From Geoff Hewson to his niece Christina (Chris) Evans, November 1987

[Editorial note by Chris Evans, dated 31 May 2002:  the following is transcribed from a letter received from my Uncle Geoff Hewson sometime after Uncle Harold Cox had started writing down his stories for me.  I don’t remember ever having suggested it to Uncle Geoff; my impression (now, anyway) is that he was likely talking to Uncle Harold who encouraged him to do it.  The notes he sent covered four pages, written on the back of stock reports.  Across the very bottom of the last page is a short note which reads:

“Dear Chris, Is this OK.  Amy and Walter are here and as I can’t find your address Amy will mail and address envelope.”

I believe I wrote back and encouraged him to send more, but he never did.  Since I only have the one, I have transcribed it basically as written (I’ve added the occasional “the”, etc, which was missing and some punctuation).  I have not changed the order at all, and as a result one paragraph is out of chronological sequence, clearly his thoughts ran ahead of him at that point.  There are also two places where the sentence doesn’t quite make sense but is transcribed as written.]

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Nov 1987

What made me want to come to Canada

In the latter part of 1916, Tom Cairns came to England, a soldier with the Canadian Artillery.  His mother Alice Cairns was my mother’s first cousin both having the common surname of Waters.

The first leave Tom had he came and stayed at our house in Birkenhead which is a mile across the Mersey from Liverpool, at that time an important port.  I was home on holidays and for the several days Tom was my companion.  We went to the movies and walks to see the ducks in the park and the swimming baths.

By this time I had decided to make farming my career and I wanted to go to either Australia, U.S., or Canada, finally deciding on Canada as we had relatives – the Cairns – there.  I plied Tom with lots of questions, some of them rather silly like when I asked Tom if he could read and write.  I had always been a Zane Grey reader. 

Tom had said the ground some winters froze 6’ down.  I asked him how they could bury dead people.  He said that was easy, in the cemetery they kept a sharp axe in the shed and when the body froze they sharpened the feet with the axe and drove it into the ground.  I did not believe him.

Tom wrote to his father Rev. J.A. Cairns and said I wanted to come to Canada to farm.  Mr. Cairns wrote and said that they would hire me at $200.00 for the year.  After I was with them a few months Bob Cairns who ran the farm said they would give me $300.00.

I went back to boarding school and Tom to France where he was killed by an enemy shell that landed near his gun.  The same shell also took the arm of Tom’s great friend Corporal Frank Clark from N.B.

I saw a good deal of Frank while he was convalescing in England and he stayed at our house quite often.  Frank had some sisters at Millerton N.B. and he got me to write to one my age.  She never answered my letter, perhaps fortunately as I eventually married a second cousin Susan Dickey in 1931 who died in Nov. 1949 after a very happy marriage, we had 7 children.  In 1977 I married my second wife who is also making me very happy.

After leaving school I went to a farmer to learn farming near the town of Nottingham and was there when the armistice was signed for a year and half when I came to Canada.  The farmer, Joe Royden, liked me and I liked him, his brother George Royden had a farm near where we lived at Hoylake about 5 miles from Birkenhead, and my brother Brian and I spent most of our holidays on the farm with Frank Royden and Charles and Mollie, the three came to Canada later and farmed successfully at Provost Alta.

My father Capt Hewson had retired from the sea in early 1913 and had a job as a surveyor of damaged cargo for the Mersey dock and harbour board.  When Mr. Cairns accepted me, my father arranged the ticket to Langbank which he got at reduced rate on account of his 33 years service with the shipping company.

Mr. Royden did not want me to leave and I had to stay with month’s notice.  He offered me more money but I was determined to come to Canada.  Finally Mr. Royden said, “Well, Geoff, where ever you go you will be a success” and I left with mutual good feelings.

I was home 2 weeks or so and then sailed from Liverpool mid November 1919 and got to Halifax N.S. where Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan met me as I came off the ship.  Amy Mulligan was Mrs. Cairns’ daughter and was married to William Orr Mulligan who was a Presbyterian minister who lived and preached at Bedford nearby. 

They settled me on the train and gave me food to last to Winnipeg.  It was a colonist car and I had an upper bunk, the lower was occupied by a Mr. and Mrs. Playden (?) who were returning Canadians going to Calgary who were kind to me.

When I got to Winnipeg I had to change from C.P.R. to C.N.R., each station being some distance apart.  Later the two stations joined.  I had to go to C.N. on a street car and sat next to a man in blue and white overalls, such as butchers wore in England.  I asked him if he was a butcher, which greatly amused him.

The next morning I arrived at Langbank at 7 a.m.  Mr. Cairns had arranged with Mr. McClement, the station agent, for him to phone them on my arrival.  Bob Cairns came after about an hour, this was Dec. 3 and a strong wind blowing and 20o below zero.  I remember vividly the loud hum of the phone wires as I sat in the waiting room.

Bob had the team and sleigh and some mitts and a sheepskin coat.  I was not cold on the way out and it was a great adventure.  Mr. and Mrs. Cairns met me at the house and I kissed Mrs. Cairns as my father had told me to do.

— Written by Geoff Hewson

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