Born in Mid Ocean

Corsican. Annette Fulford collection.

Thousands of war brides travelled to Canada after the First World War in an immigration scheme that was paid for by the Canadian government.

While the war brides were not supposed to travel during the latter stages of their pregnancy, a number of war brides gave birth while on their journey to Canada. In April 1919, the newspaper reported that two war brides on the Grampian gave birth to sons. However, records show that Mrs. Susan Riddell had a son, while Mrs. Germaine Durand, a daughter.

In September 1919, while travelling to Canada on the ship Cedric, Mrs. Winifred Orchard, wife of Private Frank Orchard, gave birth to a son. He was christened “Cedric” [1] after the ship and the captain was chosen to be his godfather. He gave the couple $50, while the passengers chipped in and gave them $95. It’s a good thing he wasn’t travelling on the Grampian or Metagama otherwise he might have a very different name!

Edmonton Bulletin, January 16, 1919

I found this article about another ship that had quite a few births on board but I have not been able to learn just what ship it is yet. If anyone finds a ship landing at Halifax in January 1919 with a large number of births on the manifest, send me an email at wwiwarbrides@shaw.ca. I'd love to track the families.


(c) Annette Fulford, September 2017

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[1] He is listed as Franklin Cedric Orchard, 3 days old, on the ship’s manifest.