Researching First World War Brides in Canadian Passenger Lists, 1918-1921

Toronto World, January 20, 1919

Thousands of war brides came to Canada during and after the First World War in an immigration scheme arranged by the Canadian government. By late January 1919, the Canadian government provided the soldiers’ dependents with free third-class passage to Canada along with free rail passes from their home in the UK to their final destination in Canada or the US. 

However, finding these young women in passenger lists can be complicated unless you know what to look for. I have tracked thousands of these young women leaving Britain between 1917 and 1921. Here are a few tips to look for if you are having trouble locating them.

PASSENGER MANIFESTS

Start by using the database Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865 to 1935 at Ancestry.com. This is the most comprehensive database of passenger lists available to Canada. If they travelled to Canada prior to the Armistice in November 1918, then there is not always identifying info that shows that they are a war bride. The only info that might indicate they are a war bride is the fact that they have never been to Canada before and they are headed to be with their husband.

However, some war brides like Florence Gould and Lily Palmer travelled to the Dominion while their soldier-husband was still overseas. I only had newspaper articles and oral history to go by. Florence Gould left England on the Justicia the day after the Halifax Explosion occurred in December 1917. She had to change plans overnight. The ship was rerouted to New York instead of landing at Halifax and she had to take a train from New York to Saskatchewan.

Maud Carson, Aquitania, April 1918, Library and Archives Canada

 When Maud Carson travelled to Canada in April 1918 the manifest shows that she was travelling “with husband Retd soldier”. Other women on the same page show they were “going to husband Retd Soldier.”

After November 1918, most war brides will be located in the manifests marked with Dependents somewhere on the page. Some pages may be marked Military Dependents, 3rd Class Dependents, Canadian Military Dependents or Steerage Dependents at the top of the page. The majority travelled by steerage but a number of officers’ families were able to travel in a better class. Those pages might be marked as Cabin Dependents in Saloon or Intermediate class.

Canadian Military Dependents, Library and Archives Canada

A war bride may be listed by her full name, by her initials and surname or the manifest might only have Mrs. with a surname. The key to verifying that the husband and wife are on the same ship is the destination they are travelling to.

Steerage Dependents, Library and Archives Canada

A large number of military dependent passengers may have the initials SD WH or a variation of those initials on their line. It stands for "soldier dependent with husband". This indicates that they are travelling on the same ship as their husband but you will have to locate him in the military lists which are usually at the end of the manifest pages. You will have to check the manifests of soldiers to learn if their husband was on board. The key will be to know their regimental number.

Remember, if you use different databases like the ones at Library and Archives Canada for the passenger manifests at Passenger Lists for the Port of Quebec City and Other Ports, 1865-1922 or Canadian Passenger Lists, 1881-1922 at FamilySearch, these databases might give you different results than those at Ancestry.

However, not all include full records up to 1922 like the title suggests. Only Halifax has original records indexed up to 1922 and Quebec goes to up to 1921. The rest only include records to 1912. A large majority of the war brides arrived at St. John, New Brunswick during the winter of 1918-1919. These records are not included in these databases.

Also, if you do know the date they travelled and the name of the ship they travelled on you can view the original manifests at Passenger Lists, 1865-1922 at Library and Archives Canada. You can look at the manifests page by page to find passengers who are not indexed correctly. The only downside to using this database is advancing to the next page once you have clicked on an image. You may find it easier to advance the images at Family Search because their viewer is better.

(c) Annette Fulford, June 2019