Genealogy Chat

Hello

Was having a look through some, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878-1960 and was startled to discover that my grandmother was deported from Montreal in the late nineteen-thirties.
Does anyone have any ideas why? She was nearly 40, for what its worth.
+ Aside from the ship's manifest, there must be a paper trail, how do i find out more??
Thanks all

I think your best bet would be to look at newspaper articles if you cannot locate criminal records for Canada.

Hello Winterose, if you're happy to give her details we could take a look for you.

I was thinking more along the lines of how can i find out any more details for myself. You know this is a very public forum.
This is rather intriguing -as she does not fit the crime type.

Have become so worried though!!

Have you googled her name? Always a chance something might come up.

You could take out a free trial to Ancestry or FMP worldwide to see if there is anything. (I have those subs and am happy to have a look for you if you want to send me a pm).

Had she been living in Canada or was she returned after trying to enter? It may not have been for any "criminal" activity, it may have had something to do with eligibility for residency.

There is a book about it.
WHENCE THEY CAME; DEPORTATION FROM CANADA 1900-1935

Barbara Roberts

Ottawa, University of Ottawa Press, 1988. 246pp, paper, $24.95
ISBN 0-7766-0163-6. CIP

Grades 10 and up / Ages 15 and up
Reviewed by Barbara Camfield.

Volume 17 Number 5
1989 September

This book is a serious review of the use of deportation by the Canadian Department of Immigration during the early years of this century. There have been very few studies of deportation from Canada, and Whence They Came fills an important gap in the literature of immigration.

Relying on statistics published by the department, Roberts reports that the numbers of immigrants who were deported from Canada were staggering. Between 1929 and 1930, twenty-seven to thirty-six people were deported for every one hundred who entered the country. From April 1929 to April 1935, a total of 17,229 deportations, not including accompanying family members, were affected.

Roberts documents, through discussion of pertinent clauses of the Immigration Act, just how the Department of Immigration did not always follow the letter of the law in deportation cases. It was theoretically possible for an immigrant to be deported many years after arrival in Canada. It would appear that the Department of Immigration used deportation as a means of controlling unemployment, particularly during the Depression. Other grounds for deportation included diseases, like tuberculosis and venereal disease, vagrancy, prostitution, other immoral behaviour, insanity, criminal activities, and unacceptable political beliefs.

Whence They Came is a valuable examination of a poorly known phenomenon in Canadian history. The study has been thoroughly researched in archival documents, and the sources consulted are carefully footnoted. It would definitely be improved by the addition of an index. The casual reader would also find this thoughtful book more appealing by the addition of more personal accounts of the experiences of deported immigrants.

:-(

Thank you all, i am most grateful for all your suggestions - we all learn something interesting here.
NanaSue, thank goodness my grandmother wasn't the only one - I am so thrilled that a book exists. This must be quite a book...just the thought that Canada used deportation in the late 1930's as a tool of control...and a Scots woman....no lets not think of modern Britain today :-S

MarieCeleste, if you've got a sub for world-wide Ancestry or something else & you are happy & willing to nosey about, i'll PM you on Monday. My Ancestry acc is regional only.
:-)

Yes, that's fine Winterose. Can't guarantee finding anything but no harm in trying.

Nice bit of sleuthing NanaSue. Well done. I had pondered this one and also came up with Tuberculosis as a potential reason for expulsion. This would have been quite commonplace and IMHO far more likely than any other reasonable cause to eject someone.

Good luck in finding out. I love a good scandal/mystery in my tree!

A crime of passion <3 perhaps but are we so love struck at 35 !?!
Yes, i would say that it ticks all the boxes for a jolly good scandal.

I am so hoping for a nice paper trail, it will cheer me up no end.