My background does not consist of too many countries, but the main country my ancestors immigrated from was the United Kingdom. I will be talking about what my Dad’s mother and father’s, Frederick and Doris, lives were like in England, why they chose to immigrate, and what my life would be like now if they never chose to. Both of my Dad’s parents were born in Sheffield, England. Emigrating over to Canada, my Dad was born in Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately, both my Grandma and Granddad have passed away, so the information I will be receiving is from my Dad in person. Overall, I have found that if my grandparents did not immigrate to Canada my life in England would be similar, so with a few lifestyle changes I would be an English teenage girl.
According to my Dad, who I live with by myself, his parents immigrated together to Canada in the summer of 1959. They traveled by boat from England to Montreal, Quebec. Living there for 2 years, my Dad was born in 1961. My grandparents had second thoughts about living in Canada, so they moved back to England for 6 months. In those 6 months, the economy in England was very low and it was difficult for my ancestors to adapt to the post-war conditions, so they moved back to Montreal for another year. By 1965, my grandparents and dad were happily living in Rexdale, Ontario. The photo below are the immigration rates for 150 years to Canada. Looking at this picture, the amount of people who immigrated during the same time as my grandparents is decently high.
The reason why they immigrated to Canada was for a better quality of life and opportunity for their family and future generations. Living in Canada, my grandparents were happy with “the potential and opportunities” Canada provided for them and my dad (Gribbon). It was also because they wanted to get away from the poor post-war economy in England. Frederick worked as a structural steel draftsman while Doris worked for BOAC, changed to British Airways, first in the Montreal Airport, and then the Toronto Airport. My granddad died in 2002 at the age of 74, along with my grandma who died in 2004 at the age of 74.
Even though I cannot talk to my grandparents now about their lives in Sheffield, I will give some information about what it may have been like. Sheffield is a metropolitan borough county of South Yorkshire, England. As World War II began, Sheffield was a main area for ammunition, weapons, and more military supplies. The Germans targeted Sheffield with bombing raids. On the nights of December 12th, and December 15th, Sheffield was bombed, with over 660 people killed, and many buildings destroyed. This was then named the Sheffield Blitz. “My Mom’s street was bombed by the Germans in WWII. She [Grandma] was 11. She was at the top of the stairs going down to the cellar, with the air raid sirens going, and then woke up at the bottom of the stairs in the basement” (Gribbon). In 1944, my granddad worked in an aircraft carrier for the Royal British Navy during World War II. The post-war economy was very difficult for people to adapt to their surroundings since Britain won the war. A lot of people were job less, and the conditions were hard for the citizens to meet their needs.
After learning about my grandparents past and immigration, I researched what my life would be like as a teenager if I was born in England. Education in the United Kingdom is divided into four parts: Primary, Secondary, Further, and Higher. Primary Education is when a child is in school from generally 5 years old to 11 years old. They would then move on to Secondary Education until they are 16 years old. The United Kingdom asses their graduating students by making sure they pass their General Certificate of Secondary Education. In Canada, we are assessed with exams, community hours, EQAO and the Literacy Test, I feel as if the United Kingdom assessment would be longer, and harder. I would be graduating from Grade 10 and going to University if education in Canada worked like the UK. I would also need to have a career path chosen by 14/15 years old. I am struggling now at 16 years old to figure what I want to do with the rest of my life, and I graduate when I am 18. Healthcare in England is provided by the National Health Service. For patients, healthcare is free, but there are charges to eye tests, dental care, prescriptions, and other personal care like here in Canada. My life in England would be relatively the same compared to here in Canada. Hanging out with friends and socializing would be the same as well. But when it comes to sports, I would not be a big hockey player. Popular sports in England include: Cricket, Rugby, Soccer etc. I played soccer up until last summer, so I would still be a soccer player. I play rugby for our school, and if I was born in England I would be more educated and into rugby than I am now. “According to the Social Progress Index, which assesses health, safety, access to education and individual rights, England was behind both Scotland and Northern Ireland when it came to quality of life, ahead only of Wales” (Independent). From this data, England does not seem to have the best quality of life because the English enjoy less freedom, and are the least tolerant. It seems to be that gay, and disabled people, minorities, and the size of the gender gap are not treated properly in England.
In essence, I have discovered that if I was a teenage girl living in England I may be struggling with my career path, a soccer and/or rugby star, and my quality of life may not be as I hoped. Honestly, I would live my life to the fullest wherever I lived, and I do believe I would enjoy England if I lived there now. However, I am thankful that my grandparents immigrated to Canada. There are endless opportunities here with my loving family and friends, and that is all I need in my life.
Works Cited
A burning building in Sheffield which was raided recently. New York Times Paris Bureau Collection.
GOV.UK. 4 Oct. 2016, www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates/current-rates-and-allowances. Accessed 13 Jan. 2017.
Gribbon, Stewart. Instant messenger interview. 5 Dec. 2016.
---. Interview. 4 Jan. 2017.
“Healthcare in England.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_England. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 3 Nov. 2005, h2g2.com/edited_entry/A5559573. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
Lamb, Joseph Percy, and Mary Walton. Raiders over Sheffield: the story of the air raids of 12th & 15th December 1940. 1980.
“Population and health of Sheffield.” Sheffield City Council, 7 Mar. 2016, www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/sheffield-profile/population-and-health.html. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
“Scotland ranked best place in the UK for quality of life.” Independent, 11 Oct. 2016, www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-quality-of-life-table-rankings-best-in-uk-a7355016.html. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
“Sheffield.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 July 2013, www.britannica.com/place/Sheffield-England. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
“UK Education System.” International Student, www.internationalstudent.com/study_uk/education_system/. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.
I really enjoyed reading about your family history Jessica. Although you are a very close friend, I learned a lot of things about your family that I never knew before. I recall you telling me in the past about the tragedy of your grandparents, but by reading this post I was able to clearly envision your ancestors, and somewhat felt connected to them myself. It is funny to picture you living in England, with hockey not being at the top of your list. I can see you attending an Ivy league University like Oxford if you grew up in England. Living in England, what do you think you would be studying in University? Do you think that your interest in sciences would be the same? Would you be as involved in sports if you lived in England? Or do you think that you would pick up a different hobby? In essence though, I am glad that your grandparents decided to imigrate to Canada,and you should be too, because if they did not, we would not have met!
ReplyDeleteI was very interested reading this blog post, hearing that your family had such interesting jobs like your grand father working for the Royal British Navy is so cool, and your grandmother worked at several airports which seems like a fun job.It is disappointing to hear that quality of life isn't as high in England but i'm sure that makes you glad that your'e grandparents did decide to immigrate.Would you rather be playing rugby and soccer in England as they are so popular or are you glad that you are playing hockey our countries sport here in Canada.I'm sorry to hear about you're grandparents, did you ever get the chance to know them? In any case it sounds that your life is fun here and would have been different there in many ways for a variety of reasons, maybe one day you'll travel to England to see any possible relatives. THanks for sharing about your family history!
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