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Like most pioneers, father knew nothing about farming. But, with the promise of "free land" he headed for Canada in 1908.
A relative had preceeded him to Winnipeg, so he proceeded to Manitoba, worked around on farms "to get experience," and bought
his near Pilot Mound,
| Learning to handle a team in southern Manitoba |
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| And a sore back at the end of theday! |
| A four-horsepower plow on the farm |
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| They were clever horses fortunatly |
He sent for my mother-to-be, in 1912-Mabel Purchase, who he had known briefly, being a clerk at her parent's shop, bakery
and post office at Moreton, Dorset. Mother landed in St John, NB, took the train to Winnipeg, arriving on April 4th,
obtained a "special" permit from the bishop, on arrival, and were married. Then they took the train to Wood Bay, near
their new farm, arriving in a blizzard! They were met by a neighbor in a buckboard (mother expected a coach-and-four
from a "landowner.") They set out across the snow-covered fields- no roads then. Mother expected "the Manor house" over
every rise, only to find "a shack on the prairie!"
| Mable Purchase in England |
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| The finery soon discarded on the Prairie farm! |
With no running water, electricity or telephone, mother- from a sheltered existance in England-
had to "make do"- soap was made from lye and ashes, rain water collected for washing- done by hand with a scrub board. "At
home we had a girl to do the washing," she said. Here are mother, Mabel,(right),and sister-in-law Elsie Louise Parrett, another
English bride, busy on the Pilot Mound farm. Later the rain barrel, when empty, blew away "for miles and miles", in a wind
storm.
| Mother and another English bride doing the washing |
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| The rain barrel soon blew away "for miles and miles." |
When my parents, George and Mabel Parrett were expecting their first child in 1913, mother stayed
with her Manning neighbors as they had a telephone. But when Doctor Speechley came from town for the event, in a winter storm,
he was thrown from the cutter twice, into a snowbank, and arrived too late for the appearence of George Junior, boen January
27th, 1914. Here are the proud parents, with George Jr. when spring arrived.
| George and Mable Parrett with firstborn, George Jr |
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| Perched in a stook on the Pilot Mound farm. |
MORE PRAIRIE HOMESTEADING- CLICK
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