Vimy Ridge Farm,Guelph - Completed

[madand]

My father, David Anderson, arrived in Quebec on SS Laurentic on 1st June 1929 and we believe that he went to Vimy Ridge Farm in Guelph. Does anyone know of any records of his time there and where he went afterwards?

[valeriec]

I would contact the Guelph Public Library at
www.library.guelph.on/ca/index.cfm

They appear to have an extensive history section and may have knowledge about the Vimy Ridge Farm.

[J.J.]

I imagine he might have been a home child or sent to train as a "farm worker" ( farm boys scheme to train boys for farm life in Canada) How old was he, and where was he born?

http://books.google.ca/books?id=Qs3uIWGetJAC&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=#v=onepage&q=%22Vimy%2BRidge%2BFarm%22&f=false
Although it is said online that it first housed WW1 wounded soldiers, and thusly named, so not for the orphans of ww1...although Guelph historians can clear that up....
added:
I don't see him in the Homechild database.

[madand]

He wasn't a home boy but was probably on the farm boys scheme. He was born at Upper Corskie, Cluny in Scotland in 1912. He intended to remain in Canada but returned to Britain in 1932 on the Duchess of Bedford arriving in Glasgow in October 1932.

[valeriec]

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/index-e.html
Immigration Records
Reel T14753 1929 Volume 8 page 52, There are 3 volumes on this reel which really makes the page 465 when looking through the lists.
Information as on the passenger list for the Laurentic
David Anderson
age 17, single, Dunecht, Scotland, farm work, Ontario Government, Guelph, landed immigrant, passage paid by self
Father - David Anderson
Gardners Croft, Newmacher, Aberdeenshire

[J.J.]

Doubt that we can trace a 3 year stay in Canada...if he was here for the census, you'll have a long wait to see where he may have been living. ( 100 yr privacy law in Canada )
Welcome to rootschat, by the way!...Hopefully we can help you somewhere on the boards for other branches of your family.

[valeriec]

It appears that Vimy Ridge Training Farm was part of the Empire Settlement Act, a subsidized emigration program and allowed boys 16 and over to come to Canada and lean about farming. Some of the boys went to agricultural colleges and others just went to the farms to learn. Supposedly, there are volumes on this program including lists of the people in the National Archives.

The golden bridge: young immigrants to Canada 1833-1939 by Marjorie Kohli
page 231 and 232

Vimy Ridge Farm
In 1923, the British government, in conjunction with the government of Ontario, purchased Ballagh Farm located on lots 9 and 10 of the 5th Concession of Puslinch township, Wellington county near the city of Guelph. Named Vimy Ridge Training Farm, it was used as an agricultural training farm for the young boys coming to Canada with the Oversea Settlement Committee.

The Local Architectural Conservation Association of Puslinch township designated the site for its historical significance in 1991. The desgnation read in part

It is assumed manuy were World War 1 orphans as the farm was named "Vimy Ridge". The woodworking shop, built by the Sorbys (previous owners) became a dormitory for the boys placed at Vimy Ridge. A covered alleyway was contructed between the dormitory and the house, as the boys took their meals in the farmhouse.

The farm could house a minimum of 250 boys. But, at Vimy Ridge only public school boys were elegible. (Public schools in England were not schools supported by public funding, rather they were private schools such as Eton) The property was sold in 1932.

If he returned in 1932, perhaps he was still at Vimy Ridge when it closed in 1932.

Library and Archives Canada
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

Under the search all, put in Vimy Ridge Farm and Vimy Ridge Training farm to see what comes up. It definitely appears that there are records pertaining to Vimy Ridge Farm held at the Nationald Archives. I think I would contact the library in Guelph to see what they can tell you. There are probably societies in the area that are interested in the history of the farm. There could be books on the subject as well.

From other information that I found approximately 1800 boys went through Vimy Ridge Farm, some went on to own their own farms.

[madand]

Thanks for your replies. I have now sent a message to Guelph libraries asking if they have any lists. Where are the microfiche in the collectionscanada.gc.ca held?

[valeriec]

There is a contact section for Library and Archives Canada  at
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca