminster.net/passlistaalaunch.htm
gives you a passenger list for one of the ships that transported Barr Colonists.  Their professions are listed and there is quite a variance.   Butchers, shop assistants, florists, cotton spinners, railway guards were all mixed in with farmers.  Even those listed as farmers might be suspect.  A distant relative came over as a Barr Colonist and her husband is listed as a farmer but he always worked in stores or newspaper offices.

Debbie