Where We're From – Canada

Today's list is going to be much smaller than the US list. As far as I'm aware, my direct family really only lived in a few locations in Canada, but it's possible there were others that I'm not aware of.

Map of the locations in this list:

View My Canadian Roots in a larger map

1. Vancouver, BC
Two generations of my mother's side of the family were born here. Both of her parents, and she and all her siblings were born in the area.

My grandparents George Bordewick and Merle Jones met in Vancouver as teenagers, and married in 1939 before my grandfather went to war. Once he returned, they raised 4 children there before moving down to Washington state in the early 60s.

The Howells arrived in Vancouver sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Many of their children settled in the area with their families, and my great-grandmother Eliza eventually met her husband there. The two settled there and raised four children there, all of whom also settled in the area with their familes.

The Bordewick family, Henrick Bergthon and Leonharde Marie and their three sons came from England to live in Vancouver in the early 1900s, about 1910, and their son, my great-grandfather Bjarne settled there, eventually meeting his wife, Mary. They married there in 1917 and raised their two boys there together.

The Parks, Robert and Elizabeth and most of their seven children, came in the late 19-teens, I believe, where one of their daughters had moved from Ireland with her husband. Most of the children settled in and around the Vancouver area with their respective spouses. My great-grandmother Mary met her husband there, and lived there until the 1980s when my grandfather moved her down to a Washington rest home so he could be closer to her.

Daniel Jones came to Vancouver sometime before 1911, where he met and married Eliza Howells, and the two married and settled there together, raising their three children there and living there together until his death in the 1960s.

2. Winnipeg, Manitoba
After arriving in Canada in the late 1800s, my great-great grandparents Gabriel and Selina Howells settled on a farm with his brother, Lewis Howells, but after about a year, Gabriel decided farming wasn't for him and went to live in the nearest city (I believe), Winnipeg. My great-grandmother Eliza grew up there before moving to Vancouver as a young woman, where she met and married her husband.

3. Saskatchewan
After looking up my family in the Canadian Censuses that are available, it looks as though Gabriel's brother's farm was in Saskatchewan, and not in Manitoba as I believed, so I'm adding it as a separate location, though I'm not sure where in the provence his farm was, and I know my great-great-grandparents and their kids didn't live there too long. About a year.


And that's it, really. Those are the ones I'm sure of. This doesn't touch on Daniel's full trip through Canada. I'm not even sure all the places he stopped on his trip, though apparently he visited Winnipeg before Vancouver as well. If my family reading this knows more, I'd love to hear it.

Next up: Germany

ETA: Added Saskatchewan.