 The majority of immigrant pioneers to the North West Territories were involved with the Hudson Bay Company and North West Company in the 1800s. First Nation and immigrant residents were hunters, trappers, gatherers. Homesteading was the main occupation of immigrants to Saskatchewan in the early 1900s. There were also other occupations to sustain the booming population of the "Last Best West".
Libraries have copies of "Henderson's Directories" which started in 1885. These directories list persons in a household over the age of 18, their residential address and occupation. Census records and the Canadian National Registration of 1940 records, Passenger Lists and Naturalization records stated each person along with their occupation as well.
The historical dates combined with local history may also help to uncover ancestral source documents for family background. For example if an family arrived to Canada with young children in the early 1900s, their sons may be of age to serve in WW1, so Military papers from Canadian Expeditionary Force may uncover family information.
If Saskatchewan residents were local public officials, involved with a community, school or church organization, these records are quite often found both in Local History and Family Biography Books and at Provincial Archives.
Interviews with family members may uncover letters, photographs, diaries which may also provide a detailed biographical ancestral profile. Whether you locate these, a will or estate document or a homestead record they may help you to determine the occupation and thereby help to determine how the family lived.
Discovering an ancestor's occupation helps to add a bit of color to the family tree and may incite youngsters and other family members into the fascinating world of genealogy. Occupations specific to pioneering families in Saskatchewan may have been...ice cream making, butter churning, spinning, threshing, hay baling, wheat grinding, stooking, bag tying, clay oven baking, wood cutting, steam plowing, hunter, trapper, lawyer, surveyor, land titles agent, operating horse drawn tillage harvesting equipment, politician, blacksmith, shoe making, spinning-tatting, grocer, restaurant owner, laundry operator, quilting, wheat weaving, rope making, sawmill and rock crusher operations, homesteader, farmer, teacher, clergy, railway, telegraph or post office operator. Visiting a historical museum, original homestead location, or occupational workplace of our ancestor's helps to add knowledge and understanding of the lifestyle experienced in familial history.
Top | Resources | Home |
