Frederick Stubbs

Frederick Stubbs
June 22, 1912 - April 9, 1998

I was born in Sheffield, England and was the eldest of five boys.

The First Great War started in August 1914 and lasted until November 1918. For years after 1918 there was tremendous advertising to immigrate to Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Various government sponsored schemes were offered for farm work in Canada. My father agreed to let my brother, Sidney, and me come to Canada with the hope that after a few years we would be able to buy a farm and the rest of the family would join us in Canada. The rest of the family never did come, but instead remained in England. I never saw my father again.

Sidney and I came to Canada in 1929. The ship we came on, the Regina, White Star Dominion, left from Liverpool, England. We spent nine days crossing the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Pier 21) on February 18, 1929. I was 16 and my brother was 14 years old.

By train we went from Halifax to Smith Falls, Ontario. From there I went to a farm north of Brockville and Sidney went to a farm near Pakenham. With no phone or transportation, we could only write to one another. In the fall of 1929, the farmer I worked for told me he could not pay me for the rest of the year, so I went to work on a farm in Shanly, near Spencerville (outside of Ottawa, Ontario). Later in life, when I retired, I bought a school house just down the road from this farm in Shanly and renovated it to live in.

In the fall of 1934, I applied to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). In the spring of 1935 I quit working on the farm, went to the St. Lawrence Seaway and found work as a deck hand at $35 per month. I was on this ship, the SS Delaware, when I received a letter from the RCMP that I had been accepted. I managed to get off the ship at Fort Erie, U.S.A. and joined the RCMP on July 13th, 1935 in Ottawa.

My service in the RCMP took me to Winnipeg, Manitoba (in 1937, I was a member of the R.C.M. Police Football Team that won the Charity Cup); Halifax, Glace Bay, Sydney and Baddeck, Nova Scotia; Fort Smith, North West Territories; Edmonton, Rochfort Bridge, Lac La Riche, Nanton, Alberta; and finally to New Brunswick where I ran detachments in Fredericton, Campbellton, Saint John and St. George. I rode motorcycles and horses in Alberta and had dog sled teams up north. I was always extremely proud to be a member of the RCMP.

I married Edith Kathleen Crouch (Kitty) and had two daughters. Diane (married to Reid Scharfe, daughter Amie) was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Gail (married to Jim Booth, daughter Samantha) was born in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Both daughters reside in Ottawa, Ontario.

After my father passed away, I went to England to visit my mother, my brothers and their families. Although we kept in touch by writing letters, we had not seen one another for 37 years.

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Sidney Stubbs
April 29, 1914 - June 23, 2004

I was born in Sheffield, England and was the second oldest of five boys.

I came to Canada with my older brother, Frederick, in 1929. The ship we came on was the Regina, White Star Dominion of which passage was through the Salvation Army. We spent nine days crossing the Atlantic Ocean. We departed from Liverpool, England, and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Pier 21) on February 18, 1929. I was 14 and my brother was 16 years old.

I worked on five Ontario farms in the Spencerville and Pakenham areas for seven years. Realizing that the dream of my parents and brothers moving to Canada would not materialize, I decided to return to my family in England. In May 1936, I worked my passage back to Liverpool, England, on a Transatlantic Cattle Transporter. There were 600 live animals and 20 men on board, so you can imagine what the voyage was like. I was happy to be back home 12 days after leaving Canada.

My wife Christina and I were married for 66 years. We had three daughters - Freda, Mary and Christine (plus four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren).

We resided in Sheffield for many years. I had a couple of jobs prior to working as a bus driver for the Sheffield Transport for over 40 years. In the early days in Sheffield we raised pigs and grew vegetables. We then moved to Woodseats, a suburb of Sheffield.

Since 1946 we spent many family holidays in the coastal town of Bridlington (England). We enjoyed Bridlington so much that when I retired, we moved there.

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The brick on The Sobey Wall of Honour was provided in loving memory by Gail, Jim and Samantha Booth