IV: 1867-1914: Background (1)

1867-1914: Background / Fitful Growth / Changing Conditions / First Wave / Laurier Boom

Background

In 1839, Wilson Benson arrived in Upper Canada (Canada West from 1840 to 1867, when it became Ontario) after a long journey from Ulster, Ireland. He had little money and few job prospects. Like most nineteenth-century newcomers to British North America, Benson's immigrant experience was a hard one. First settling in Kingston, he and his young wife followed work wherever it presented itself. Eventually, Benson worked 20 different jobs, including as a factory worker and ship's cook. He lived in 13 different places of residence. In these years, the Bensons' lives were made easier by their contacts with family and Irish friends who lived in British North America. By 1849, when Wilson Benson settled into a long life of farming, which would be stopped only when an injury forced him into storekeeping in his elderly years, he was well accustomed to life in Canada. He wrote a book about his experiences. He never returned to Ireland. In many respects, Benson's story was typical of that of many newcomers to British North America before Confederation. 1

Irish Immigrant to Upper Canada, 1839.

Wilson Benson's early immigrant experiences were difficult, much like many other immigrants to British North America. Passage from Ireland was nothing short of terrifying, and, with his young wife, Benson spent much of his early days in Canada West moving from town to town in Ontario in search of work.

Edwin C. Guillet, The Great Migration: The Atlantic Crossing by Sailing-ship since 1770 (Toronto: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1937).

Immigrants Debarking at Quebec, 1830.

Quebec City was one of the major points of debarkation for the tens of thousands of immigrants who came to Canadian shores during the nineteenth century.