Keith and Joan Baldwin, daughter Judi

We left Liverpool on March 13, 1957 on the Carinthia arriving in Halifax on March 19. Our family was comprised of my wife Joan, our daughter Judith and expecting our son Jeffery. The crossing was uneventful but we do remember that, as each day elapsed, England seemed farther and farther away!

Our arrival in Halifax was a typical March day: cold and wet so we were not too inspired. We vividly remember the train journey to Toronto on the CNR immigrant special was cold, cramped and inhospitable as we journeyed through the "northern route".

Our reasons for leaving the U.K. were economic, social and political. I had spent five years indentured as a chartered accountant with very little remuneration. After this I was conscripted into national service with the RAF for two years. Coal and petrol (at least) were still rationed, socialism was running out of control and I could see no future for our family. When I left the U.K. at the age of 26 I had the dubious distinction of never having paid any income tax, simply because I never earned enough income.

Actually my dear wife had been the bread winner for the first years of our marriage. She remembers the promise I made that we would return to the U.K. if she was unhappy in Canada. It was an easy promise to keep as we now reflect, since we didn't have the where-withal to pay our return passage.

Luckily returning never needed to be discussed, as we both had no regrets. We had five children, one of whom unfortunately died by accident, and six grandchildren. Our children have been happy and successful and are familiar with their U.K. relatives through mutual visits.

Keith F. Baldwin