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.
