Margaret talks about the furniture, bedding and other items they brought with them to Canada.

MG: Well, we had read about Canada, that it was very cold, so we brought all our woollen undies, as much as can, warm blankets, bedding, a little crib for the baby that you could take apart.

JM: Right.

MG: And I think we even brought some furniture. Now, I can’t remember what. I think we had a table and some chairs. It wall went in big wooden crates.

JM: Oh, I see. Okay.

MG: Everybody was allowed so much space in a wooden crate, and then down in the boat.

JM: Right, yeah, yeah.

MG: And—

JM: So it wasn’t just suitcases, it was—

MG: No, just not suitcases. We also had a big wooden crate. I have photographs of it still. Yeah. I sent them to Pier 21, yeah.

JM: Great.

MG: A wooden crate, quite large, a quite large wooden crate, and that’s where we had—I think we had a few furniture in there, oh, definitely, and lots of clothes and bedding and things like that.

Margaret van Gurp was born in Delft, Netherlands in 1926. She lived through the German occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War. She met her husband through the Christian Reform Church. As the Netherlands was still recovering from the war post-liberation, they decided to come to Canada for more opportunities. They immigrated to Canada with their three children, arriving at Pier 21 in 1953. The couple settled in Halifax and had three more children in Canada. Once Margaret's children were older, she began to pursue her artistic passions more extensively. She has sold many paintings, taught art courses, and has sculpted numerous life-size historical figures for Parks Canada sites. In 2001, she donated an easel to Pier 21's collection and later a sketch of Pier 21.

Audio oral history conducted by Jim Morrison on 7 July 1998 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This oral history is restricted; please contact Museum staff for more information.

This oral history is restricted; please contact Museum staff for more information.