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Edwin
Hill
They
were married in Birmingham, England on May 3, 1886 and Dad came to
Canada and Killarney in June 18886. Dad was a tin-smith by trade,
but could not find work in his trade here, so worked for farmers or any
work he could get. In May 1888 mother came out to Killarney and
worked at house work until the fall. Then they took a homestead
N.W. ¼ 36-2-16. They had oxen, pigs and a few hens at
first. Dad went to the bush and got 21 loads of wood the first
winter. Some for fuel and some to trade, as it was done in those
days. With the oxen broke a little land for crop and
garden. One year, 1891, they had 200 bushes of potatoes, which
they sold at 25 cents a bushel, besides 8 bags of carrots and lots of
onions and turnips.
Finding
it hard to make ends meet, Dad rented the crop land and started to work
on the C. P. R. Section in Killarney in May, 1891. Later in March
1892 worked on C. P. R. Section in Holmfield. They moved to
Holmfield in the fall of 1892. Mother took in boarders and they
had cows and hens. Mother made butter, which they sold.
They moved back to the farm in the fall of 1897.
They
had 8 children. On son Edgar, who is still on the home farm, and
7
girls.
Francis – The late Mrs. Herbert
Ramsden
Edith – Mrs. Harvey Simpson,
Cartwright
Alice – Mrs. A. Forster,
Killarney
Mabel – Mrs. John Ramsay,
Killarney
Connie – Mrs. Edward Tayler,
Holmfield
Faith – School teacher, The Pas, Manitoba
The
Home – log at first; home-made furniture; made butter; did sewing and
rug making; took in boarders; washed by hand and ironed with sad iron.
Social
Life – visiting with neighbours.
Church
– Methodist church.
School
– West Derby; one-room rural school where they had Christmas concerts,
and social gatherings.
Clothing
– mostly hand made at home, knitting mitts and socks.
Transportation
– oxen and stone boat and walking at first; later wagon and horse and
buggy.
Business
– tin-smith and finally farming.
Political
activity – none.
Military
experience – none.
This is
largely taken from a diary of Dad’s. The families he mentioned
most are S. Fletcher, Stephens, Reeds, Dafoe, Martins, A. Finnen,
Fishers and Orrs.
Sent in
by Mrs. Alice Forster, Killarney
(Edwin
Hill, better known as E. E. Hill, homesteaded 36-2-16 in 1888.
Edgar sold this farm in 1963.)
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