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Families September 26, 1956 – Skaubryn Our journey to Canada began with a dream of opportunity and space to raise a large family. The prospect of immigrating to a new county proved to be both exciting and frightening as well as a lot of work. At the time we had six children, all of whom were housed …
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Families March 1954 – Waterman My name is Johanna Schel. I left Rotterdam on March 2, 1954 with my husband, Johannes, whom was called Jan, and my three year old son also named Johannes but known as Jan Willem. I vividly recall boarding the S.S. Waterman. I can still see my mother standing between …
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Families August 11, 1953 – Sibajak My name is Anton Rouss. I arrived with my wife Paula (nee Van Den Berg, married on July 15th 1953) on the M.S. Sibajack on August 11th 1953 after leaving Rotterdam on August 3rd at 17.00 hours. I wrote a diary of the nine days on this ship: Monday August 3rd. – …
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Families October 28, 1953 – Groote Beer The immigration for me, siblings and parents started shortly after the Second World War when the word immigration was used for the first time at the J.D.Kloet family in Zierikzee. In the year 1947 the first immigrants left Holland under the motto of "we need …
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Children April 2, 1954 The move to Canada seemed imminent. My father’s parents along with some of his younger brothers and sisters had already immigrated to Canada a few years prior. My father felt that after the war, the future wasn’t looking bright as far as employment was concerned, and for …
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Children March 1953 - Groote Beer At the age of nine I emigrated with my family (parents and 2 older brothers) from the Netherlands to PEI, Canada in March of 1953. The decision to immigrate was made by my parents in order to provide the opportunity for a better future for their children. It must …
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Families September 30, 1952 - Groote Beer After returning from a five-year stay in Indonesia, Toon Maas courted Trees Holdrinet for a short period before proposing a marriage and immigration abroad. Toon and Trees (the common Dutch form of their names) were married in a civil ceremony in Oosterhout …
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Families September 21, 1952 – Groote Beer In 1952 my husband Johannes C. Kreeft and I left Holland with our three small children, Jacomina Susanna, Gerard Jan and Willem ages 5,4 and 3. We travelled aboard the Groote Beer, leaving September 21, 1952, arriving in Halifax 9 days later on September …
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Families April 1, 1953 - Waterman Times were hard in Holland then and although Pete worked hard to make a living for us, it was hard to provide us with a comfortable existence. In the years between 1945 to the early 1960’s a lot of people emigrated to other countries and stories started to go …
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Families April 16, 1958 - Waterman After our 10-day journey on the S.S. Waterman of the Holland-America Line we arrived in Halifax around 7 o’clock in the evening of 16 April 1958, half a day before its planned arrival. Such excitement when we first saw land and then steamed into Halifax Harbour. …