Before conducting research about my family history I had a slim idea of where I came from. Throughout the process of searching my family history by interviews, internet research, family photo books and obituaries, I widened my understanding of my past. If my grandparents had not immigrated to Canada the outcome of my life would be different than now, but the changes would be small.

I always knew my grandparents had come from England but with research I discovered more detailed reasons behind their emigration. My Grandmother on my Mom's side was born in Canada and lived here her entire life. My  maternal Grandpa had a complex childhood during the time of the Second World War. When my Grandfather was in early childhood he and his brother were involved in Operation Pied Piper. This was when England evacuated young children from urban areas and sent them to the country where they thought they would be safer. Later, as the war progressed, the Germans began bombing all parts of England and not just the major cities. Therefore, my grandfather moved back to London with his family, but were moved to bomb shelters to wait out the end of the shellings as his parents were Civil Defense workers and were very busy at this time. At age 15, my Grandpa was sent to the London Nautical Training School in the seamanship program as a result of a new war effort that began to train young teenagers to help in the war. As he grew older he was apart of the Merchant Navy Reserve Pool, and travelled to various ports across the world to help rebuild after WWII. On July 6th, 1957 he emigrated to Canada desperate to find work. After the war had ended it was very hard to find good reliable work and thus began his immigration process to Canada.

    On the other hand, my Granny, my father's mother, had come to Canada in the year 1964 by boat. She traveled seven days across the Atlantic, five of which she spent below deck due to seasickness, to seek new adventures and opportunities awaiting her in Canada. During the time my Grandmother emigrated to Canada, exiting things were happening in England. For example, electricity was available for all households,  the TV show Dr Who first aired, and England won the Football World Cup. Back in England my Granny was a nurse and had practiced as a midwife. She came to Canada with her friend as they both wanted more experience and practice in the nursing world. Her friend had family in Toronto that would lend them help as they settled. When my grandmother came she immediately got a job at the Toronto Western Hospital because in that time, “you needed a job to emigrate.”(Brookman) She had received a visa and filed for emigration papers prior to coming. During this time period, many people from all over the world, especially England were  immigrating to Canada. Furthermore, she “had to go through an exam in England to see how intelligent [they]  were and to see if [they] were allowed to emigrate.”(Brookman) Later in her life, she took the Canadian Citizenship test. For similar reasons my Dad's father had emigrated to Canada, to find better work. Both my grandparents had met previously in England and reunited again once they were in Canada. They later married on Christmas eve 1966 back in England. Afterwards, the rest of their family followed from England to Canada and then began my immediate family. Unfortunately, I was only able to find a little information about my grandfather as he passed away before I was born. Both my Grandparents on my Dad's side moved from England to Canada for work related reasons.

The above pictures are those from my maternal Grandfather's life. The first picture is his passport that he needed to come to Canada. The second picture is of him on marine ships he worked on. The third picture is his Canadian citizenship paper he obtained once living in Canada for several years.

   

My Grandpa, on my mother's side lived his childhood and adolescence during the time of WWII ,and my  paternal Granny and grandfather were only young when the war ended. Despite the difference of age, all of my grandparents moved to Canada in order to find work. After the war, and during the times that followed, My Grandpa Doug (my maternal grandfather), immigrated here desperate and broke. He arrived first in Halifax but moved to Barrie, Ontario and enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. This is the answer to why he moved to Canada. The war was hard on England and , “The economy had a hard time rebuilding itself.”(Bonney) When it was time to apply for a visa he applied to several places but Canada was the first to accept his application and that is why he chose to come here. The major push factor for him leaving his home was the crumbling economy.My Granny chose Canada to emigrate to as she had already experienced so much in England with her job and she, “just wanted to travel”(Brookman). She considered working in an English hotel in Barcelona but eventually decided against it as she felt Canada had more to offer. Work was the major pull factor for all of my grandparents to leave England and come to Canada.

After learning this about my family, I wondered what my life would be like if my parents had not moved to Canada. Overall my life would be mostly the same. I would be attending school as full time education is compulsory until age sixteen. Education is mandatory but schooling is not, therefore I could also be homeschooled considering my mom is a teacher. I would most likely be attending a state school because all children are entitled to a free place at state school. Much like here, private schools require more funding by sources outside of the government and considering I do not go to a private school now I do not think it would be any different in England. Exams are still the same at the end of a school year. After age sixteen, I would go on to a higher education. In addition, I work now afterschool and on weekends so work is an important aspect I would need to continue if I lived in England. In England, there are special laws to protects the employment rights of young workers. The laws are very strict and employer may encounter trouble if broken. These laws include restrictions on what jobs one can do, health and safety, when one is able to work and how many hours. If you are under eighteen. the employer must perform a health and safety assessment and if you are under school-leaving age parents will be contacted with results. I would not be working more than eight hours a day and more than forty hours a week as required by law. This proves the point that my life in England and my life in Canada would not be too different from my life in Canada.

    Overall, due to the fact my Grandparents emigrated from England to Canada I have become who I am today.   

Works Cited

Bonney, Michaela Ruth. Instant messenger interview. 9 Dec. 2016.

Bonney, Sheila. Interview. 22 Dec. 2016.

British Council. “Education for students aged 16 and under.” Education UK, www.educationuk.org/canada/articles/16-and-under-education-path/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2016.

Brookman, Janet. Interview. 6 Dec. 2016.

Citizens Advice. “Young People and Employment.” Citizens Advice, www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/young-people/young-people-and-employment/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2016.