August 2005 - Vol Five, No.9

History Helps, Volume Five, Number 9, August 2005
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GREETINGS!

Another Note from a Subscriber

This one I received from Donald Luxton in response to the item in last month’s newsletter, entitled “Changing Immigrant Names.”

“How Johnson became Walmark!

My maternal great grandfather, from Sweden, arrived in Montreal in 1903. He was emigrating because he did not want to serve compulsory military service - an early draft dodger! Farming in Canada seemed a better option. When he was standing in the line being signed in, each of the Swedes standing in front of him was being assigned a plot of land in Saskatchewan. They were of course all being assigned land in the same area (near a town called Kelliher). Almost all of them were registering under the name "Johnson" - of course being Swedish they were all the sons of John. My grandfather decided while in the lineup to register his last name as "Walmark" - the name of the regiment in Sweden that he was supposed to serve with. Many of his descendants still bear the name Walmark.

Incidentally, after the first winter, it was a toss-up whether it was such a good idea to try farming on the prairies... His eldest daughter, Ellen (my grandmother) was a wealth of stories (she died two years ago at the age of 97) and she remembered the sod hut she was born in, and the sheepskin "sleeping bags" (wool in) that they used at night to try and stay warm... a very harsh existence until they built the log house (an improvement!) and later the frame house (even better!). Makes life today seem kind of soft....“

The Cold War

“CIVIL DEFENCE

LEARN -- AND LIVE

THE DANGER

Every citizen of British Columbia must face the fact that we may be attacked. To ignore this possibility would be to play into the hands of an enemy.

We must prepare now. Every man, woman and child must learn what can happen and what do do in order to fight back and preserve all that we hold dear in our way of life.

One of the first steps is to know just what an enemy hopes to achieve.

Knowing this, we can make our Civil Defence more effective and act in a way that will minimize the effects of hostile acts which in total war are aimed at the population, our industry and war potential generally and our will to fight.

Lack of knowledge creates fear ... fear creates panic and panic can cause unnecessary death and destruction. If we know what do do, we can fight back with confidence and vigour. If we act calmly, lives and property will be saved.

Remember this: Throughout history, new weapons of war have always produced an antidote. This holds true today even in [an] atomic attack. We can withstand any attack if we prepare now!

Civil Defence preparations are going ahead rapidly. Special training courses are being held for members of our Civil Defence Corps.

It will be your duty, when called upon, to volunteer for whatever role you are best fitted ... to do all you can to make our Civil Defence a highly organized and powerful weapon in the shortest time possible.

Remember Great Britain’s wartime slogan: ‘We do not admit the possibility of defeat -- it does not exist.’

These bulletins, now being published weekly in your local newspaper will give you the basic facts to prepare for your part in Civil Defence. Read them, clip them out now, and act upon them.

Watch for another bulletin in next week’s newspaper.

THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

HON. W. T. STRAITH, K. C. , Provincial Secretary
MAJ.-GEN. C. R. STEIN, Civil Defence Co-ordinator”

Source: The Ladner Optimist, Thursday, 14 June 1951, page six.

1911 Census of Canada

From the National Archives of Canada website...

"As many of you are aware, Bill S-18 has now received Royal Assent. Under this amended legislation, personal census records for censuses taken between 1911 and 2001 will be made available through Library and Archives Canada 92 years after each census took place.

Library and Archives Canada has received the official transfer of the 1911 census records from Statistics Canada. To facilitate access to these records, a number of standard policies and procedures need to be followed before the product is launched. We are working very hard to release this information to researchers and the general public as quickly as possible. We hope to do this by early August."

Book Review from Interlink Bookshop (Genealogy)

“The Sash Canada Wore: A Historical Geography of The Orange Order in Canada by Cecil J. Houston and William J. Smyth. This work explores the role of the Orange Order in the unfolding settlement geography of Canada. Orangism as an ideology of Protestantism and loyalty and the Orange Lodge as a focus for social interaction are studied within a wider perspective aimed at elucidating some elements in the social and cultural life of Canada as that country progressed from British colonial status to an ethnically complex and industrially advanced modern nation. 215 page hardcover book. Regular price $34.95.”

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Gwen Szychter, M.A.

P.S. Here's a favour you can do for me: If you liked this newsletter and found it helpful or just interesting, please pass it on to a friend or colleague. Thank you.