Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records

Recently John Reid, of the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog fame, and I paid an in-person visit to the Library and Archives at the Ingenium Centre located beside the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. Please note, this is not the same as Library and Archives Canada, so don't drop by the LAC building on Wellington if you are wanting to look at these actual records. 

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 30 Sep 2024), Miscelanious Records > 1950-1955 > Ships-Memorabilia > image 2 of 9, Canadian Pacific Steamships crest; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, "Ships - Memorabilia, 1950-1955", reference CPS-04-0509 folder.

We were there to learn about their collaboration with Ancestry to digitize and make available the records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company (CPS). John Reid wrote about our visit there in his post "Resources of Ingenium Library and Archives". The digitized records were released online in June 2024 in Ancestry's "Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981" collection. It is important to note that not all the items in the collection have been digitized. Some of the large foldout ship diagrams and other large documents weren't digitized.

What makes this collection exciting for genealogy and family history researchers is the time period it covers. For Canada, we generally only have incoming passenger lists up to 1935. But what about after that time? This is where you might get lucky and find your kin mentioned in the records if they sailed on one of the Canada Pacific Steamship ships between 1897 to 1981.

However, before you dive into the records make sure you read the descriptions of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Limited fonds and their sub-series hosted on Archeion. These description gives you the history of the CPS along with details about the various series to help you understand what you might find.

Here is the search screen on Ancestry:

Screen capture of Ancestry's "Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981" collection (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 24 Sep 2024).

If you are like me, you may have recorded the names of the ships and when your ancestors sailed on them in your genealogy software. Yet how do we know which ships were operated by the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company? Fortunately we have a list of the ships operated by the CPS found on Wikipedia in their "List of ships of CP Ships" article. 

Using that list of ships I searched my database and found about 35 people who sailed on the various Empress and Duchess ships of the CPS. Out of that list I actually came across passenger indexes for only two of them. Yet that is still two more lists of passengers than what I started with. Here is a page from the index for tourist class on board the Empress of Britain from Liverpool to Quebec with my 2nd cousin twice removed, Cora McTavish, listed.

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 27 Sep 2024), Cora E. McTavish, age 46, arrived 24 Sep 1959 at Quebec, P.Q. onboard the Empress of Britain; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Reference Number: X0450.

You might be wondering how I knew that Cora was on this ship? I used the BT27 series of records held by The National Archives in England and made available on various genealogy site in searchable databases such as Ancestry's "UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960" collection and Findmypast's "Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960" collection.

Going to the first page of that passenger index on Ancestry I found that the Empress of Britain arrived in Quebec City on 24 Sep 1959. Along the way, the ship also stopped at Greenock, Scotland.

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 27 Sep 2024), Passenger Index cover page for the Empress of Britain, arrived 24 Sep 1959 at Quebec, P.Q.; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company.

Yet what else can one find in this collection?

I also came across her name in the list of Tourist Passengers when she went from Montreal to Liverpool on board the Empress of England. She is listed with her cabin numbers along with an indicator that she was in the first seating for dinner.

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 27 Sep 2024), Cora E. McTavish, Tourist Passengers, Empress of England, 21 Jul 1959, from Montreal to Liverpool via Greenock; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Reference Number: CPS-01-0030.

Maybe I'm interested in what may have happened on the voyage of the Empress of Britain that Cora was on when she came back to Canada. Using the "Browse this collection" on the right side of the search screen we can also browse the collections for other tidbits of information for record groups such as:

• Crew of Passenger Lists
• Immigration Regulations and Policy
• Journals, Logs, and Ship Movement Books
• Miscelanious Records [yes, that is a typo on Ancestry's part!]
• Named Ships
• Programmes, Menues, and Events
• Promotional Artwork
• Schedules and Fares
• Ships Officers, or Company Officials
• Voyage Reports

Along with the date of arrival or departure, often the key to finding these other documents that can shed some light on the voyages of our ancestors is the voyage number. 

If I didn't know voyage number from that manifest, I might have then looked for the Empress of Britain departing on September 18, 1959 in the Movement Book found in "Journals, Logs, and Ship Movement Books" record group.

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 27 Sep 2024), Journals, Logs, and Ship Movements Books > 1959 > Movement Book No. 40 > image 29  of 226, p 10, Empress of Britain, Voyage 55; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Movement Book No. 40.

There are also the voyage reports. With just a few clicks of the mouse I found out the details about Voyage No. 55, both from England to Canada and the return back to England.

"Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981," database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62578/ : accessed 27 Sep 2024), Voyage Reports > 1959 > Captain's General Voyage Report-Empress of Britain-Voyage No. 55 > image 2 of 29; citing Canada Science and Technology Museum; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Records of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company.

In this sort of report we find the ports visited, times of arrivals and departures at the various ports, number of passengers embarking and debarking at the various ports, possibly how any cargo was stored, the names and positions of the officers, if a stowaway was found (yes, on the return to England), reports by the doctor (two deaths during the return to England), and a daily summary of the happenings on board the ship.

I had mentioned that the larger fold out pages haven't been digitized by Ancestry from this collection. In some cases you will need to visit the Library and Archives at the Ingenium Centre in Ottawa to view these large scale documents and pages for yourself. However, sometimes other organizations have digitized the material they have on hand. Such was the case for the deck plans of the Empress of Britain from 1955-1959 when I found them in a digitized on The University of British Columbia library site within The Chung Collection.

The "Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981" collection on Ancestry is one of those collections where name searching only uncovers part of the story of your ancestor's trip. Be curious and explore the browsable series within this collection to learn more about their voyage.

Canadian First World War Resources - A Recap

Many of us in Canada have a connection to a relative or ancestor that fought or served in the First World War. With this year's Remembrance Day also commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice I thought it was important to look at some of the resources available to us when doing our genealogy and family history research for those that fought or served during the Great War.

Library and Archives Canada

The first place I always recommend is the First World War landing page at the Library and Archives Canada web site. Take the time to look through the various resources available either online or onsite. Some of the resources include:

• Canadian Expeditionary Force
• Aboriginal Soldiers
• Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Newfoundland Forestry Corps
• Imperial War Service Gratuity files
• Non-Permanent Active Militia
• Royal Canadian Navy and Naval Reserve
• Nursing Sisters that served with the CEF
• Military Medals, Honours and Awards, 1812-1969

Don't forget to look at the "Published Sources"since those books can shed some light on the lives of those that served. Some of the online record collections at Library and Archives Canada might only be indices. However, often the digitized documents may be found elsewhere.

Do you have a War Bride in the family? If so, review the War Brides page at Library and Archives Canada for possible collections that you might want to check out.

The War Diaries of the First World War are not the diaries of the individual service member but daily accounts of the CEF units. Searching for the diaries for a specific unit is not a straight forward task but the results can be worth while. There you will find that serving could be days of boring routine followed by hell in the trenches. If you know the unit of your soldier and when they were injured or killed, the war diaries can often help pinpoint where the unit and quite possibly the soldier was on that date.

Maps

Once you have the service file and know where your soldier was on the group through reading the War Diaries then being able to find them on the ground during the fighting is often the next step. McMaster University has an amazing Digital Archive in their Maps Collection for the First World War. You can even look at the Trench Maps for the Western Front.

Newfoundland

FamilySearch has the digitized collection "Newfoundland military service records for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and the Newfoundland Forestry Corps, 1913-1918" available online. You will need to review the digitized index first to determine the volume and file number. Then you can go to the appropriate digitized microfilm roll to review the service records. You will also find military records and other information about Newfoundlanders in the First World War at the Newfoundland's Grand Banks site.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission helps you find where a service member that died during the Great War is buried or memorialized. You will often find the Grave Registration Report included on the page. If no body was recovered the name may be found on one of several memorials. A photo of the panel when the name is written may also be included on the page.

Memorials

Those Canadians in uniform that died during the First World War (and other wars), you can find their name inscribed in the Books of Remembrance housed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Town in Ottawa. You can search the books and view the page from the specific Book of Remembrance.

Veterans Affairs Canada houses the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. The CVWM is a registry to honour and remember the sacrifices of the Canadians and Newfoundlanders who have given their lives serving in uniform.

Ancestry

If you have a paid Ancestry subscription or you are accessing Ancestry from a library or archive then you will find a number of collections including:

• Canada, WWI CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918 - This collection is the same as what is available directly from Library and Archives Canada. However, the individual services files at Library and Archives Canada come bundled as a PDF whereas on Ancestry you need to retrieve the individual images for each service member.
• Canada, Imperial War Service Gratuities, 1919-1921 - At the end of the First World War, all Canadian service personnel received a payment to help in the transition from military service to civilian life. In December 1919 the Canadian government decided to increase the gratuity for all Canadian residents that served with the British forces during the Great War. These are the records of applications for the increased gratuity payment. Most of the applications were from those personnel that served with the Royal Flying Corp, Royal Navy, and the British Expeditionary Force.
• England, Queen's Canadian Military Hospital Registers, 1914-1919 - This collection includes registers of admission and discharge, and rolls of patient transfers for the Queen's Canadian Military Hospital at Beachborough Park, Shorncliffe.
• U.S., Residents Serving in Canadian Expeditionary Forces, 1917-1918 - The CEF didn't just have Canadians in their ranks. Americans that didn't want to wait for the United States of America to join the war against the Central Powers also joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
• Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922 - Often you will find on the CEF Attestation Papers a mention that the recruit had served in the militia. You may be able to find their name in these nominal rolls and paylists.
• Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948 - This database has the death and burial information for Canadian military personnel
• Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 - The "Black Binder" registers were used to record the final resting place of those that died during the First World War in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom.
• Canada, Military Honours and Awards Citation Cards, 1900-1961 - These index cards documenting awards and honours received by service personnel may include your service member or Nursing Sister.
• Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 - Don't forget that those that served overseas needed to come back home to Canada. You will often find them in the passenger lists of the ships that were seconded to act a troop ships.

Other Collections

There is also the Military History Research Centre at the Canadian War Museum. You can search their online catalogue or make an appointment to review the onsite resources.

Was your relative or ancestor a prisoner of war during the First World War? If so, search the Prisoners of the First World War collection at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

A number of the Nominal Rolls for the Canadian Expeditionary Force have been digitized and made available on the Internet Archive by searching for "nominal roll canadian expeditionary force".

Do you have a picture of the service member and you can't figure out the badge on the uniform? Check out the "Badge Registry: The Canadian Expeditionary Force" pages.

The Canadian Expeditionary Force Study Group is a group of enthusiasts with an interest in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They have amassed a large collection of files and information concerning the CEF and are a great research when digging into the lives of service members and history of the units.

If your ancestor or relative did something particularly brave during the war they might have been "gazetted" with a mention in the Canada Gazette or London Gazette. Remember that some of the awards, honours, and medals were done post-war.

Don't forget to check the newspapers in the villages, towns, and cities that your relative or ancestor lived. Often there will be a mention of them heading off to war, returning, getting injured or killed, and also in memory post-war.

The Changing Name of Caspard van Den Bergh - Addendum

In my last post "The Changing Name of Caspard van Den Bergh" I had mentioned that "[t]he perfect document would have all his known aliases but I'd be happy just find some document with two of the known names listed for Caspard van Den Bergh." It just so happened that I hadn't looked hard and long enough. As I continued to look for additional documents a lovely green leaf on Ancestry popped up for both Caspard and his son Gary. It was for a New York Passenger List for their arrival in the Port of New York on 21 May 1933 on board the Saturnia.

Ancestry.com, "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 5 Feb 2015), entry for Caspard Van Den Bergh, arriving 21 May 1933.

Note the dark typewritten comment above Caspard's name. There it is written "Proff. Known Wash West  Guy"

Yet one record doesn't necessarily help establish that it is true. So back to Ancestry to search for any additional immigration records. There were several more found but the real winner was the one when on 16 Sep 1934 Capard and his second wife Rosalie arrived in Seattle, Washington, USA from a trip to Japan. The immigration official was kind enough to write above Caspard's entry the following, "Known as Guy West".

"Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 5 Feb 2015), entry for Caspard Litrio Van Den Bergh (known as Guy West), arriving 16 Sep 1934.

I think these two documents go a long way in establishing that Caspard Van den Bergh and Guy West are the same person. Combine these documents with the census and other records in "The Changing Name of Caspard van Den Bergh" post I think it goes along way in making the connection between Caspard's various names.


Tip: Remember that each record you find can provide a clue or hint to solving that supposed brick wall.