Today In Nevard History

 April 13 marks the birthday of Ernest Samuel Nevard. Or as we knew him, "Uncle Ernie". Born in Lexden, Colchester, Essex, in 1878, the son of Arthur Nevard. Ernest was known to be an excellent bricklayer and often took on jobs to supplement his farming in later years.
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.

Today's Birthday

January 19 (yesterday) marked the birthday of my grandmother's sister, Mary Nevard, (born Mary Hall) in Swefling, Suffolk, England 1876. She had already seen a lot of miles by the time this photo was taken about 1918 or so. She married Ernest Nevard in 1901.
Almost 2 years later she bid him farewell as he and brother Arthur Nevard boarded the S.S. Lake Manitoba at Liverpool bound for Canada with the rest of the Barr Colonists. Mary remained behind with their son Bill (young Ernie), just over a year old at the time, to wait and see how they made out in the new land. For the next three years their only communication was by mail. In April of 1906 Mary and son Bill sailed for Canada travelling along with Ernest's younger brother, Horace.
The little log house in amongst the poplars may have been a welcome sight when they finally reached their homestead later that year.
It was a hard life no doubt and it took its toll as Mary died relatively young at age 67.
This photo , scanned from a negative shows their family as it was about 1918 with Mary at left, Ernest centre, oldest son Bill at right and youngest son, Richard front and centre.