No doubt the glowing advertisements of "free " homestead land in Saskatchewan caught his interest in the early 1900s and he signed up with the Barr Colonists to come to Canada and try farming. Leaving his wife , Mary, and year old son, Bill, behind in England, he and his brother Arthur left for Canada, arriving in Halifax on April 12 of 1903. The day before his 25th birthday.
All reports indicate it was a rough voyage and a lot of unrest among the travellers may have helped Ernie and Arthur to decide to leave the Barr colonists at Winnipeg and look for work there before eventually ending up in Saskatchewan. Homesteads were still available and who knows what drew them to the Lipton area but the brothers were able to obtain 2 quarters of homestead land in July of 03. They built a shack to live in on Arthur's quarter and began the long process of developing virgin prairie into a productive farm.
Ernest died in 1958 at the age of 80. This photo was taken some time before he left England.
A bold lot, they were!
ReplyDeletehey all. My name is William michael nevard. my father and grandfather were both william ernest nevard. although i never met him, my great grandfather moved here from england. I live in the states in new jersey.i am very intrigued by these posts. the same names, one picture resembles my late grandfather. ernest samuel nevard was a skilled bricklayer and my dad and papa both owned a contracting company which specialized in mason work. my father even won awards in new jersey for different buildings. this cannot just be coincidence. im 27, my father would be 52, and grandfather would about 75 years old. hope to hear back soon.
ReplyDeleteHi William I'm not sure if you'll be notified by me replying to this, but please check my latest post below.
DeleteWilliam, its interesting to hear from another Nevard. Although I don't know of any that moved to New Jersey it is possible we have common ancestors from the same place in Essex, U.K. William, Ernest, and Arthur seemed to be popular names with the Nevards. I have quite a few more photos and stories when I get around to putting them here.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, folks. I'm still trying to find any possible leads on my earliest Nevard ancestor: Richard Nevard, born ca 1646 in Essex. He emigrated to Massachusetts ca 1665 and died in Woburn in 1709. His first-born son was Samuel so that does suggest that his father may have been a Samuel. I saw a Samuel of the right age in early Essex records from Dedham. Perhaps that's his father or family. Any ideas out there? Thanks and best wishes,
ReplyDeletePatrick Doherty in Seattle
Hi Patrick I'm not sure if you'll be notified by me replying to this, but please check my latest post
Deletehi Ralph / Patrick / William, I am a Neobard in Essex UK descended from a Samuel Nevard who was from the Dedham area. I have had my genome sequenced through Dante and now have my y sequence extracted. If any of you have done similarly, we should be able to help prove the link. We are currently have a tree back to 1665.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim. I have not done any dna testing. I do have a Samuel Nevard way back in my family tree. He would be my grandfather's grandfather and born in 1815. Married Elizabeth Tracy in 1840.
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